The African Battle for Best Cuisine

Some of you Ethiopian food lovers (or soon-to-be Ethiopian food lovers) who live in/visit Morningside Heights or the Upper West Side might often face one of the most difficult decisions to make on a weekly basis: Massawa or Awash?













Sitting only 14 blocks away from each other on Amsterdam Avenue, Massawa and Awash are two of my favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. And that's mainly because they both serve incredibly tasty Ethiopian food. But for people who don't eat Ethiopian food as often as I do, and therefore won't find themselves going back and forth between restaurants regularly, I have done a compare/contrast study of the two so that you can make an informed decision when you suddenly are craving African cuisine and are at a loss of which restaurant to pick (I am so nice, I know).

Before I begin, I should note that I am a vegetarian, and consequently this analysis will only focus on the two restaurants' vegetable dishes . However, everyone I have met who eats meat at Ethiopian restaurants seems to prefer Awash. Yay Awash. OK, onwards:

Massawa
Has significantly better Tej Honey Wine & spiced tea
Has much better Shiro (cooked and spiced chickpeas)
Offers rice as a substitute for injera for the gluten-free among us
Has an awesome collection of hard candies to select from when you're done with your meal
Massawa's "Can't Miss" Dishes
Duba - "pumpkin tenderly sautéed with berbere, tomatoes and rosemary"
Hamli - "spinach sautéed with spices and garlic" The Hamli is really good paired with the Shiro (which I would put in the "can't miss" list if it weren't a staple at every Ethiopian restaurant)

Awash
Sometimes gives you warm towels before you eat
Has a much better collard greens dish
The injera is generally of a better quality
Awash's "Can't Miss" Dishes
Key Sir Alicha - a combination of red beets, carrots, and potatoes (so good - especially if you like beets, which Massawa is sorely lacking)
String beans and carrots (cooked and seasoned in spicy garlic sauce) - this kind of tastes more like a Thai dish than an Ethiopian one, but that doesn't stop it from being delicious. Plus, how often do you get to eat Thai food with injera?


The "Best Meat" Award goes to Awash.




The "Best Beverages (Including Alcohol)" Award goes to Massawa




The "Best Shiro" Award goes to Massawa




The "Best Injera" Award goes to Awash




I will not come to any conclusion on which restaurant is better overall, though I am slightly biased towards Massawa because I had my first taste of Ethiopian food there my first week of college, and maintained a weekly ritual of eating there for the remaining four years. So dear readers, it will be your task to go out to both restaurants and form an objective opinion.