Selam, Orlando

I tried this Ethiopian/Eritrean spot on the corner of s strip mall with a Publix on Central Florida Parkway (between John Young and I Drive) at lunch on Wednesday. I guess they eat a little later than us, as I was the only one there at noon. However three other tables were seated as I ate. Let's start with an admission. I know next to nothing about this cuisine and the "next to" is comprised of one meal at Nile around ten years ago. Oddly, I was watching a show that explained the tension between the two bordering countries (once one) just as I read about this place a few months ago in the Weekly. My interest was piqued back then, but, the location pushed it down the list. I can never remember where CFP is. Anyway, onto the food. I ordered Gored Gored beef because it looked the fanciest and not because I'm a Nebraska fan. It was comprised of medium rare cubes of beef (shoulder?) in a brown sauce on a "injera". An injera is a large, purple pancake made out of some glutton free substance that I forget the name of. An article on the window (Sentinel I think) said it should be served warm. This was cold. Now how a little American white girl knows the proper temperature for an injera is a question we all should ponder (I'm guessing a search engine was involved), it does seem probable. I say this because the meat and sauce was served to me cold. And it wasn't appetizing and I hope it isn't customary. I asked if it was supposed to be this way and I didn't really understand the explanation. I posited that maybe Ethiopia is hot and they serve this cool as a result. That hypothesis was shot down, so I dropped the subject. As a result, they did bring out (unsolicited) a small bowl of a chicken dish I considered (they wrote it down as doro tibs but I think it is the next thing I am going to mention) and a bowl of sticky beef bits they wrote down as beef key wet). As I said, I think that's inverted and I don't use search engines (if you couldn't tell), so, it may be a misstatement. The chicken was little cubes in a light, sour sauce with onions and some other veg. It was nice. The beef was little, well done bits of beef in a thick, black, sweetish sauce. It was good too. The problem was that I didn't want to seem rude and leave the "gifts", but, they filled me up. So, I had to ask to get the remainder of my "real" meal to go. It was actually serendipitous. Nuking it for a minute at dinner warmed the sauce and took the sliminess from the beef. It was much better hot and closer to medium rare than rare. The portion was large. It cost $15. The place looks like a bad Mexican place looks. Dingy. Dark. Cheap furniture. Plastic table cloths. They have some decent murals, but, it needs a lot more. It seats about eighty. The layout is also not great. The spacing is out of whack. They have been open for a year. They said six months, but, I saw a Scott Joseph article on them on the window from last October. The Orlando Weekly has also reviewed them. Like they wrote, how often are you going to run across cuisine like this? That's their calling card. I'd try it just as a bucket list item. I'm not sure if I'd go through the bother a second time though. The cuisine was not that "different". Probably if I lived down there though.You eat with your hands. They have vegetarian options. The menu has beef, chicken and lamb. Around twenty dishes. I'm reminded of a bit I heard on sports radio last week. The question was whether you would rather eat soup for every meal or have to eat every meal with your hands. I guess that isn't a conundrum for some. Just remember what they do with their right hand if you are sharing. I meant to ask if the name is a spelling of "salaam". I heard one of the customers greet the owner that way. I guess a search engine could provide closure. I'll leave some mystery to life.