— TheToothfish

Review: Who Needs Silverware?

★★★★★

I regret how little time I spend with restaurants. A professional critic has at least three meals to understand both the food and the atmosphere. Unfortunately I have neither the financial backing nor the flexibility to do the same, and so often my reviews are  reactionary snapshots to the food. Sometimes I get the atmosphere. Sometimes I don’t. On a quiet Wednesday night in the near deserted dining room at the Queen of Sheba, I really didn’t.

The sea of empty chairs, quirky music that sent me to cantina scene in Star Wars, the two men drinking at a long bar — I refuse to believe this Ethiopian restaurant doesn’t have character, and for now I’m going to assume I went at the wrong time. Nevertheless the vibe was off. As for the food, I find eating with my hands liberating (as you are suppose to use the sponge-like bread they provide). Compared to what I’ve had in Memphis, the Queen of Sheba is both under-seasoned and  lacking in heat. I wanted more spice, more kick out of the lamb stew but never found it. I also wanted more lamb and less bone. This isn’t to say that these dishes weren’t satisfying. Everything was good, but just nothing beyond that. We ordered the “fish” which came out whole — head and tail but no eyes — and while I’m all for eating a whole fish, this one was  flavorless and suspect as far as freshness goes. I think it was catfish. It tasted like catfish.

Will I go back to the Queen of Sheba? Probably not for a long time, but only because I hear there are other Ethiopian restaurants in the Atlanta area. I need to check those out first before giving the Queen of Sheba a revisit.

Queen of Sheba
(404) 321-1493
Druid Hills/Emory
1594 Woodcliff Dr NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
www.qsheba.com