How to order Ethiopian food: a first-timer's guide

Injera is a spongy, slightly sour flatbread made from fermented teff flour. It is both plate and utensil: food is piled on it, and you tear off pieces to scoop with.

If you run out of injera before you run out of stew, ask for more: restaurants expect it, and extra injera is usually free or cheap.

Wat (also spelled wot) is the family of stews: doro wat is slow-cooked chicken in berbere sauce, misir wat is spiced lentils, gomen is collard greens with garlic. Tibs is sauteed meat, often beef or lamb, with onions and peppers. Kitfo is minced beef, served raw (leb leb, warmed) or lightly cooked, with spiced butter.

Beyaynetu, the vegetarian combo, is the safest first order: a sampler of lentils, greens, chickpeas, cabbage, and other vegetables on one platter. A meat combo platter does the same for mixed eaters.

Order one or two platters for the table rather than one dish per person. A vegetarian combo plus a meat combo covers most groups of three or four.

Eat with your right hand: tear a small piece of injera, fold it around a bite, and scoop. It feels awkward for about two minutes, then it clicks.

Heat varies by dish and by cook: doro wat and kitfo with mitmita run hot, while misir wat and gomen are usually mild. Ask for mild if you are unsure; kitchens are used to the question.

Ethiopian Orthodox fasting traditions mean most menus have strong vegetarian and vegan options year-round, not just on fasting days. Beyaynetu and the fasting platter are the ones to ask for.

Finish with Ethiopian coffee if it is offered: many restaurants perform a short version of the buna ceremony, and it is the traditional end of the meal. Ethiopian beer and tej (honey wine) are common where the restaurant is licensed.

Most of the city's Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants sit along Danforth Avenue, with more downtown and in the west end. The verified restaurant list and the curated best-of list below are the place to start.