dahlak

dahlak
4708 baltimore avenue and 5547 germantown avenue
philadelphia, pa
(215) 726 6464
www.dahlakrestaurant.com

type of cuisine: eritrean
culinary excellence: 5
vegan friendliness: 8

i visited dahlak in the summer of 2006 and wrote this about my experience:

Dahlak is located in in West Philadelphia on a charming commercial strip comprised of several African restaurants, bakeries, boutiques, convenient stores and a little bookstore that shows B-grade sci-fi movies in the summertime. A trolley train passes through on a regular basis. The food here is Eritrean, from a region of Africa that is tucked between Sudan and Ethiopia. If you've had Ethiopian food before, you'll know what to expect - delicious stews served atop Injera, a spongy flat bread that you tear apart with your fingers and use in lieu of utensils. Lauren and I shared the vegetarian sampler, with six items in total. There were yellow split peas, collard greens, lentils, chickpeas, okra and beets. Some of them, such as the collard greens and okra, were soaking in a tomatoey sauce that did not complement the flavors of the veggies. The lentils and split peas were fine, though a bit undercooked, the beets were tasty and came with big chunks of potato and the chickpea mash was outstanding. All in all, I did not find this restaurant to be as excellent as nearby Abyssinia, but it's worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood.

since that time, dahlak has opened another branch over in germantown. i got some take-out on friday, following an endless day at work. i was a bit surprised that there were so few people dining there. don't people in germantown like to eat out? i saw the same thing at black olive. anywho, this dahlak offers up both eritrean and indian food. i asked for 3 different vegan dishes and some lentil soup. granted, food is never as good coming out of a styrofoam container, but i was a tad disappointed by their goods. the spinach was reasonable - kind of well-rounded and not too salty. the lentils were of a pate-like consistency and pleasantly peppery. the okra just tasted bitter. each main dish also came with a side of delicious potatoes and carrots. the lentil soup was not at all what i was expecting. rather than a thick, savory, creamy soup, it was light on the lentils and heavy on spinach. not altogether bad, but a somewhat strange combination. they also packed us a year's worth of injera, most of which we discarded after a couple days.