Leyl Al Arab

This Saturday I had a random start to my night. Jeanna, Larisa, Vanessa and I attended a performance of Middle Eastern dance. Random, I know.

Most people will remember that the four of us take belly dancing classes on Monday nights at the YMCA. Our teacher, Katia Sahar, is an amazing dancer and was performing Saturday at Enat Ethiopian Restaurant in Northgate. To show our support, we decided to show up, pay our five bucks and have dinner while watching the show.

I’ve never been to an Ethiopian restaurant before, and I have to say eating dinner there was an experience in itself. Dumbfounded, I looked at the menu and didn’t see a single recognizable item. I decided to go out on a limb and split the combination platter with Jeanna; at least I would get a taste of several authentic foods all at once.

It was by far the strangest meal I’ve ever had. When the steaming platter of food arrived, it was covered with many small piles of pureed meats and vegetables. I looked around for my fork to try a tiny bite of the yellow stuff, and realized that silverware was not an option. We were instead expected to eat finger foot style, tearing off pieces of gray, dough-like bread and using them to scoop up mouthfuls of the strange-tasting food.

Not so daring in her order, Larisa had requested a small bowl of lentils. She then made the mistake of asking for a spoon to eat them with. The waitress scoffed and reprimanded her with a stern shake of the head before stalking away. Apparently in this sort of place you’re just supposed to go with the flow – asking for a little something extra seemed to be strictly off-limits. As Larisa stealthily grabbed the tiny spoon out of the sugar bowl and began to eat with it, I was sure we were going to be kicked out immediately.

About halfway through our meal the performance began. If you’ve never seen true belly dancing before, it’s quite an experience. It was hard to understand how these women could gyrate their hips while following complicated steps, smiling and seductively waving their arms at the same time. I don’t think we’ve quite gotten to that in our class yet: I’m still working on my shimmy.

Although the food was tolerable, I don’t think I would go out of my way to eat it again. About halfway through the performance we collectively agreed that our stomachs were churning and rocking to the music. However, the dancers were highly entertaining, and I think Katia was surprised and pleased that we had shown up. Overall, I think it was a great start to the evening.

To be continued…