Merhaba-Closed

Merhaba Restaurant
2801 W Ball Rd
Anaheim
714-826-8859

Merhaba is really an Erirean restaurant. Erirean broke away from Ethiopia. But the food is very much the same.

I ordered the sambusa, thin, crispy pastry shells stuffed with ground beef, $4.25 and the Kelwa Tseada, $11, mild sauteed chunks of beef tossed with onions, tomato and green peppers in butter, red pepper and assorted spices.

The sambusa came right out of the fryer, very good sign. The pastry shell was very crisy and the ground beef wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be. This was OK but I don't think worth the $4.25.

What was worth the price was the Kelwa Tseada. To me this was better than the dish I had at Tana. This was more flavorful though the beef wasn't as tender. I asked for mild but next time I think I may get the medium spice.

What I really like was the injera, the sourdough flat bread, wasn't as sour as other places.

Service was a bit slow but there was a party of 11 and there were only two people working.

I would go back to Merhaba before I went back to Tana. But both are good options for Ethiopian or Eritean food.

Tana Ethiopian Restaurant

Tana Ethiopian Restaurant
2622 W La Palma Ave
Anaheim
714-229-1719

My first taste of Ethiopian food was in New York City. I enjoyed the flavorful meats but did not like the sour, spongy bread.

So I made a visit to Tana Ethiopian Restaurant and ordered the awazae tibs, $10, which is beef, onions, green peppers, garlic, and awazae which is a specially spiced red pepper. This was a very good dish though a bit on the salty side. The beef was tender and all the flavors mixed well together. I asked for mild and it was mild. I didn't want something so spicy that I couldn't taste the food.

With Ethiopian food you eat with your hands. You tear up the spongy bread around the meats and eat. I think the spongy bread, which is sour, but not too sour since it was helped by the spices of the awazae.

Service was OK. The lady was very friendly and nice and I got my order quickly. But she didn't refill my water that often and I was sitting with an empty cup for long periods of time.

I would go back to Tana again.