Cheer Up With Food

Last February I travelled to Berkeley , CA for a few days.  I was lucky to arrive on a weekend where it was pouring with rain!  Even though I didn't go to a lot of places due to the weather, I'm still glad I got to eat at these restaurants:  Suya African-Caribbean Grill On my first day, my tour guides, Emily and Tammy, recommended that I try  Suya  for lunch.  There's not much African-Caribbean restaurants from my hometown, so I gladly wanted to check out Suya: We all got a combination meal.  I chose to the Tilapia Fish with flatbread, grilled plantain, and grilled corn.  The fish was lightly flavored to me, yet it was distinct.  The sauce and grilled sides were nice add-ons to the meal: Emily got the Grilled Beef on a skewer with grilled corn and rice: Tammy got the Grilled Chicken on a skewer with the same sides I got: All these meats and fish were seasoned with Suya Pepper, a distinctive custom spice m...

My fiancé and I were craving to try a cuisine that we've never ate before and later agreed to eat Ethiopian food!  We've read great reviews about  Merkato  Ethiopian Cafe and decided to check it out ourselves.   The staff was very kind to us and shared interesting info about  Ethiopian  cuisine.  On the top left of this photo are rolled pieces of sourdough/crepe like bread called injera .  Ethiopians eat this bread with everything.  Injera's flour is made of teff , a grain thats only grown in Ethiopia.  Even though injera's taste is similar to sourdough bread, the teff gave quite a uniqueness to it.  We shared this huge platter (tip- one entrée can feed two).  Neither of us asked what the items were on here called, but I recognized some lentils, salad, collards, and split peas: Vegetarian Combo - Amazing After we ate we saw one of the workers prepare for a traditional coffee ceremony .  We were so intrigued that we ...