Queen of Sheba

650 10th Ave@45th/46th St, 212.397.0610

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Cost per person: $20
"YGWYPF" factor: 7.0/10 (you get what you pay for)
Food: 7/10
ambiance: 7/10

For people who have not tried Ethiopian, this is a great place to start. For the others who have visited Meskerem multiple times already, well, expect more of exactly the same - except a much better ambience, and a significantly larger place. Since the prices are pretty much similar between these two, if I were to choose one, I would choose this place to bring my out-of-town friends - the ethnic look and the funny looking tables are reason enough, not to mention the larger space and a full bar. For just us, though, Meskerem is a little more "cozy" - which nice hole in the wall place in the City has more than 8 tables anyway?

Soma and I stuck to our now-becoming-usual Ethiopian order - vegetable combo (Vegetarian Mesob Small dollops of each item in the Vegetarian menu) and the spicy egg-chicken curry (Doro Wot Legs of range chicken are slow-cooked in dense stew of onions, berbere and kibe. Boiled small eggs are knife-poked and simmered in the stew. A high-holiday treat served with two legs and a small egg). I do think the gravy in the Doro Wot was a little darker, and a little more spicy, than the one in Meskerem - but I'll leave the confirmation to you as an exercise.

Do note, though, the special ethnic tables are very few, and you may have a long wait, unless you want to sit on the regular tables, which are plenty.