Review Blue Nile - Ottawa

Seriously good Ethiopian food! After trying to get fed from the kinkole (African) festival which unfortunately was a bust due to timing we went in search of some GOOD African cuisine. Enter google search and Blue Nile on Gladstone shows up. Thank goodness for that! Our family of 4 (2a 2c) loaded into a table of this modest location. Upon walking in the smells of spice and warm cooking wraps you like a big hug. Now, it's important to understand this is NOT fast food, nor is it meant to be. The food and the experience is to be enjoyed with a little time. Time to cook breeds deep flavours, time to wait breeds deep conversations and taking a little time to slow down is perfect. We ordered the Blue Nile combo and the lamb tibs with 3 sambussas (2 beef 1 veg) as an appetizer. With a coffee (my wife said it was delicious) juice and water the 4 of us left full for a modest $48 tab. Now the food...hot, fresh, deep deep flavours throughout. Injera bread is plentiful and not only tasty but used as the utensil. (Instructions on how to eat with it is conveniently on the back of the menu in clear picture style.) For our children, forks were provided upon asking. The sambussas are like a samosa or empanada but from a different flavour profile and the only problem with them is that they disappear from the plate too quickly! You may be wondering why the 4 stars instead of 5. That simply goes to the cleanliness. While the tables and chairs and restaurant in general were clean, the bathrooms were certainly lacking. It looked as though they could use a solid once over with a bunch of cleaning products to bring them up to standard. Yes, the rule is that if the bathroom is bad then don't trust the kitchen but fortunately the kitchen door is open and a look in showed no issues there. Bottom line...if you want to eat GOOD Ethiopian food with pleasant staff and in a nice relaxed atmosphere, this is the place to go!

White person here, so not at all an authority on Ethiopian cuisine and no idea which dishes were which, but figured I'd leave a review anyway. Preferred the beef sambusa to the veggie, but both had delicious pastry; my friend and I ordered both the veggie and beef combination plates because I like trying a bit of everything. It was all beautifully made and spiced; my favourite was the veggie platter, and in particular the yellow veggies (cabbage?) and carrots that came with both- also really loved their explanation of teff on their website that talks about all the extra nutrients in the bread and the history of kaffe. I'm also a big big fan of the lovely spongey texture of the bread, and eating it all with my hands- bonus that my fingertips smelled phenomenal all evening afterwards. ....And perhaps T.M.I... but I feel like it would be a disservice to the experience to leave out that my BM the next morning was quite possibly one of the easiest and satisfying I've had in years. Very grateful and would definitely love to order again at some point. Also loved the artwork I was able to admire during takeout pickup, and felt especially spoiled to hear some beautiful singing while I waited briefly. (Currently no dining service, which is totally fair.) Thank you!

As delicious as Ethiopian food can be. You will get a lot of food and it will be worth every dollar. If you have not tried Ethiopian food before, go and give it a try. I promise you will be glad you did!!

I had the vegetarian combo and it was delicious. Their injera is a combination of teff and wheat, which makes it extra soft yet sturdy. Everything tasted great and the service was friendly. I will be returning for sure.

We wanted to checkout some Ethiopian food and went to Blue Nile on a Wednesday evening. The restaurant is pretty small but we were the only customers at that time. The serving lady, who I believe is the owners her self came and greeted us warmly and gave the menus. We ordered mix vegetarian, mix chicken and a vegi only dish. The food took a very long time to come( almost 1 hour - and hence deduct one star) and my daughter was very hungry and was complaining. We saw that few people came, ordered and go, only to return much later. Assume regulars who knew that food takes a long time here!! Finally the food came and we all enjoyed it. There were different types of vegetable, grain dishes and chicken served on my plate. The portion was good which I shared with my son. The food had good flavour but I was not much of a fan of the "Injera"( wrap/bread made out of a certain grass seed) which had a sharp sour taste. My wife is a Ethiopian food fan, and she enjoyed the vegetarian dish very much. I found the pricing to be very reasonable. Overall a good experience.

Super flavourful and healthy food that is fun to eat! Often a bit of waiting time once you get there, but the place is filled with cool art to look at in the meanwhile so it’s all good. Always happy to support this local business.

Worst place to eat , the food has no test and their customer service is even worst. You see flys all over the place just don’t waste your money and time

Great value and the injera is really good, however I found the food on the bland side compared to other Ethiopian I've had. I also found that the packaging was not well suited to takeout as by the time we got home, the injera had soaked up all the liquid and gone very soggy and the curries had dried out. Editing to add a second review because I've now re-ordered and had the injera and curries separate. It's still bland. I want to love it, but the food had no heat and the seasoning was just not as flavourful as other restaurants I've dined at.

Came here for dinner the other night, and ordered the beef combination and vegetarian combination, in order to try a variety, as I've never had Ethiopian food before.<br/><br/>We started with the in house Ethiopian honey wine. It came out with a piece of pepper or something floating in it, in a bottle with a Jackson Triggs cap. The flavour reminded me of an over-fermented apple cider with honey.<br/><br/>The food came out with plenty of injira bread. For the cost, I would say the portions were quite generous, we both left absolutely stuffed, and there was still food left on the plate. The injira was like a soft, sourdough flatbread, I found the sour flavour it had wasn't to my taste, but the person I was with enjoyed it. There was a good variety with the combination, and we both found things we particularly enjoyed.<br/><br/>The cost for portions size, as well as for the variety of things you can try with the combination plates are quite good if you're looking to try a bit of everything and find things you like for next time. The restaurant itself very much has a family run atmosphere, and it appeared they did a lot of takeout.<br/><br/>Overall, I didn't particularly find the food to my taste, but I also have no frame of reference for whether this would qualify as "good" or "bad". Objectively, I found the food okay, it wasn't something I feel like I would particularly seek out in the future, but it was enjoyable enough as something new to try.

Nice and quiet place. We ordered 2 dishes: Ye-Beg the Tibbs (lamb) and the Blue Nile Combination Platter (mix of legumes and chicken). Both dishes were flavorful. The lamb was simply yummy but got a bit dried towards the end. The combination plate had different types of legumes (all spicy and tasty), one cooked egg, and one chicken thigh. The injera bread was delicious.<br/><br/>The place looked clean and the server was nice. We went (2 ppl) for an early dinner, and we were the only table being served. The service was fast, the quality of food good, the portions ok.

Kinda dirty. Been here twice. Food is delish, great value. Honey wine is fantastic. First time, I noticed a few things...nothing major but the second time the dirtiness def was more prominent (like our water glasses, hair on the floor). Prob won't go back for that reason..l

Ok Food not great. Ordered the Veggie combo for one. The misir wat (red lentils in berbere spice) was underseasoned. The food was ok, and I didn't feel uncomfortable in the restaurant definite plus. Also liked that they had some spices and other things for sale. So far like Habesha better...

A more upscale Horn of Africa. I've been to both Horn of Africa and Blue Nile and I enjoy both. Blue Nile is a little nice, the decor, presentation, and quality of food. As a result, it is also more pricey. The Tej (honey wine) is delicious though and a good accompaniment, and a big plus over Horn of Africa. I think I prefer Horn of Africa for it's incredible value and hole in the wall appeal, but if I was taking someone out for a nice dinner and something exotic, I would definitely choose Blue Nile.

Highly recommended. My wife and I have been patrons of the Blue Nile for two years. We've always found the food excellent and the service fast and friendly. Excellent authentic Ethiopian coffee as well.

Great food. Been here twice, once with myself and my girlfriend, and another time for my birthday with a whole bunch of people. The service is a bit on the slow side but the food makes up for it. Very tasty stuff. Honey wine is also good.

Way less food than other Ethiopian. Whoever said Blue Nile was better than Horn of Africa wasn't a very hungry person. We ordered a beef combo platter and veggie combo platter. They only brought a veggie platter and when we went to pay, said we had two platters on the bill. They had given us two veggie platters on one plate instead of the veggie and beef we ordered. We thought they had forgotten the beef and just brought the veggie because normally you get the same amount on only one platter at Horn of Africa. The food is good, but what we ate was nowhere near worth what we paid.<br/>You can however buy their spices there, which is likely what I will do from now on and make the same meal at home.

Best and Most Authentic!. Blue Nile is the place to go for authentic Ethiopian food in Ottawa! All my Ethiopian friends go here for their food. I've introduced this place to so many people and they continue to go and bring friends along as well! I'll never stop going here!

Tasty food! Their vegetarian dishes are great. Service isn't too great though.

Try the honey wine. Just don't try to drive home afterwards that stuff is strong. It's very easy for two people to eat here with drinks for under 40 bucks. A much better choice for ethiopian food than the Horn of Africa.

I loved it. This is tasty Ethiopian food. The doro wat and kitfo are particularly good and don't miss the ribs. Tell Getu I sent you.

The menu is laid out by animal or mineral, with sections for beef, lamb, chicken, and vegetarian. We had intended on ordering the “kitfo special”, the raw beef mixed with kale and cheese, but they ran out of cheese for the day so we settled for the regular kitfo along with our usual Ethiopian mainstays dulet and the vegetarian platter.

With its drop ceilings, salmon and beige walls, burgundy table cloths and dark coloured metal chairs, the restaurant has a laid back feel. Its African-inspired wall hangings, weaves, art, and photos stand out. The artwork extends to the tables.