Blue Nile Cafe

Everyone has heard the Mark Twain quotation that "denial ain't just a river in Egypt." True; it's also a river in Sudan and Ethiopia. The well-known portion of the Nile that runs through Cairo is formed from the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, and while the former is longer, the latter carries most of the water that keeps Egypt fertile and the silt that forms its dunes. The Blue Nile's origin is in Ethiopia. From Lake Tana in that land-locked country, water flows out of the mountains, through Sudan, and onward towards the Mediterranean. It's only natural then that one of Ethiopia's greatest assets should be the name of so many Ethiopian restaurants in the United States. There are dozens of Blue Niles, and the University Plaza strip mall, just a block east of the University / Rural light rail station in Tempe, is home to one of them.

Tempe's Blue Nile is mostly Ethiopian in its cuisine, but also features a parallel menu of popular Middle Eastern foods and a weekly special menu of raw foods, making it one of the few restaurants in the area to indulge that particular diet. Let's get to those items later; the best way to get to know Blue Nile is first by understanding a little about Ethiopian food. The food of Ethiopia has nowhere near the penetration in this country as Indian cuisine, but it does share a few traits with south Asian food. There's a heavy reliance on legumes, mostly lentils and split peas, served either warm in stews or cold in salads. Meats are usually cooked in stews as well, and that's important because most eating is done by hand with a little assistance from injera, a spongy bread made from teff, a small grain of Ethiopian origin.

While the methods of presentation and consumption bear some resemblance to Indian food, the spectrum of tastes in Ethiopian cooking is distinctive. There isn't a lot of intense heat in the food, but plenty of flavor. The best way to experience Blue Nile's authentic menu is by ordering a messob, basically an Ethiopian combo plate with servings of several "wats," or stews, served alongside a basket of injera. For lunch, the messobs are typically plated for one and involve two wats and a salad or sambusa, a fried, stuffed pastry not unlike an Indian samosa. At dinner, it's more common for customers to order mega-messobs that offer enough food for the entire table. These are more fun to eat at one of the traditional tables in the back of the restaurant. Everyone sits on cushions surrounding a small metal table holding the platter of food.

No matter where you sit, make sure to try some of the vegetable dishes like gomen, chopped collard greens that are neither leathery nor boiled into oblivion, or the shuro watt, a stew of pureed chickpeas flavored with berbere, a sauce that imparts both a reddish color and an assertive peppery flavor. Cold dishes include a potent beet salad that might convert even some beet avoiders and a chilled lentil salad with a bit of energy from a Dijon mustard dressing. While Blue Nile is popular among vegetarians and vegans, there are chicken, shrimp, and beef stews on the menu. The doro watt is a hands-on choice that incorporates both a chicken drumstick and a hard-boiled egg. The serviceable hummus, falafel, and grilled chicken dishes offer more familiar options in a Mediterranean vein.

If the Mediterranean dishes on the menu at Blue Nile might seem a concession to less adventurous taste buds, the raw foods menu is perhaps even more of an experience for most customers than Ethiopian cuisine. On Sundays and Mondays, Blue Nile serves a full menu of uncooked foods with a variety of international influences. Of course, "raw food" almost always means "raw vegan food" since this diet seldom includes sashimi or carpaccio. Regardless, Blue Nile's raw menu is surprisingly good. The pad thai, made with ribbons of vegetables rather than actual noodles, comes across more as a Thai coleslaw, but the contrast between the creamy coconut sauce and the crisp produce is remarkably effective. Combining cooked and raw dishes might be the best route for someone wanting to experiment.

Most lunch combinations come with a fountain beverage, but pay a little more for some fresh juice or the house-brewed ice tea, which is infused with flavor from cloves and other spices. A limited selection of beer and wine is also an option. For dessert, the most popular choice seems to be a vegan coffee cake. Like many vegan desserts, it's quite sweet -- maybe too much so. Surprisingly, one of the best desserts in from the raw menu. The small chocolate bars have impressive cocoa taste paired with flavors like mint, caramel, or peanut butter. Since they're served on plates, it's even possible to eat them with knife and fork like Mr. Pitt from "Seinfeld." Both Ethiopian cuisine and raw foods lie downstream from many diners' previous food experiences. With Twain's words in mind, Blue Nile Cafe is a good place to overcome culinary denial and try something new.

933 E University Dr., Tempe AZ 85281
Map
(480) 377-1113
http://www.bluenilecafe.net/