Blue Nile Restaurant

Loved the food, really good vegetarian options. Sometimes they’re under staffed and the quality of the food has somewhat slipped since it opened-​up in JP.

Ok I really enjoyed Lucy’s close to where I live for Ethiopian food so had very high hopes since Blue Nile has been consistently rated best Ethiopian in Boston.
Came on a weekday night and there was no wait. It was a cute restaurant and the servers were all very friendly.
I do like the fact that the food comes out on the injera bread instead of plates so it feels more authentic that way.
My usual go to dish is the Lega Tibs (beef with tomatoes/​onions etc). It was tender and flavorful here but it’s literally just chunks of beef. I expected to see a little more of the onions and tomatoes. Second meat dish was the Siga Wet, taste like beef in a black mole sauce but not spicy mole. It was ok. Also while I like eating garden salads, it felt really out of place being served on the injera. The portions are decent but not cheap.
Overall an ok experience, so I think it’ll stick to the place close to home instead of driving out to JP for Blue Nile when I need an Ethiopian fix.

To start with the food was decent, great ambiance and the service — not so much. We were craving for Ethiopian food and decided to hit this restaurant on a Rainy day. There was a big group and just two of us. We waited a while and we were seated after 5 minutes. And getting a menu to us took another 10 minutes and water after another 10 minutes. We ordered a veggie platter for two and it was pretty good. We would visit here again but I don’t think we would come here again when it’s busy.

I love this restaurant– the food is home cooked and delicious. As a vegetarian I feel comfortable knowing there are no animal products in my food. The place treats customers like friends — the whole experience is wonderful! One of my favorite restaurants!

Cozy and colorful atmosphere, good service (went on the early side), delicious food. I would go again. It was our first time eating Ethiopian and the staff and owner seemed to want our first experience to be a good one. They offered us a complimentary sample of the house «honey wine» which my friend liked, I less so, so I ordered a beer. The food was delicious, especially the lamb, which was tender and mildly spicy as we had ordered… the lamb went very well with the many vegetarian sides that came on the flat round tray. They didn’t charge us for EITHER of the drinks, so my friend I and left content, full, and happy. And hence I’m leaving this positive review of the place. I will go back for sure.

Along with Vee Vee, easily the best food in JP, hands down. Clearly some people can’t handle the uniqueness of Ethiopian food, but if you enjoy spices and something new, you’ll love it. The closest comparison to mainstream is Indian food, which makes sense as there is history between the two.
When quiet, service is great and quick. When busy, just be ready to wait for a bit.
I could eat injera every day.

Love love love this place! It’s a cute little restaurant. My boyfriend and I go here all the time. The food is super yummy and the people who work there are so sweet!

Best Ethiopian food I’ve had, hands down! I think what separates this place from the others is the freshness and quality of their veggies. Who would have thought carrots, cabbage and lentils would be so delectable? I’m usually not into spicy foods but I’ve enjoyed everything here despite the heat… and that says a lot!

4.5 stars. Very cute place. As authentic as it can get in JP. Service is, well, service is Very authentic, meaning the emphasis is on hospitality and kindness and less on time (just like in Ethiopia). This needs to be taken into consideration if you have other things planned for the evening. The food is delicious. Injera has the actual sourness to it that it should (as opposed to some other places in Boston).
Stick with the entrees, the apps are not as well prepared from our experience (sambosa was a bit bland and naked in the plate, lacking an obvious dipping sauce).
If you enjoy amazing authentic food make sure to stop in here. It’s the best Ethiopian in Boston.

I have never had Ethiopian before, so I guess I don’t have a fair point of comparison for this type of cuisine, but I wouldn’t write off Ethiopian after my experience at Blue Nile.
I tried to make a reservation over the phone, but it was literally impossible to get in touch with the restaurant. I finally managed to book a table of two, but then needed to revise up to a table of three and actually never managed to talk to anyone despite calling multiple days in a row. It wasn’t much of an issue though, as when we went in we ended up being the only table there for Sunday lunch.
The guy serving us was very kind and helpful with recommendations. I got a combination platter with three veggies and one meat. I chose the Doro Wet and per the recommendations, I believe I got the Yekik Alicha, Yatakilt Wet, and the Tikil Gommen. My friends got the Lega Tibs and the Yebeg Tibs.
We waited awhile for our food – probably 30 minutes, but I did enjoy my meal a fair bit. I kind of wish I didn’t get the combination platter, as I realized I really just don’t like vegetables – all protein for me please – and the combination platter gave me a lot less meat than my friends. Regardless, the one chicken leg I had in my plate was delicious and I was still very full after my meal.
The injera (the bread that replaces your utensils, lining the bottom of your tray) is very, very, tangy here. I don’t know if that’s the norm, but one of my friends actually disliked it and only used it to pick up his Lega Tibs. I also feel like I have slight trypophobia fear of clusters /​holes) and looking at the injera REALLY bothered me. Like, gave me shivers and I felt uncomfortable.
I didn’t love the cabbage veggie dish, but the split pea was quite tasty. The carrots in the other dish were good too. The Lega Tibs and Yebeg Tibs were well seasoned, though my friends didn’t feel like it was anything too different than regularly seasoned meat. Mind you, we’re all new to Ethiopian.
Overall, I had a nice experience for my first time eating Ethiopian, though I’m not sure I’d drive out 20 minutes to visit Blue Nile again. I wish it were easier to contact the restaurant though, and that the wait wasn’t so long. I would really love to bump Blue Nile up to a 4 star rating, but maybe next time, when I get more of my fill of protein…

So basically 2 people can eat a 2 people portion but if you don’t want to eat so much food you are in trouble. The whole concept of Ethiopian food is flawed here because u cannot share a combo for one. They don’t give anything extra for one person but you will be charged $ 5 per person to eat even a little. It’s stupid.
Food is similar to every Ethiopian restaurant around nothing extraordinary. We had lots of food left and ended up paying a lot even though we knew we won’t be able to eat.

Very solid food. Getting a vegetarian combination with a beef plate was the best thing to do for us. Beef was delicious and on the veggies really liked the peas.

I don’t like to give one star reviews. But I really cannot conceive a worse experience overall and it blows my mind to see this restaurant with so many 4 & 5 star reviews. Any time I go somewhere and it takes a painfully long time to even be acknowledged at the door (and this is NOT a big restaurant, maybe 10 tables total?) and even longer to even receive a glass of water, that’s usually a bad sign. I was willing to look past it in the moment because I was hungry and also the place was small and pretty slammed. But, really, we should’ve got up and walked out before we even ordered (I think we waited 10 minutes for menus even!). We spent two hours total in this restaurant. TWO HOURS. Everything about this two hours was painful — from the cramped space we were seated in, to waiting forever for the food, to the lackluster food that all tasted the same, to waiting for the check, to trying to get the check settled, so on and so forth.
This was my first time trying Ethiopian food but I do consider myself pretty open. I’ll eat pretty much anything so long as it sounds good and everything sounded legit to me. My friend and I split a 4-​option veggie combo (lentils, collard greens, cabbage, and a mix of veggies) and our other friend ordered the Misir wet. We were pretty vocal about how this was our first time and asked a lot of questions but she didn’t really seem interested in answering any of them and seemed perturbed. We really wish that the waitress was helpful in any capacity because, had we known that when our food finally arrived, that she would just dump the lentils in the middle of our platter when it was something we already ordered in our combo, we would’ve just ordered a larger veggie combo. The food wasn’t that great but, again, I don’t have much to measure it by as it was my first time. The only thing I liked on the plate was the collard greens. The bread had some sort of sour-​citrus taste to it that infiltrated everything. I’ve had stomach cramps ever since Friday night and it is now Monday. I’ve been unable to eat much and everyone in my group felt sick upon leaving.
This waitress… I don’t know if this was her first day, her first job, or what but she was completely lacking in hospitality and common sense. In addition to her inattentiveness, she took down our order wrong and then argued with us over what the food on the plate was. Listen, I may have been a first timer but I know what cabbage looks like and we didn’t receive any on our plates. Then, we asked if we could have plates or napkins (since we were offered neither) and the interaction went exactly like this:
WAITRESS: One plate?
FRIEND: No ma’am, may we please have three plates?
WAITRESS: So, one plate?
FRIEND: Three plates.
WAITRESS: Two plates?
FRIEND: There are three of us. Three please.
She sporadically filled up water (I asked her for a refill, she refilled my friend’s and not mine!), never brought napkins, etc. Getting the check was like pulling teeth. We just wanted to GTFO. When she finally did us the kindness of bringing it to the table, our friend was in the restroom. (My friend and I were treating the other friend.) I asked if we could split the check down the middle on two cards (even though this would slight me, I figured let’s keep it simple). She said this is fine. She stood over the table while I looked at the check, hovering over me. I placed it down and realized she was still standing there. Finally I realized that she expected us to give her payment ASAP even though everybody hadn’t seen the bill, so I had to explain to her that we weren’t ready (uh hello?). This was single handedly the most uncomfortable experience I’ve ever had — I think beyond common sense it’s just better time management to drop the check. When our friend came back and we put the two cards in the sleeve, she then came back and said, «OK, so I put it all on this card.» and points at my card. Tha fugg? I asked her if she could void out the transaction. She said no. So, then, because apparently she cannot be trusted with a credit card, I asked my friend if he could leave a cash tip but he only had a twenty. Ten minutes later, he asks her for change and she says the register only has nineteen dollars. What the f kind of establishment only has nineteen dollars in it on a Friday night before 7? I put the tip on my card and I’ve been checking my account like a hawk because I am so afraid she’s going to go on a shopping spree or add a zero to the number or something.
The one allowance I’ll give to Blue Nile (or, as I’ve been calling it «New Bile»): Everything seems to be cooked fresh/​to order and we were seated by a huge group, at least 6 people. This explains why it took two hours from being seated to leaving the restaurant, but overall, the experience was pretty inexcusable.

Charming Ethiopian spot on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain (Hyde Square). Be ready to eat sans silverware and enjoy the tangy injera (Ethiopian bread) as a fork, knife, and spoon. Options for meat lovers and vegetarians alike, with an extensive selection of vegetable dishes.
A few highlights are doro wet (chicken) and siga wet (beef). The injera delicately blends with the spice, sauce, and texture of the meat — tender and flavorful. The berbere sauce is similar to a thinner barbecue sauce with lots of garlic and ginger. Doro wet is also served with boiled eggs and onions. Two or more dishes can be served on the same tray of injera.

This was my first time trying Ethiopian food! I have no regret trying it, but the scent our entrée had was a but too much for me. It reminded me of Chinese herbal medicine. Samosa on the other hand was very delicious. I also ordered a blue nile pure honey wine of sort, which was a no no for me. Again, glad I tried it, sounded good, but no. However, this white grape something beverage we ordered was good; only problem with that was the glass it came in from. It’s not a wine, so give us more :(

Decided to try a new cuisine and found this place on Unilocal.It’s a small and cozy restaurant in Jamaica plain with lot of ethnic artifacts for décor. We dint have a reservation so v had to wait for about half an hour. The manager was really friendly and the food was yummy.
We were five people, when ordering the manager suggested we take 2 combos for two people each and suggested it will have enough food for all of us. We choose the veg combo for two with 6 entrees and the meat combo with chicken and lamb entrees.
Being an Indian, the food really suited our palettes and while ordering, the manger suggested food that we might like and he was spot on. The total bill came up to 70 bucks, pretty awesome considering wet were 5 of us and ask of us stuffed like a turkey by the end of the meal.
Overall it’s a great place to eat and doesn’t leave a hole in your pocket.

The four stars here is primary for the food. It was delicious. For our party of three, we went with the six-​option vegetarian platter ($ 28.99) and something that was made of the bread I think was called vegetable firfir ($ 12.99) It was also vegetarian. The vegetarian platter came with an appetizer of your choice. We selected the cold lentil salad which was SOOOO good. It was vinegary with some light spice and shallots. The vegetarian platter was huge and delicious. My friend ordered for us so I couldn’t really figure out what we were eating. The extra vegetarian dish we ordered was placed right in the middle. It was a mixture made primarily of the Ethiopian bread with jalapenos and some other really hot spices. It was heavy and I could have done without it. The truth is, the vegetarian platter for two with the appetizer is more than enough food for three people.
I would have given this place its full 5 stars but we were quite irritated with the service. In fact, I’m holding back on taking away another star. We arrived at 7pm on a Saturday night without a reservation. We were told they’re completely booked for the night but encouraged to wait for one of the parties to leave. The entire time, there was 1 – 2 tables that were empty. As other (larger) parties without reservations came through, they were seated. All the while, we were the only small group waiting inside the restaurant for a seat. We didn’t want to stand outside because people were smoking. After 35 – 40 minutes of this, my friend finally asked what was going on and we were told to finally sit down at one of the tables that was empty (!). To top it off, when we ordered and asked if we could have the six-​option vegetarian option for three people, the waiter (who had us waiting) encouraged us to order the mixed bread vegetarian dish. There was confusion and a lot of attitude about it. Essentially, we could have just ordered the vegetarian platter for two and a separate one for one person. The waiter actually said out loud, «Do you want to have a lot of leftover food?» in a really sarcastic tone. It wasn’t appreciated at all. The waitress, on the other hand, was so nice and helpful.

Yum! I pass by this place all the time and I am so happy that I finally decided to try it out. The veggie combo was delicious. I tried the lentil, chick pea, collard greens and cabbage. The lentils were perfectly spicy and delicious. My boyfriend had one of the beef dishes and he loved it as well.
I have never eaten with my hands but it was actually a pretty cool experience.
Portions are very generous. One plate could easily feed two or make for yummy leftovers (writing this as I am currently enjoying mine).
Service was a little slow because food is made to order, but very friendly. The honey wine is also amazing. Definitely will be coming back to try more veggie dishes.

Decided on a whim to meet up with a friend and try a different cuisine for once. Took the train to Jackson sq and it was about a 10 minute walk up the street from the station.
The place is very small and extra cozy (you’ll be back to back or elbow to elbow with other diners). This is a local mom and pop restaurant and it seems that the owner himself is very involved with his business serving and managing. I had to wait for about an hour for my friend and he was so nice to bring out an appetizer on the house for me (pity is not so bad sometimes)
When it was time to eat, we had:
— lentil salad app
— sambocha
— meat combo: Ye Siga Alicha (sauteed beef) w/​3 veggie combos yekik alicha, shiro wet and one more I forgot.
These were all served with their bread, injera which is like a soft, flat, porous, spongier tortilla and that’s the best way to describe it. It’s definitely a different taste because it has a sour finish to it. The lentil salad was very good, the sauce was light and zesty. The sambocha was lentils and beef wrapped up in a thin phyllo dough. I wasn’t a big fan of it — the flavors didn’t particularly stand out to me.
The main dish comes out on this huge tray with the injera bread laid out with all of the ordered dishes nicely placed on top. This is a UTENSILS-​FREE place so get use to it. I really enjoyed the Ye Siga Alicha, great seasoning and went great with the bread. As for the veggies it sorted ended up tasting all similar to me. Not bashing the food but I don’t think these were the right dishes for me I’m a meat lover and this is a menu that is great for vegetarians.
This is a place worth trying out if you’re looking for something new to try and open to different foods. They did charge us an extra $ 5 for ordering the combo and the sambocha app for one person to share between 2 people. The sambocha app literally came out with 2 pieces so that was disappointing but the meat combo really filled up two stomachs so it was worth the extra money.

This was our first time at Blue Nile and i must I loved everything we ordered. The first time we had Ethiopian food was at Red sea adias near porter square no longer open so we decided to give blue nile a try after all the good reviews.
The place is in south Boston and you can feel it as soon as you park your car. The area is alright at best and you will find some nuts walking the street and among all this is the BLUE NILE. it is a small place probably 6 tables at best.
The servers a guy and a girl were pretty nice. we were delayed in getting menu as either one thought the other one had given it to us but that was minor and i cant complain but at that point in time we were feeling ignored but then it seemed a honest mistake and not ignorance.
We ordered the Vegetarian platter for 2 along with an app. of lentil salad. The food was extremely good and was not bland at all. for platters we got cracked wheat, carrots with string beans, yellow lentils Dal with ginger and garlic, cabbage with sweet potatoes, sunflower and flax seed mixed with ginger, garlic, jalenpeno and a dish with their iejera bread (spell check there)
overall we had good experience. One complain which takes away the 5 stars is that they only had one chicken dish and that too with bone in compared to some other ethopian places which has like around 3 chicken dishes .
I would recommend to visit this place. You will love it.,