Cafe De Lagar

My first exposure to Ethiopian food, it has long set the standard for me when comparing to other restaurants, even in Berkeley/​Oakland where — I am told — the largest community of Ethiopians outside of Addis Ababa resides.
I think I couldn’t have been older than 12 or 13 when my dad and my brother and I are driving down El Cajon Blvd — far from our usual stomping grounds, and he says «I think there are many Ethiopian restaurants along this stretch… do you want to try Ethiopian food»…this was around the time that I was breaking out of the young, finicky and unadventurous mode into the more exotic. So… suuure we can try it.
So we go inside… and it was mid-​day as I recall so no other people there but us… a woman seats us. Not a whole lot to the décor — there’s a stage raised above the main floor since they must have music or something at nights or on the weekend. Not sure if this is a part of town I’d want to be in at any other time but methinks that was part of the charm.
We don’t know what to order other than what looks good from the description and from what little my dad could remember… Doro W’et, Tibs W’et, — which if memory serves are both chicken and lamb, respectively, cooked in spices and a light tomato sauce. Gored Gored… i know we had that. Awesome. Zilzil (which I think is more stew-​like) comes to mind… and then Kitfo which they will ask you if you want cooked since it sometimes comes raw — is like a ground beef. You’ll eat with your hands as your utensil/​scooping mechanism is the endless injera bread. Since everything comes on top of injera… the best is when the sauce/​juices are absorbed by the bread and you attack that middle part of the plate. Oh so flavorful.
So…I’m not sure if this is one of those «your first experience is always the best» kind of things, but I just have terrific memories of Café de Lagar and remember everything being tasty and wanting to go back. Perhaps next time I’m in San Diego I will venture here — I miss it.