Red Sea Restaurant

African Eats on Washington Ave in Portland

On a day that was damp, gray, and chilly, with hands and toes numb from being outside traipsing through the snow on showings, I needed something hot and spicy to warm me up. As soon as I entered this restaurant that I had stumbled upon, the wafting aroma of pungent seasonings and spices enveloped me, teasing me to taste everything on the menu. The Red Sea Restaurant (currently take out only), a small family owned restaurant, offers a simple menu of Eritrea cuisine based on Eritrea’s native culinary traditions and shares similarities with Ethiopia and other African countries. Eritrea is a Northeast African country on the Red Sea Coast sharing borders with Ethiopia and Sudan. But enough of the geography lesson, let’s get back to the food. My favorite thing to try was the Zigni, a beef or lamb stew (I had the lamb) simmered in a red pepper sauce with Eritrean spices, served with Injera, a flatbread for dipping. It was hearty and warm for the body and soul; just what I needed.