Blue Nile Restaurant

We went to Blue Nile while visiting friends in Boston. We have an Ethiopian place we love in St. Louis so we decided to compare the two. They both offer a vegetarian injera combo platter--Blue Nile's veggies weren't as flavorful. Our gomen wat (greens) in particular were very bland. The misir wat (red lentils) had good seasoning and a little spice, and out of all the vegetarian sides was our favorite and would be my recommendation. The yelik alicha (yellow split pea) needed seasoning though, and the tikil gommen (cabbage) and yatakilt wat (carrots) could've been saltier/sweeter respectively, but these were ok. The vegetarian dishes overall didn't give the feeling of "wow you could have a great completely vegetarian meal" that I expected. On the other hand, Blue Nile's veggie platter also came with a side salad that looked boring but was dressed well. The meat at Blue Nile was spiced better than the veggies, and in both the lega tibs (beef) and yebeg tibs (lamb) the tomatoes and onions mixed nicely. Some of the beef was tough, but the lamb with tomatoes and onions was the standout.Finally the injera itself I would've preferred less dry/more squishy.It's still a lot of fun to eat in a group of 4, since everyone can reach over and grab everything. It's a nice place to share food and talk. It was open to the air during what felt like an unpleasant Boston summer - kind of hot and humid, including inside Blue Nile - so I felt a bit sticky. The servers constantly refilled our cold water though which helped us stay cool. In general the service was nice and helped resolve some confusion with our order. On a side note, and this is probably simply a STL vs Boston thing, I felt like the portions at Blue Nike were smaller for the price. And Meskerem (our STL place) serves quickly, like they have most of the veggies made already, whereas Blue Nile took ~30 min (but maybe because we got vegetarian at Meskerem but meat here). Still fun overall but again as a venue it was humid.

The restaurant is cozy and a reservation is a must. Street parking can be a little difficult in the area. The interior gave a nice impression and the staff were attentive.Once ordered, the food comes out quickly. My fiancée and I got the Dora (Chicken) and Lega (Beef) Tibs Combo and they put it together on a large injera with extra injera on the side. We got the Misir and Shiro Wat and we both loved the Misir Wat a lot more, it had a lot more flavor. The chicken and beef came out warm, I would have preferred if they were hot. I enjoyed mixing the different combinations together. Overall this is a great experience for Ethiopian food.

What a great Ethiopian staple in the neighborhood. Food was tasty, service friendly. Definitely worth visiting!

The food was super bland this time, especially the veggie combo and the lentil appetizer. Just seemed like there was no seasoning. Even the spicy lamb was not spicy. Service was very good even though the restaurant was packed. Parking is never easy there but a few spots on the same street opened up around 7:45pm (Thursday). There's a Whole Foods nearby but I don't know if I would risk parking there.

Honestly disappointing. Got siga wot, doro wot, and side of misir. They did not have kitfo, one of our favorite dishes, but we generally enjoy the other dishes as well so we were happy to try them here. Honestly was on the bland side, which is shocking for Ethiopian food, although the siga wot was somewhat more flavorful. Didn't have any classic buttery or umami + berbere strong spice notes, just a more generic mild spice. Also only two very small chicken drumsticks in the doro wot, surprising given the price, and a very small couple of spoonfuls of misir on the side. We have eaten a lot of Ethiopian food in many cities, particularly numerous times in DC, and this fell very short of our expectations. I was disappointed enough to let my partner finish most of it and try the Ethiopian Cafe nearby, which was much more in line with our expectations.On the plus side, service was fast and kind. Thank you to our server.

This was my 2nd time having Ethiopian food and Blue Nile did not disappoint! The menu was a but difficult to navigate, but our waitress kindly explained how to order. We ordered the veggie combo with doro tibs (chicken). Loved the misir wet (red lentils) the most, but everything was delicious. It is a classy casual restaurant, and was not very busy the Sunday afternoon I went to eat. This is a great spot to grab a meal with a friend or group!

Cute interior. Not a ton of seating, so reservation is recommended. The staff was very friendly. Food was served very very quickly, so it was definitely prepped and cooked ahead of time. The food was good, but I felt it could've had more flavor, especially the meats. The service was pretty good, we had 2 servers and I asked both of them for a fork, yet didn't get my fork until the end of the meal. I am giving 4 stars because it was much better than 2 other Ethiopian restaurants I've been to in greater Boston.

Somewhat intimidating at first since the menu didn't really have descriptions on anything (even though the online menu does?). So was kind of fumbling through my phone figuring out what to get, and plus have a chick pea / chick pea flour allergy which some of the items have.The waiter though was very friendly, asked if first time eating Ethiopian (YES!), and told him about my allergy and was accommodating. So, intimidation disappeared after that, went for the veggie combo.I looked to my left table and noticed was either their doro (chicken) or siga (tenderloin), and was thinking next time I got to try those out. I live right around the corner too so definitely ordering soon.Injira is an interesting thing. It reminds me tastewise like indian appam cooked, but more filling. Love it!The Misir and the Ye'kik Alicha were the top two items. The Gomen and Yatakilt were OK, not as much flavor as the other two. Great food though overall, recommend it.

I've been here twice and I can say the service was amazing. The second time the waitress remembered us. The food was great as to be expected. It's no wonder why they were rated best of Boston. Thank you Blue Nile for being kind and give us such a great dinner experience. Thank you thank you!

Visited Blue Nile on May 11th for Mother's Day Dinner. We travelled from the Cape and it was well worth the traffic on a Saturday night. Fabulous! The food was stellar. The service was excellent. The ambience of the small space was great. I would definitely travel back for dinner again. EXCELLENT!!!!