Lilypad On The Run Food Truck

Never had Ethiopian food before but there's a first time for everything. And like most of my first times, I wondered what took me so long to indulge in this delicious cuisine.Brief overview of Ethiopian cuisine: wats (meaty thick stews), veggies, & injera (sourdough flatbread). Those are the items, at least with Combo 3-item which I was lucky to order (the 4-item looked like too much food). The wats were a thick beef stew with a side of lentil stew and collard greens. All the items had that flavor of nice spices (chili powder, ginger, cumin I think). The collard greens were awesome and the beef was very tender. Portion sizes are quite large so your tummy will fill up and you'll likely get pregnant with a good baby.The Injera looks like a dish rag but don't judge it by its cover: it's perfect for soaking up the wats and veggies. I think it should be put in a separate container, they put it on top of the food and then box it up so if you don't eat it within the next 5-10 minutes, it becomes soggy and wet.... like a dish rag. Still tasty but not like it's original form. Suggestion is to keep em separated during boxing up the food until time to indulge.My advice to those who are hesitant about tasting this: if you like adventurous spices and unique textures/flavors, give this a try. Or go stick with your boring Burgers/Fry combo.

This was a lunch of firsts; the first time I've eaten Ethiopian sans tummy ache, the first time my "I used to live in Ethiopia, I'm all knowing about their food" friend was satisfied, and the first time for my toddler to have injera (she's a fan like mommy).I had the doro wot and my friend had the tibs- both were phenomenal! The doro wot came with an egg which I thought would be gross, but it complimented the dish very nicely. There was plenty of injera for the meal which was a lot larger and more filling than it appeared. I'm so glad that we were given wet wipes and eating outside was a huge bonus! Can't wait to come back!

I found a piece of broken glass in my food, which is a real shame, because it was otherwise delicious. The lentils were a little on the spicy side for a "mild" dish. It wasn't the best Ethiopian food I've ever had, but it wasn't the worst, and it was my first Ethiopian food truck. Had I not bit down on glass (thankfully not the sharp end), I would have given them four stars.

For a food truck this place is awesome. Fulfills a strong craving for Ethiopian when visiting DC for a short period of time. Tried the #2 tray that came with 1 meat and 2 veggies. The meat was flavorful and had nice big chunks of beef. The lentils were also quite tasty and a great side to the beef. I normally love collard greens but the one I got today didn't have as much flavor as usual but I ate all of it so it clearly wasn't bad. This is my second visit to the truck and I enjoyed every bite. Plenty of injira served with it and very friendly folks on the truck. Highly recommended and will be back on next visit.

This place is still struggling with execution. I would have hoped that in the past few months of operation that LilyPad would have improved their service but, alas, they have not.I will echo others - the menu is an odd mishmash of items and "Stewed" chicken sandwiches just DON'T sound appealing (nor does the truck picture LOOK appealing). Today our group sampled the: Steak and Gorgonzola Sandwich, Grilled Chicken Sandwich, and the Stewed Lamb on Rice.Ordering was confusing at best - though we were the only ones ordering, the vendor had to ask 2-3 times to verify our orders - even 5 minutes after the orders were placed. Not a good start. Additionally, they didn't have enough singles to make change for the food orders. Really? I tried to be a good Samaritan and gave them $5 in singles to help out... Another big minus... no NAPKINS?On to the food...Steak and Gorgonzola was not bad, per se but it lacked flavor. Additionally, the "Gorgonzola" was (what appeared in taste and texture) to be provolone which is too bad because the Gorgonzola might have given it the flavor punch it needed. There was no indication of the described "spicy" sauce and the meat could use seasoning and for $8 dollars I would have expected a much more substantial sandwich - especially given some of the other similarly priced offerings (which are packed with flavor) such as the substantial Tripleta from Borinquen Lunch Box (http://www.yelp.com/biz/borinquen-lunch-box-washington#query:tripleta) or the monstrous, food coma inducing sandwiches from Carnivore BBQ (http://www.yelp.com/biz/carnivore-bbq-washington)Chicken sandwich was reported as fairly moist but had little flavor. Both in the group that had it needed more sauce, "or something". One "average" and one thumbs down for overall assessment of the two chicken sandwiches. Both noted that the bread was "pretty good".Stewed Lamb had a decent flavor but the chickpeas served on the side were stone cold and did not taste good. Dressing on side salad tasted of uninspired WishBone Italian. The biggest detractor for this dish was the huge amount of bone shards in the meat. Chunks of bones are one thing - but small, perforate your insides, bones that hide in the dish make for an unpleasant hunting expedition while you eat. 11 bone shards were leftover at the end of the meal (see picture).A Final note - the website...Wow, this needs some serious work (http://www.goodfoodpeter.yolasite.com/) The pictures, while nice and very well shot, are not representative of the food, nor did I see any indication of most of the dishes shown, and the online menu is downright laughable because of the rampant typos such as: "SERVED SEASONEBLE VEGETABLE S", "lattes tomato may", and "mild spicy parmesan cheese". Take the time to get someone to proof-read your site since this may be a customer's first exposure to your business.I probably wont be going back to this truck (unless I see some drastic changes in reviews or menu) - and probably should have trusted my fellow yelpers in the first place, but I wanted to at least give LilyPad the benefit of the doubt.

4.5 starsLilypad is a solid contender in the Ethiopian food truck trend. The green beans and carrots are the best veggie here, and the tibs are awesome. I usually get the four veggie combo for a normal sized lunch and splurge for the lamb or beef tibs when I'm ravenous. Their lamb is especially good here. They have huge portions, so watch out for food coma post lunch. If you haven't tried something before, the staff is super friendly and will usually give you a sample. Combo meals (they're ALL combo meals, btw) run $8-11+tax. Why not five stars? For some reason, their veggies are harder to pick up with the injera than at other places and the meat can be on the greasier side. I'm also can't satisfy my Ethiopian cabbage fix, since they don't carry it anymore. I also am not a fan of the cinnamon-esque flavor in the red lentils, but that's just my personal taste.

Lilypad went to a 100% Ethopian menu in 2013, so please note that what I ordered and reviewed is no longer available.

I really like this food truck. The owner is very friendly. I ordered the veggie combo--3 items and they were delicious. My favorite is the gomen. I had more than enough food for the next day. I shall return the next time they're in or around the Golden Triangle!

Years ago, I could only access Ethiopian food by going to Adams Morgan. Now that I work in DC, I have realized that there are quite a few food trucks with Ethiopian food, and this is the one I frequent the most! I always enjoy the veggie platter, and they provide plenty of injera. I get to enjoy flavors that I never get to have otherwise, and I always finish full and satisfied. There's never a long wait, and the servers are always very nice. I would recommend this truck for anyone who likes Ethiopian food, or anyone who wants to try something new!

Ordered lamb tibs, with spinach, yellow peas, and tomato salad as sides.Spinach and peas were bland and stale; had probably been prepared much earlier in the week. Tomato salad was basic, pepped up by an unnecessary amount of spice that overrode the natural flavor of the salad. Lamb was chewy and tough.More importantly: multiple bouts of diarrhea within 3 hours of meal.