Friday, March 21, 2014

Horn of Africa restaurant in Portland

My husband and I happened upon this little gem last month.  I was looking for a new ethnic restaurant to try based on reviews from other gluten free people on Yelp.



The Horn Of Africa is in NE Portland right off of MLK Blvd.  It is actually in a little strip mall of businesses, so I wasn't sure what to expect when we walked in.  It had a cool, open interior and we were greeted by the owner, Mohamed.  He let us choose our seat and browse the menu.


A few minutes later, Mohamed came to our table and I explained that I was gluten free and stressed the importance of cross contamination.  It turns out Mohamed is also strictly gluten free, so he was very aware of my dietary restrictions.

After speaking with Mohamed, we let him choose what we ate.  We ordered a platter of 7 dishes served over a bed of  saffron basmati rice.  I love meals where I can try a lot of different dishes! There were vegetarian, chicken and lamb dishes.

It was a huge platter.  And I mean huge.  We ate straight off of the platter with a fork.  Each sampling items, then spinning the platter a bit to eat off of the other side.



My husband got a side of Ethiopian spongy bread.  He liked it a lot. He said it had a nice sourdough flavor.



We went on a weeknight and it wasn't very busy, but Mohamed did tell us that on weekends, or if you call ahead, they do have gluten free flat bread.  As Mohamed told us, "It is 110% gluten free!!"  He is really wonderful to talk to, he has a lot of personality, is very friendly and a great story teller.  We were also able to meet the chef, Mohamed's wife, Khadija, who was also very friendly.

I love supporting small businesses and it is a bonus that Mohamed buys as much local, organic ingredients as he can.  I felt the prices were very good for the quality of food we were served.  And, as always, I love when I eat somewhere new and not get sick.  We are definitely going back soon so I can try that GF flat bread!

You can call The Horn of Africa at 503-331-9844 on a weekday to request that the GF flatbread is available.  They are easy to find at

5237 NE M.L.King Blvd
Portland, OR 97211


Check out their website:
http://www.hornofafrica.net/



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