Almaz Café, now open in Rittenhouse square, offers exciting and fun–to–eat options. The small cafe is only a step up in size from a mere hole in the wall. Once you pass the few outdoor tables sitting on the side of 20th Street. (highly recommended on a nice day), the bottom floor is no more than a bar facing the window — a perfect place to grab a bite alone and watch people bustle by. Yet Almaz café has cleverly incorporated a lofted second floor as an escape from the street life. And it works.
Hummus lovers, get excited. The food is adventurous, especially for Rittenhouse Square, and it’s successful. The menu ranges from a basic bagel or omelette breakfast to classic Ethiopian dishes; it’s an interesting mix of dishes, but they’re all delicious. The dorowat ($13.50), a stew with chicken marinated in lemon with seasoned butter and stewed in a red pepper sauce, is a scrumptious ethnic treat. The chicken is incredibly tender, and, once off the bone, melts into the red pepper sauce smoothly.
Beyond just the taste, eating has never been more fun than at Almaz Café. Ethiopian food involves grabbing a piece of flavorful yeasty bread and wrapping it around the chicken covered in pepper sauce. But use your hands — it tastes half as good if you use utensils. The non–Ethiopian options are also good. My partner in crime ordered a BBQ chicken wrap ($7.75), a forgettable spinach wrap save for some delectable chicken. No need to go to Rittenhouse to get a pretty good chicken wrap.
The general flexibility of Almaz Café gives it one final edge. A wonderful place for a messy date, or a great place to hang out with your roommates for the afternoon, you can’t go wrong with Almaz. And whomever you are with, absolutely don’t miss the anti–stress smoothie ($4.50). You can ask what’s in it, but the magic derives from the mystery.
In a city where you can find almost any type of food, and the word ethnic seems to describe every meal, Almaz Café is one place where you can truly find something new and what Flanders from the Simpsons would giddily describe as scrum–diddly–umptious.
Almaz CafÉ 140 S. 20th St. (215) 557–0108 Don’t Miss: Firfir ($13.50) and anti–stress smoothie Skip This: Anything not Ethiopian $$
