Gosh Ethiopian Restaurant

Feb. 17, 2011 Spotlight:

As someone who feared that I might constitute the entire pent-up demand for Ethiopian food in Knoxville, I was pleasantly surprised to find Gosh completely packed on just its second Friday night in business. And as someone who feared that Knoxville’s first-ever Ethiopian place might turn out to be a disappointment, I was happy to find that it delivers a completely respectable—which is to say, delicious—rendition of the cuisine. If you’ve had Ethiopian food before, you know what to expect: an assortment of stews, vegetarian or otherwise, served on spongy, sourdough injera bread. (You eat sans utensils, by scooping up the food with the pancakey bread. Kids love this.) There’s pretty much nothing by way of atmosphere. Gosh is in a fluorescent-lit storefront next to Holy Land Market on Sutherland Avenue, and apart from some African prints on the walls you might as well be in a school cafeteria. But when the next-closest place to get a decent Ethiopian dinner is Nashville or Atlanta, you don’t fuss about the décor. My dining companion and I started with an appetizer of timatim fitfit, a spicy salad of peppers, tomatoes, and shredded injera. Then we shared a double order of the vegetarian platter, which included samples of the entire non-carnivorous side of the menu. (Being vegetarian, I cannot attest to the quality of the meat dishes.) The atkilt wot, a curried mixture of cabbage, carrots, and potatoes, was very good, as was the red, peppery shiro wot (split peas with berbere sauce). And as always, once the side orders of bread had been put to use, the real fun came in ripping pieces of injera right off the platter, much of it already soaked in the juices of the various veggies. On the drinks side, they offer beer, but as of last weekend a permit to serve wine was still pending. In any case, this is a welcome addition to the local restaurant repertoire. I hope the weekend crowds were a sign it will stay there. (Jesse Fox Mayshark)

Restaurant Details

Locally Owned	Wifi	Patio	Live Music	Accepts Reservations	Party Room (20+)

Kids Menu	Delivers	Buffet	Waterfront	Vegetarian Dishes	Vegan Dishes