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Gojo (Ethiopian cuisine)  $$

 8
JaT Rating

1261 W San Carlos St, San Jose, 95126  (Directions)


408.295.9546


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Traditional Ethiopian home cooking set in San Jose


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 4/12/2007
Rating: 8
My photo gallery 		San Jose has a number of Ethiopian restaurants in the area and from what I hear, they are all very good. I owed Adam a lunch for picking me up at the airport so I repaid the favor with lunch at Gojo. Accompanied on the trip was my co-worker Chris as he showed interest in trying exotic food.

The restaurant is divided into 2 sections, the more traditional eating area with stools and dome-shaped straw silos and the other side with regular dining tables. Adam sat at the regular section and I was like...c'mon get with the program and we switched.

We started off with Special Beer (light, image 4) and Hakim Stout (dark, image 5). Just to give you a quick rundown on today's Ethiopian food. It's best to skip forks and and use injera (image 6) as utensils. Injera is a spongy-like pancake that has a slight sour taste to it. You tear a small piece and scoop up the wots (stewed veggies or meats). The best injera is the stuff thats under the wots.

There were 3 of us today and since it's family style, we made sure we'd order different items.

Meat Combination ($8.75) - 3 different meats; lamb, beef, and chicken. It's picture 8, the bottom left corner. All meats were tender with little effort to chew. 2 of the meats; chicken and beef had some burn. If you're sensitive to heat, don't eat the shiny green things. Who knows that types of herbs and spices they use but I can offer you this, the heat is a slow burn and you get to try 3 different types of meat. Find out which meat you, on your next visit, ordering made easy. It's an excellent dish if you're unsure what to try.

Special Kitfo ($9.50, image 7) - gomen kitfo (collard greens), homemade cheese, and ground beef (cooked medium). The collard greens are a favorite with me. If it's your 1st visit, highly recommend ordering a gomen kitfo. The cheese looked like feta and could be used to extinguish the spicy ground beef. The waiter asked about the spiciness and even laughed. The menu describes the beef as lean and serving choice of raw, medium, or well done. I asked for medium but it came out well done and drowning in oil. I can understand oil/fat = flavor but this needs to be drained out. I made my Ethiopian taco; rip small piece of injera, cradle it, place ground beef, collard greens, and cheese. I'd repeat order again if they would do less oil.

Veggie Combo($8) - lentils, split peas, and cabbage/potatoes/carrots. This is the perfect compliment for the meat combo. Each wot had their own flavoring offering unique tastes in each bite. Spicy lentils were my favorite followed closely by the yellow split peas. I wouldn't doubt this is one of the most ordered dishes. Super good.

For lunch, you can get by at under $12 with tip. The food is very good and portion size adequate enough to put fill large appetites. Service can be compared to eating at a friend's house. We had a fun time and it's an easy recommendation for Gojo.
 
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