Shagga Coffee & Restaurant, Ethiopian on Route 1 and Oliver Street in Hyattsville

[Shaho]

Shagga is located near the intersection of Routes 1 and 410, just a few minutes south of College Park. As a disclaimer, this is my only experience with Ethiopian food to date, but it's set the bar high for sure.

I've only ever tried one dish here, and the Vegetarian Combination is so good that I almost can't imagine getting anything else. Nine different items laid out on injera, each perfectly cooked and seasoned, for the price of a single entree (you can double it for two, although one order may be enough to share if you're not starving). Some cold items, like a house salad, beets, and lentils. Some cooked or stewed items, such as split peas, collard greens, potatoes, cabbage and carrots, string beans and carrots, and chickpeas. A fine balance of sweet, sour, savory, and spicy across the board. Also visually striking with the multitude of colors. It's served with injera on the side, which is helpful because the bread on the bottom tends to get too soggy to be enjoyable, despite soaking up so many flavors.

[darkstar965]

Shagga is located near the intersection of Routes 1 and 410, just a few minutes south of College Park. As a disclaimer, this is my only experience with Ethiopian food to date, but it's set the bar high for sure.

I've only ever tried one dish here, and the Vegetarian Combination is so good that I almost can't imagine getting anything else. Nine different items laid out on injera, each perfectly cooked and seasoned, for the price of a single entree (you can double it for two, although one order may be enough to share if you're not starving). Some cold items, like a house salad, beets, and lentils. Some cooked or stewed items, such as split peas, collard greens, potatoes, cabbage and carrots, string beans and carrots, and chickpeas. A fine balance of sweet, sour, savory, and spicy across the board. Also visually striking with the multitude of colors. It's served with injera on the side, which is helpful because the bread on the bottom tends to get too soggy to be enjoyable, despite soaking up so many flavors.

Thanks for the post. Sounds like a good find. One question.

Given the name of the place, can you comment at all on the coffee program? Ethiopia is, of course, one of the world's great (and first) coffee-growing regions. Sidamo kind of led the way here in DC in introducing excellent, house-roasted Ethioian beans. Others, like two in Silver Spring, are Ethiopian owned. And, now pretty standard for any quality regional (Ceremony, Vigilante, Mad Cap) or national (Counter Culture, Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Blue Bottle, Novo) roaster to regularly feature Ethiopian coffees we see in all the local independents.

So, what do these guys do around coffee? Do they roast? Coffee shop by day? Just a pot kept warm?

Thanks again. Coffee aside, sounds like some excellent grub.