Beteseb Ethiopian Restaurant

Twenty-five years after we first tried Ethiopian food at restaurants in Chicago and Washington DC, and after too many subsequent meals to count elsewhere, we felt as if we were experiencing the cuisine again for the first time when we visited Beteseb, a young family-owned restaurant in Anaheim. Without any disrespect to its older Ethiopian neighbors in Anaheim and near-neighbors in Los Angeles’s Little Ethiopia, Beteseb’s flawless use of higher-quality beef and willingness to go hot with spices (on request) make its dishes superior in both texture and flavor to any others we’ve found in this country.

We’re not exaggerating. Between Tibs sliced and cooked beef with onions, minced raw beef piles named Kitfo, and Gored Gored cubed raw beef, all prepared from scratch to order – frequently requiring 30 minutes of prep time – these are the best Ethiopian meats we’ve ever tasted, anywhere, and in top three territory for best meats we’ve ever had, anywhere. This is the type of powerful, standard-setting food that makes you question whether you’ve really experienced a cuisine properly before – we would only say yes because we’ve gone out of our way to try Ethiopian everywhere we’ve found it (shy of traveling to Ethiopia), and even though we’ve frequently loved it, Beteseb generally does beef 15% to 25% better.

That having been said, Beteseb’s super small, 12-item menu only has one fish option – a whole fried fish served with sliced lemons – and one chicken option, Doro Wot, traditionally stewed chicken. Both are fine, rather than special, and there are no lamb items. Many Ethiopian places offer cooked lamb tibs, which tend to be delicious; Beteseb doesn’t.

It’s possible to enjoy Beteseb solely on the strength of its vegetarian items, which are less distinctive than its meats but cover standard bases – lentils, peas, collard greens, cabbage, and cottage cheese – more than acceptably. Everything is eaten by pinching food from a communal place using torn-off pieces of injera bread, which is always served fresh and spongy here, typically at no additional charge with whatever entrees you order. On weekends, Beteseb also makes giant loaves of Himbasha, a thick, dense, and sweet Ethiopian honey-wheat bread that can be taken home or (partially) consumed in the small dining room.