Eat Great Cheap 2015Imagine a neighborhood cafe—breakfast served all day, a steady stream of customers at any hour, no-frills yet convivial. Add homey Eritrean cooking and you have Keren. The cozy, golden-hued space is a pleasant place to linger, starting in the morning when the kitchen roasts and grinds chicory coffee and turns out specialties such as eggs with silsi, a spicy tomato sauce, or ful, a hearty fava-bean mash best topped with tomato, jalapeño, and yogurt. Those familiar with Ethiopian fare won’t be lost when it comes to entrées, with dishes like fiery tibs—cubed beef fried with plenty of onion and jalapeño—best washed down with a St. George Beer. But if you need guidance, the friendly staff is eager to help.
Cuisine: Eritrean
Where you can get it: 1780 Florida Ave., NW; 202-265-5764
Also good: Keren Special (vegetarian combo with special tibs); fatta silsi (chopped bread with spicy tomato sauce).
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
