Lucy's Lair | Ethiopian Cuisine

What's it like?

After much discussion of eccentric ethnic foods around town, Lucy's was thrown out as an option.  And never being one to miss out on exotic foods I jumped at the opportunity to try something new.  We arrive to a bare parking lot and walk into an oddly decorated but comfortable restaurant.  It had very obviously taken over an eatery of a completely different genre with checker floors and lots of black and white decorum led me to think it might have been an ice cream parlor in a previous life.  But Ethiopian masks brown accent draperies, and other pieces bring a bit of the culture to the valley.  

A waiter greets us with a smile an tells us we can sit anywhere, so we sit at a tall round two person table in the corner.  Behind us is a party of six talking, laughing and enjoying their dinner.  What they were eating in front of them was food unlike any presentation I had ever seen.  But to keep from being rude I only glanced quickly, then returned my attention to my date.  The waiter brings out waters and a couple menus and lets us peruse the dishes.  (I was unfortunately unable to get a copy of the menu to go, so this will all be from memory... my very poor memory.)  The selection was primarily broken up in halves; vegan and meat dishes, then the back of the menu consisted of various standard drinks and a $19 coffee (Something to do with the presentation.  Read the back of the menu for more information) which I was very intrigued with.  We ordered four veggie portions and a single meat dish to share.  

There was a mildly spicy lentil, potato and cabbage, onion and tomato, and spinach portion which we matched with a chicken dish rounding out our choices.  Without much time passing the waiter brings out a large tray with each portion separated into little piles surrounding salad all on top of a spongey flat bread.  In a side basket was more of the flat bread rolled into what appear similar to brown Ho-Ho's sans the chocolate coating.  The primary design and the best part of the presentation was that it's all served to be communal.  No silverware.  You get a napkin, and you ultimately dive in with your fingers making it an experience using all the senses.  

A quick rundown of my reactions to the food from least to most favorite.  

• The spinach was okay.  I'm apparently not much of a spinach guy outside of salad.
• The lentil portion was decent, slightly spicy but a little pasty.
• There was the tomato with onion is a lemony olive oil dressing served cold.  Tasted a lot like salsa, but was quite good.  
• My favorite of the veggie portions was the potato and cabbage.  Wonderful flavor, a little spicy, vibrant yellow... reminded me a little of indian food.
• Of all of them the chicken was the best.  Very spicy, tender chicken mixed with large pieces of chopped onion.  

Overall I was very impressed with the food, the presentation is fun and makes the meal that much more of a conversation piece.  With a group of four or more... it would be quite an experience.  Wonderful, patient waiter open to questions if we had any, promptly and often filling our drinks without being asked.  After all was said and done, the two of us spent about $30 plus tip, and left with a large container of leftovers which I'm eating as I write this review.  Tasty!!  

I highly recommend Lucy's Lair to anyone wanting a completely different dinner that isn't even remotely similar to any of the standard fare Fresno has to offer.