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By Danielle Bussone

Excellent Table, located in Blacksburg, VA, is an authentic Ethiopian restaurant we visited en-route to D.C.  It was our first stop in our short Ethiopian tour of Interstate 81 from Abingdon, VA to the Washington, D.C. area.  Excellent table is a small restaurant squeezed in among others. It is almost exclusively a take-out restaurant, though there is one table for four and a bar with a row of chairs facing the window, which is where we ate.

The food was very good. Excellent Table is a little more expensive than other Ethiopian restaurants we have visited but is still not over the top. The higher prices may have to do with the fact that the owner/chef uses fresh, mostly organic ingredients. She finds organic produce from many sources but prefers to depend on the local Farmer’s Market, which is literally right outside her door. She uses conventional only when organic is not available.  The tofu and lentils are organic as well.  She uses canola oil in her cooking as well as the occasional use of olive oil and grape seed oil for special dishes. Excellent Table is the only Ethiopian restaurant we found within nearly a 150 mile radius of Blacksburg, VA.

Excellent Table is a one woman operation and, believe me, this woman is busy! The owner  is Haregewin Bekele. She came to the United States from Ethiopia when she was sixteen years old.  Her father was a picky eater so her family always had an extensive menu at home. On most days she serves eight vegan dishes (all her vegetarian dishes are vegan), and there are plenty  of options for your carnivorous companions. Each dish comes in 4 oz portions along with a side dish. The side dish is usually a daily vegan item which is served cold.  Everything is served on injera, a wonderful spongy Ethiopian flatbread and you get an extra injera on the side which serves as your utensil.  Ethiopian food is served on a twelve inch communal plater and  is eaten with your hands. For larger groups of 4-6, it is served on a 14″ inch platter.

You have the option of  a vegetarian entree, without a side for $6.99. Two entrees are served with a side dish and 1 injera for $10.99.  A couple can get a choice of 3 entrees and a side dish with 2 injera for $20.99. You can buy extra injera for $1.99 each. Four entrees and a side feeds three to four people with 3 injera for $35.89.  Six entrees with a side and five injera will feed four to six people for $44.89.  These prices correspond only to vegetable dishes. The price of meat dishes are a bit more.  See our next post for a recipe Haregewin has shared with our readers.