Blue Nile Ethiopian
310 Reviews
$$$
- Wednesday12:30–8:30 PM
- Thursday12–8:30 PM
- Friday12:30–8:30 PM
- Saturday11 AM–9 PM
- Sunday11 AM–8:30 PM
- Monday12:30–8:30 PM
- Tuesday12–8:30 PM
About the Business
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Contacts
Hours
- Wednesday12:30–8:30 PM
- Thursday12–8:30 PM
- Friday12:30–8:30 PM
- Saturday11 AM–9 PM
- Sunday11 AM–8:30 PM
- Monday12:30–8:30 PM
- Tuesday12–8:30 PM
Features
- Delivery
- Wheelchair-accessible parking lot
- Wheelchair-accessible entrance
- Debit cards
- NFC mobile payments
- Credit cards
- Takeout
- Dine-in
- Wheelchair accessible seating
- Healthy options
- Small plates
- Vegetarian options
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Catering
- Dessert
- Good for kids
- Washroom
- Casual
- Cozy
- Groups
- Accepts reservations
- Vegan options
- Alcohol
- Beer
- Coffee
- Wine
Recommended Reviews
Jennifer Ridley
14.10.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
The food was good but not worth the terrible service! The rudest owner and staff in the service!
Ken St. John
30.09.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
White person here, so not at all an authority on Ethiopian cuisine and no idea which dishes were which, but figured I'd leave a review anyway. Preferred the beef sambusa to the veggie, but both had delicious pastry; my friend and I ordered both the veggie and beef combination plates because I like trying a bit of everything. It was all beautifully made and spiced; my favourite was the veggie platter, and in particular the yellow veggies (cabbage?) and carrots that came with both- also really loved their explanation of teff on their website that talks about all the extra nutrients in the bread and the history of kaffe. I'm also a big big fan of the lovely spongey texture of the bread, and eating it all with my hands- bonus that my fingertips smelled phenomenal all evening afterwards. ....And perhaps T.M.I... but I feel like it would be a disservice to the experience to leave out that my BM the next morning was quite possibly one of the easiest and satisfying I've had in years. Very grateful and would definitely love to order again at some point. Also loved the artwork I was able to admire during takeout pickup, and felt especially spoiled to hear some beautiful singing while I waited briefly. (Currently no dining service, which is totally fair.) Thank you!
Francis Lavoie
15.09.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
I used to go to this place a lot and i always found it good. But not this time. Portions are smaller due to inflation i guess but also food was bland with no taste. Not spicy at all. And service was very very slow. Disappointed. I don't think I'll go again.
Fetahi Wuhib
30.08.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
The kitfo was good, the doro was fine. The quanta firfir was bland, though the quanta itself was Okay. The injera was not the best we've had in Ottawa. Nice and friendly lady that was welcoming. Though it was only four of us in the whole place, it still felt a bit cramped.
Nalanga Jayasuriya
20.08.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
We wanted to checkout some Ethiopian food and went to Blue Nile on a Wednesday evening. The restaurant is pretty small but we were the only customers at that time.The serving lady, who I believe is the owners her self came and greeted us warmly and gave the menus. We ordered mix vegetarian, mix chicken and a vegi only dish.The food took a very long time to come( almost 1 hour - and hence deduct one star) and my daughter was very hungry and was complaining.We saw that few people came, ordered and go, only to return much later. Assume regulars who knew that food takes a long time here!!Finally the food came and we all enjoyed it. There were different types of vegetable, grain dishes and chicken served on my plate. The portion was good which I shared with my son. The food had good flavour but I was not much of a fan of the Injera"( wrap/bread made out of a certain grass seed) which had a sharp sour taste. My wife is a Ethiopian food fan
Sumaiya Mir
18.08.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
We’ve been to this restaurant in the past many times, and we loved it, food was flavourful, fresh and hearty to say the least. Our most recent experience was OK. The service is always great, however the food quality has gone down. The chicken was over cooked and was tough to chew, the flavour tasted stale, like when you reheat left over cooked chicken multiple times, it loses its flavour and texture. My stomach also didn’t handle the food well, which was a first (never happened before), so that was interesting. The portions have reduced quite a bit, the prices have gone up too, but understandably let’s blame that on inflation. Not sure I will be going back for awhile.
Tristan S. Mitchell
04.08.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
This was my first experience trying Ethiopian food. It was a wonderful restaurant. The service was very good, the food was incredibly delicious and fresh. I am a big fan of this cuisine now. Perfectly flavoured. The person working even taught me how to say thank you in the Ethiopian Aramaic language! Great dining experience.
Doc Shaman
27.07.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
Seriously good Ethiopian food!After trying to get fed from the kinkole (African) festival which unfortunately was a bust due to timing we went in search of some GOOD African cuisine. Enter google search and Blue Nile on Gladstone shows up. Thank goodness for that!Our family of 4 (2a 2c) loaded into a table of this modest location. Upon walking in the smells of spice and warm cooking wraps you like a big hug. Now, it's important to understand this is NOT fast food, nor is it meant to be. The food and the experience is to be enjoyed with a little time. Time to cook breeds deep flavours, time to wait breeds deep conversations and taking a little time to slow down is perfect.We ordered the Blue Nile combo and the lamb tibs with 3 sambussas (2 beef 1 veg) as an appetizer. With a coffee (my wife said it was delicious) juice and water the 4 of us left full for a modest $48 tab.Now the food...hot, fresh, deep deep flavours throughout. Injera bread is plentiful and not only tasty but used as the utensil. (Instructions on how to eat with it is conveniently on the back of the menu in clear picture style.) For our children, forks were provided upon asking. The sambussas are like a samosa or empanada but from a different flavour profile and the only problem with them is that they disappear from the plate too quickly!You may be wondering why the 4 stars instead of 5. That simply goes to the cleanliness. While the tables and chairs and restaurant in general were clean, the bathrooms were certainly lacking. It looked as though they could use a solid once over with a bunch of cleaning products to bring them up to standard. Yes, the rule is that if the bathroom is bad then don't trust the kitchen but fortunately the kitchen door is open and a look in showed no issues there.Bottom line...if you want to eat GOOD Ethiopian food with pleasant staff and in a nice relaxed atmosphere, this is the place to go!
Danielle Vicha
20.07.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
The food was amazing! We haven't eaten here since before Covid! The food was even better than what I remembered! Great portion sizes for a great price. We ordered the vegetarian combination along with other vegetarian sides and appetizers! They provided extra enjera, which was very fresh. It was delicious!
Lindsay McIntyre
18.07.2023
Blue Nile Ethiopian
The food was very good and a good price but the owner was so rude that I won't be going back.Parking can be hard to find so I had to park far away, which wouldn't be a problem except that I am very pregnant (8 months) and when I arrived I was rudely told I wouldn't be given my food without an order number (which I left in the car). I told them that's too bad because I had parked far away and would have to walk all the way back to my car, and at that point a younger man from the kitchen tried to help me by asking me my name and what I ordered, but the manager barked at him that he wouldn't be giving me my order without the number. He tried to help me twice and they argued a bit about it, so I went all the way back to get it and when I provided the order number the owner just stared at me blankly (I guess it wasn't the number he was expecting?) He didn't seem to know you could order from skip, so I had to explain it and show him the app, and then he handed me the ONLY order on the counter. I actually thanked him, and he and his wife just gawked at me akwardly? Definitely not worth going back even though I liked the food!
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Map
707 Gladstone Ave, Ottawa, ON K1R 6X2
Blue Nile Ethiopian