Cafe Lalibela

With no lip-smackin mains over $12, Lalibela is an absolute treasure! Drinks are very reasonably priced at $3-4 for beers, $2 for soft drinks and juices, BYO - $2 corkage.

Be prepared to share your food as Lalibela serves their goodies in a big free-for-all pan (slow eaters be warned, you would be well advised to build a fort around your portion lest you miss out). The pan is lined with injera (traditional sourish - in a good way - pancake bread), and your dishes are poured onto the injera. Peel off a little injera, wrap the piece around the goodies on offer and off you go.

The first lamb dish on the menu, dry-fried lamb with onion, chili and spices - unfortunately, I can't recall the name - is a toe-tingling offering of crunchy goodness. The tasty pieces of lamb explode with flavour and the dish is well accompanied by the vegie dish on the menu with potatoes and carrots (with a generous amount of garlic worked into it).

The second lamb dish on the menu offers more succulent pieces of lamb cooked with onions, chilis herbs and spices. Each little piece is a burst of everything that is good that could come from a lamb.

There is lots on offer: beef, chicken and the vegoes are well looked after too.

(Ethiopian cuisine) 91 Irving Street Footscray (03) 9687 0300 (Between Nicholson St and Dynon Road - if you're on Dynon and traveling from the city, turn left at Franco Cozzo)