The first time I spotted Selam was by total accident - my dining partner had just arrived from Seattle and was hungry, looking for late night vegan bites in Toronto. Unfortunately it was past 9pm at this point, so Selam's kitchen had already closed. We made a mental note to return one day though, and continued on with our journey that cool fall night.
Fast forward to today, when we were again wandering the streets in search of food. We were in relatively near the restaurant and remembered not being able to make it, and so decided to stop by again as a second attempt. And oh boy am I glad that we decided to drop in again! Located in the basement of its sister restaurant, Pero, Selam was extremely quiet and I think overlooked, overshadowed by the trendy atmosphere of the above restaurant. We were greeted and seated immediately, with only one other table there, who were finishing up anyway. While my dining companion had been to Ethiopia and was familiar with all of the dishes, I was not, so we opted for the buffet that allowed us to taste a little bit of everything. At only $18 per person, this felt like a steal compared to the $16 4-dish combo that we would have ordered off of the menu! With so many types of food there, I couldn't keep track of which item I was eating, but I loved most of the items I picked up. The chickpea curry was especially tasty to me, while my partner enjoyed the lentils. We were thoroughly stuffed at the end of the meal.
Despite this though, we wanted to try Ethiopian coffee and had ordered that to be served at the end of our meal. I LOVED this - not only the coffee, but the presentation of it all as well! They came down with the roasting pot and gave us a whiff of the roasted beans, and then served it with incense and popcorn, just like they do in Ethiopia (or so I'm told). The coffee was delicious, and was quite possibly the best way I could have ended this spontaneous lazy Sunday outing.
I'm bummed that this restaurant has been so neglected, because I certainly fell in love with it today. It seems that it is relatively new though (based off of basic Google searches and reviews), so I am hoping it gains more traction soon! Until then though, I'll keep returning for coffee at the very least, and what seems to be a pretty happening bar upstairs at Pero, for as long as I can. read more