Balageru – East African- Nottingham
I regularly get asked to suggest somewhere in Nottingham that people might not have been to. Balageru has been my most reliable answer for a while. It’s only a stones throw from the Victoria centre and sitting at the bottom of Mansfield Road among takeaways and off licenses it is definitely easy to miss. Inside there are few bells or whistles with a pretty basic room that fits only a few tables. I will readily admit a lack of knowledge about African cuisine, it may shock you but it wasn’t a mainstay of my Fenland upbringing. I am taking the restaurant’s self identification as Ethiopian & Eritrea as the best description of their cuisine in the wider ‘East African’ bracket.
—
—
The menu is small but intriguing with a lot of the dishes traditionally being vegetarian. I shared the simply named ‘vegetarian platter for two’ which centered around Injera, one of the most famous Ethiopian foods. Having since looked it up I believe it is a variation on Beyaynetu but I am sure someone might correct me. The bread forms the base and bulk of the meal as well as being the vessel to scoop up the stews and vegetables that adorn it. The bread is fermented with a slightly sour texture and was surprisingly soft and spongy though I understand that is exactly how it should be the meal lacked a firmer textural element. The various stews most closely related Indian daal’s to my palate though were all quite mildly flavoured and spiced utilising both lentils and chickpeas. There was a nice heat from a sort of red hot sauce alongside a freshness from some cooked vegetables and salad.
—
Whilst my critical faculties seem embarrassingly diminished due to lack of experience or points of comparison I can simply say I enjoyed the experience a lot. I loved the tactile nature of eating with the hands and the flavours were all enjoyable if packing a little bit less punch than I might have hoped. £22 for the sharing platter wasn’t very much money and I want to return to sample more dishes. In the meantime hopefully I’ve met the brief of showcasing a cuisine in Nottingham many may not have tried, give it a go!
If you enjoy my content why not support the site and buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alecfrusher
