I do not pretend to be an expert on Ethiopian or Eritrean cuisine, but I have eaten at enough restaurants over the years to understand this: The injera always makes or breaks the meal. I also know this: The injera at Beteseb in Anaheim is the best I’ve ever tasted — far more intriguing and delicious than anything I ever encountered at any of the restaurants in L.A.’s long-thriving Little Ethiopia. So, too, the doro wot, but more on that in a second. 

Injera topped with doro wot, awaze tibs and assorted vegetables at Beteseb in Anaheim (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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First, the bread. Injera is that fermented flatbread unique to Eastern Africa and the Red Sea Coast. It is inextricable from the traditional dining experience. You can’t eat without it. Instead of silverware, you eat with injera, tearing little strips by hand from a much larger piece, using it as fleeting vessels to scoop everything that you bring to your mouth. Thus everything you eat tastes to some degree like injera. 

More of a crepe than a flatbread, injera is made with a wet batter, a thin slurry of nothing more than fermented teff flour and water. It is poured onto a griddle and cooked very quickly, usually just before you eat it. 

Much like bad sourdough bread, injera can often be too sour. Or too bland. When the bread is too sour, that sourness becomes the primary flavor in every mouthful. And I’m pretty sure that’s not the goal. 

The injera at Beteseb finds that elusive sweet spot in the middle. The fermentation in this bread is more fragrant than sour, the flavor soft enough that it complements everything you eat. It fades into the background and allows the doro wot to hit you like a blast of hot air. 

Doro wot is a classic Ethiopian dish — a rich, thick, nearly black stew whose principle ingredient is dark-brown Berbere chiles, which can take your breath away. Beteseb’s doro wot is exhilarating. The heat is intense yet simultaneously floral and nuanced. Underneath this dark, mysterious cloak is a slow-cooked chicken drumstick and a hard-cooked egg, both of which get gradually smaller each time I pinch them with another piece of injera. 

The awaze tibs is good, too: beef nuggets cooked with onions and red chile paste. It’s not as spicy as the doro wot but equally delicious. 

Beteseb

Where: 1212 S. Dale Ave., Anaheim

When: Lunch and dinner, Tuesday-Sunday; breakfast, Saturday.

Phone: 323-839-1212

Online: thebeteseb.com

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