Blue Nile Cafe

This is one of my absolute favorite restaurants. I am gluten free and vegetarian and they are one of the few restaurants that can accommodate without losing quality in food. Everything is absolutely delicious and the staff is always very kind. Their all you can eat lunch special is positively amazing! I cannot express enough how much I love this restaurant.

First time eating Ethiopian: totally loved it. Three of us shared the sampler platter for two: everything on it was amazing. Also shared a veggie sambusa for an app that was to die for!
Cute, small place. Highly recommend!

We really like this place, I wish there was some more heat on the food, but mild is maybe better for the masses. It was lunch buffet today for a very reasonable $ 11. They serve you from the kitchen but get all you want. I had a little of everything and really could not finish it. Spices are on point for Ethiopian, mild on the heat. Service good, friendly. Right next to city market and now on the new streetcar line. Spice ice tea is recommended, not sweet but with some spices.
Fabrizzio says, «mango juice drink is too sweet!»

Sweet place. We had lunch here when we visited KC. It’s worth it and the food tasted great. The vegetarian and meat options were both good. We had some vegetarian friends and this ended up a great place to eat. I also recommend trying the SAMBUSA — which is a nice appetizer for the table to share. (assuming it’s about 4 — 6 people)
The lunch buffet was $ 12 I think. It’s around the farmer’s market area so it’s a nice location to end up walking.

Since I am not a native of KC, I tend to look for advice on people’s favorite restaurants. My taxi driver said that Blue Nile was his favorite restaurant in KC, so my boyfriend and I were psyched when we discovered there was a Groupon available.
It was gorgeous outside, so we snagged a spot on their patio and our server promptly helped us get our order in. The Groupon was for the sampler platter, and our server helped us modify some of the items to stay within our «kind-​of-​vegetarian» diet (chicken and seafood only — don’t ask). The food was fantastic! I loved getting to mix and match food items to create complete different flavors. Another note, it was PLENTY of food for two; I had to tap out.
Great little spot. I hope to go back again soon once the City Market is in full-​swing of the season.

Food was AMAZING, and some of the best customer service I have ever had in KC.
We had the #10 and #13, you will not leave hungry.

Very good food. Excellent service ! Would recommend stopping by if your in the mood for a new taste …

The vegan options on the lunch buffet is great! They now serve lunch buffet on weekend too.

The food was okay. I don’t think we will return again. The experience was nice, but I didn’t find the food to be all that great. I love trying ethnic foods and things that are adventurous and I know they could be hit or miss. There seemed to be a pretty good following of the food here, but for my boyfriend and myself, we just didn’t care for it too much. We ordered the veggie platter and my boyfriend ordered some of the mango juice. He thought the juice was going to be fresh, which it wasn’t and it was supposed to have cherry. It had cherry in it but it came from a huge bottle of maraschino one’s that the server had to dig out of LOL.

It doesn’t look like much from outside, but you need to visit this spot. We’re a gluten free family (not by choice) and have a hard time finding spots. Blue nile will not disappoint, g free or otherwise. From the soup starters to the hot spiced tea, everything was delicious. The service was impeccable! We will definitely return when we find ourselves in KCMO.

Went during their lunch buffet, absolutely incredible. Service was great, extremely nice and informative. Their hot tea is amazing, definitely ask for honey, it brings out all the spices and flavors. I could eat their everyday and never get tired of it.

I love this place. If you want to try something new and aren’t picky, you should give it a chance. A few chicken options IIRC and several vegan options. The soup is fantastic and I could eat their rice pudding all day.

This was my first foray into Ethiopian food and I’m so glad it was at Blue Nile! Every dish we had off the buffet (we had all but three) was delicious. Loved the bread, which reminded me almost of crapes. The fresh juice was also quite good! Highly recommended and the buffet is a great value. I’ll be coming back for sure.

Well I’m torn about how many stars to give this place. It depends on what the patron is looking for: if you’ve never before had Ethiopian food this would be a good start. Maybe. The server is very knowledgable about the food. He is happy and enthusiastic to answer questions and help you through your first Ethiopian food experience. The other Ethiopian place I went to in the KC area the server barely spoke English so I was responsible for walking my friend through the new food experience. Not so here. The Blue Nile server happily took the reigns.
However, there is better Ethiopian food right here in the KC area that I’ve been to. In comparison the food at Blue Nile seems sub-​par. First, I made it clear that I very much enjoy the dish ‘Shiro’ and was assured it would be on the meat combo we ordred. It was not. It was if they are accustomed to patrons who don’t know what they’re talking about so they can get away with random answers. The dishes that we were served were small and rather bland. The lentils and beans tasted somewhat uncooked and like day-​old refried beans. The injera was spongy and thick in the middle but crusty and bitter around the edges.
I was able to fill my stomach but my soul and tongue were empty and wanting.
I may be returning here because they have a buffet 7 days a week that is under $ 10 after tax, but probably not. I can get better quality and quantity Ethiopian food in Overland Park. Nevermind that the servers don’t speak English …

Blue Nile is one of the only Ethiopian restaurants in Kansas City. It offers strong vegetarian options, like any Ethiopian restaurant should. I had just finished indoor rock climbing with a good friend, and was looking for a filling, unique meal. Blue Nile fit the bill.
This was only my second time eating Ethiopian food. Eating with my hands was fine, but the bread used to grab the different dishes had this sour aftertaste that I’m still getting used to. We ordered the vegetarian sambusa and the vegetarian sampler, which included eight vegetarian options:
1) Gomen: Collard greens
2) Misir watt: Red lentils
3) Atiklett: Cabbage and potatoes
4) Yekik watt: Seasoned yellow split peas
5) Fosolia: Green beans
6) Mushroom shiro: Roasted and powdered chickpeas with sliced mushrooms
7) Dinich watt: Potato in a tomato sauce
8) Shimbera assa: Garbanzo beans
The vegetarian sambusa was excellent. Similar to Indian samosas, it was crispier and had a more spiced filling. It came with a sauce, but the server wasn’t able to really tell us much about what went into the sauce.
On the vegetarian platter, my favorite bites were the misir watt (red lentils) and the shimbera assa (garbanzo beans). The misir watt had this awesome stew-​like texture with great flavor. The shimbera assa had a nice heat to it. This is the way to eat garbanzo beans, not unseasoned and thrown on salads like Whole Foods’s salad bar would have you believe. The yekik watt was up there too: the flavor of the yellow split peas were fantastic. My least favorite were the gomen (collard greens) and the mushroom shiro. Collard greens have a naturally strong flavor, and the gomen just didn’t go well with anything else I was eating. It isn’t a dish I would order again. The mushroom shiro was not so good either. I guess not much can be done about squishy button mushrooms cooked in sauce.
If I returned, I would probably order the vegetarian platter again if I were splitting it with a friend. Otherwise, I’d stick to the lentils and garbanzo beans for myself.

I’ve been talking about going to an Ethiopian restaurant for a while now, but my options in Kansas City are pretty limited. Luckily, on Monday I was able to make it over to City Market to visit Blue Nile Café. It’s a very small space decorated with interesting art pieces about Africa and plaques featuring newspaper and magazine reviews of the restaurant. The carpet is pulling up in places, the chairs are mismatched, it’s poorly lit, and there was no music playing, but all these things gave the restaurant some character and a sort of local charm.
It was another late lunch kind of day, so my friend and I were seated immediately. Our server was new and didn’t have a great grasp on the menu yet, but was friendly and made sure to ask other members of the staff when she didn’t know the answers to our questions.
My friend and I decided to order the veggie sambusas and the vegetarian combination platter. The sambusas were similar to a samosa, but these were stuffed with lentils, carrots, and cabbage. They were good, and the marinara-​like dipping sauce was very tasty. The vegetarian combo platter featured samples of gomen, misir watt, atiklett, yekik watt, fosolia, mushroom shiro, dinich watt, and shimbera assa. If I listed out what each of these dishes consisted of and how I liked them, I’d have a novel. So instead I’ll list my top three. I’m a huge cabbage fan, so my favorite dish was the atiklett. I also really loved the misir watt, a dish of spiced lentils. Also the gomen, collard greens, was tasty. And the best part — we got to eat using the injera, a slightly sour and spongy flatbread.
The problem for me with the menu was that everything seemed like it could have been spiced more aggressively. The flavors that I tasted were nice, but just barely there.
Still though, I wouldn’t recommend against going to Blue Nile Café. If nothing else, you can eat there and explore the rest of the historic City Market.

We were out on a Sunday to enjoy what we thought was a sampler platter and to use our groupon. What a mistake. We arrived at 2 pm and at 3:20 we still were not served but others who arrived after us were. We think it was the groupon that put us at the bottom of the cooks list. We have never walked out of a restaurant before so this was our first walk out. I didn’t even want to give them one star but they got one because the waiter filled up our water glass. Our consumer experience was really poor at best.

We had been meaning to hit the Blue Nile lunch buffet forever, and finally got the chance to do so yesterday. We made it in at 1:30, about a half-​hour before the lunch ended — we were a little concerned we’d be hitting the tail end of the goods, but everything was fresh and plentiful.
In fact. .. too plentiful. Let me give you a pro-​tip right here and now: the portions, which are served by a lady behind the counter at your request, are HUGE. You’ll probably want to have a little bit of everything on the lunch menu, because it is all outstanding — ask for VERY SMALL PORTIONS of each, otherwise you are going to get family-​sized servings that will leaving you huffing and puffing to even make a dent in the piles of amazingness. If you are with a companion, please, for the love of all that is good, DO NOT both ask for «everything.» Get «everything» spread cross two plates, or put on one plate similar to the dinner presentation, and pay for two lunches, because even the heartiest, most Mid-​Western, super-​committed of appetites is going to fall far short of clearing a plate, much less thinking about going back for seconds.
We made exactly this mistake between the lady and I and quite frankly we were thankful they didn’t throw us out of there and permanently ban us for wasting a bunch of food. They were very understanding and we were actually kind of surprised it wasn’t a common problem — this didn’t help us feel better about our personal gluttony, of course.
Everything, from the butternut squash/​lentil soup, to the amazing purple cabbage salad, the injera, the rice, the mushrooms, the spinach, the zucchini mix though. .. absolutely fantastic — as expected. We were brought fresh injera every time we were down to about a roll apiece, and our drinks were constantly kept full. We both committed to a do-​over on the next weekday we have off — with a little better portion control and maybe skip breakfast beforehand, so everybody wins.

Ambiance: The native art was tasteful and interesting though it didn’t look as though anything had been updated since its opening. ³⁄₅
Service: The waitress was friendly and knowledgeable and we weren’t kept waiting long for food. Beverage refills were a different story and she had to be reminded of a few things, but overall it was good. ³⁄₅
Food: Phenomenal! A cross between Indian and Arabic cuisine, the menu was eclectic but limited to make selection easy. Nothing went uneaten at our table. ⁵⁄₅
Price: A little higher than I had expected though not unreasonable for the quality. $$
What we had:
— Sample Platter ⁵⁄₅
— Honey Wine ⁴⁄₅
— Mango Juice ⁵⁄₅
— Baclava ⁵⁄₅
What we paid: $ 127

Wanting to try something different with a more adventurous friend, we decided to give Blue Nile and Ethiopian food a try for lunch. It was, of course, the first time for both of us and the waitress was helpful in describing how things worked and recommending dishes.
I liked that you receive several different sides on the spongy-​sourdough-​like Injera bread because it gives you a good variety of things to taste. The waitress told us that the sides change depending on the day /​chef’s preferences.
I had a smaller green bean and tomato based dish that I really loved. I also had one of the mango and cherry juices/​smoothies that was quite delicious.
We had lunch outside on the terrace and it was nice to sit back and relax on a Saturday afternoon while people watching from the busy City Market.

A vegan, gluten free and a carnivore walk into a… Blue Nile. As allergies and food preferences continue to change how we navigate the dining experience, there are cultures that have been using the same recipes for generations. Not that the newly created fares are bad but sometimes they’re just a fad.
The recipes that Daniel and Selam Fikru brought with them from Ethiopia in 1995 are as rich in history as they are in taste. Not only have they brought a little bit of Ethiopia to Share with Kansas City but they teach their culinary history in the classes they offer. Classes are fun and best part you get to eat what you labored over.
Blue Nile space is small but a good lay out. It can surprisingly fit large groups (20) inside or outside at their lunch rush. It can also transition into a sensual atmosphere in the evening for a dinner date, couples eating with fingers and drinking honey wine. Herbs used are fresh and the spices strong, ingredients like garlic, tomatoes, chicken are transformed. As if it’s the first time you’ve eaten them or even smelled them.
Iv’e been many times and Ive never not seen Selam there. She is gracious and kind but guards her guests, staff and food so that it runs like clock work. The location is in the historic Riverfront district of Kansas City and it fits perfect.

I feel bad for only coming here when we have a groupon, but it does seem like they have a groupon every other week. the food is delicious, and the service is spectacular. we can never eat all the food we get. there used to be one in Overland Park that had a buffet, but alas it closed, so now this is all ya got. I love it, really great flavors, wonderful variety, the injera is so good you’ll want to eat it all, but you won’t be able to because it swells up in your belly and fills you the hell up. i’ve also been told they have gluten free, but who cares, i love the gluten. meat lovers and vegetarians will be happy with the selections they have to offer. i can’t impress upon you enough that you need to get down there and eat their food, because this place is a Kansas City Treasure.

I’ve never had Ethiopian food, so I tried out the lunch buffet so I could sample lots of different dishes. I must say I was very impressed with the big flavor of the vegetarian fare! Ingredients most people should be familiar with, but slow cooked with Ethiopian spice blends. Nothing too exotic though, in fact some very familiar flavors compared to the old world Mexican food I grew up on & eat regularly. The soup of the day was a rustic butternut squash that truly showed me the owner knows how to cook! (Soup is the truest test of a good chef/​cook imo) And the mango juice was fresh & mouth wateringly good! I wish I could tell you more about the food in detail, but I would just butcher the spellings, ha. I only had the vegetarian items, but absolutely felt like I was eating meat. Hearty, belly filling, soul warming dishes for sure!
I simply told them it was my first time & asked what they would suggest I try. They made me a «sampler plate» served over rice w/​the traditional Ethiopian bread that is used like a tortilla. I could certainly taste the love in every bite! And the owner was so helpful & kind. I felt more like I wasc eating at her home for Sunday dinner then paying to eat in a restaurant. Very casual & perfect for a quick lunch. Oh ya, and the buffet was $ 8.50! SERIOUSLY! The food was truly craveable & I cannot wait to go back!

What a great dining experience!
We visited The Blue Nile Café on a trip to Kansas City. We found it on Unilocal and saw a great Groupon deal, so we decided to check it out.
Delicious, fresh cuisine and very friendly and helpful staff.
My only complaint is that the outside doors were locked on the side of the building facing the parking lot, so it was hard to tell whether the place was actually open and figure out how to get in. But once we were in, everything was great!