Blue Nile Cafe

4.9 (5)

$31 to $50

Vegetarian

20 E 5th St, Kansas City, MO 64106-1102

About this restaurant

Innovative
Good for special occasions
Vegetarian-friendly

Blue Nile Café is Kansas City, Missouri's favorite Ethiopian restaurant with both lunch and dinner menus as well as catering services. During good weather, locals enjoy the outdoor dining with views of the historic City Market area. A great option at lunch is the buffet with plenty of salads, soups and entrées, including vegan and vegetarian options. Dessert is also included. The best way to enjoy Ethiopian cuisine is the traditional way, using pieces of injera to scoop up the food rather than using eating utensils. Injera is a traditional spongy flatbread made with teff flour. For another cultural favorite, ask to experience the coffee ceremony. The Blue Nile Café menu includes all the favorites including doro tibs, doro watt, ysiga tibs, inguday watt, shimbera watt and plenty more. If you haven't tried Ethiopian cuisine before, head to Blue Nile Café for an experience you won't forget.

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Additional information

Dining style
Casual Dining
Price
$31 to $50
Cuisines
Vegetarian, Ethiopian, Mediterranean
Hours of operation
Dinner Mon–Sat 11:00 am–8:00 pm Brunch Sun 11:00 am–3:00 pm
Website
http://www.bluenilekc.com/
Payment options
AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Dress code
Casual Dress

Location
20 E 5th St, Kansas City, MO 64106-1102
Neighborhood
Kansas City
Parking details
None
Additional
Beer, Cocktails, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wine

Doro Watt$12.95
Tender skinless and boneless chicken marinated in lemon, sauteed in herbed butter and stewed in berbere sauce flavored with a pinch of cardamom and nutmeg
Doro Tibs$13.95
Tender chicken breast cut into cubes sauteed to perfection with onions, diced tomatoes, kibbeh (seasoned butter) and herbs. Served mild, medium or hot
Yesiga Tibs$13.95
Strips of lean beef sauteed in kibbeh (seasoned butter) with diced tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, and fresh rosemary. Served mild, medium or hot
Minchet Abish (Ethiopian Chili)$12.95
Lean ground beef and cubes of potatoes simmered in finely chopped onions, diced tomatoes and berbere sauce followed by a touch of ginger, garlic, and herbed butter (kibbeh), and Ethiopian cardamom. Medium spicy
Kitffo$14.95
100% lean, ground beef infused with exotic spices and seasoned with kibbeh butter, served slightly cooked
Yebeg Tibs$16.95
Lean cubes of lamb sauteed in seasoned kibbeh butter with garlic, diced tomatoes, bell peppers and fresh rosemary. Served mild, medium or hot
Yebeg Watt Alicha$15.95
Cubes of lamb, slowly simmered into a stew with onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric and kibbeh butter

Seafood

Shrimp Tibbs$17.95
Tantalizing shrimp sauteed in kibbeh (spiced butter), seasoned with ginger, garlic, rosemary, and simmered in medium spicy misir watt
Assa Goulash$17.95
Lightly fried chunks of tilapia fish filet simmered in our medium spicy misir watt, caramelized onions, and diced tomatoes, seasoned with kibbeh, Ethiopian cardamom, and a touch of mitmita. Served mild, medium or hot

Starters

Vegan Sambusa
A pastry filled with spiced lentils, cabbage, and carrot flavored with herbs and spices. With Blue Nile special sauce
- Two$5.95
Beef Sambusa
A pastry filled with lean ground beef flavored with herbs and spices. With Blue Nile special sauce
- Two$5.95
Duba Shorba$5.95
Butternut squash and red lentil soup seasoned with exotic-spices
Bora Shorba$5.95
Creamed beef and vegetables in exotic spices. Non-vegan

Vegan

Vegan Sambusa
A pastry filled with spiced lentils, cabbage, and carrot flavored with herbs and spices. With Blue Nile special sauce
- Two$5.95
Gomen$11.95
Fresh collard greens cooked and seasoned with onion, ginger, and garlic
Misir Watt$12.95
A stew made from red lentils cooked with sauteed onions and berbere, then flavored with ginger, garlic, and cardamom
Atikeltt$11.95
Cabbage mixed with chucks of potatoes and carrots cooked with yellow onion and flavored with ginger, garlic, and turmeric
Yekik Watt$10.95
Seasoned yellow split peas slowly cooked with ginger, turmeric and garlic
Fosolia$11.95
Fresh green beens and carrots cooked with onions, fresh garlic, turmeric, ginger and a touch of cardamom
Inguday Watt$12.95
Sliced button mushrooms and julienned onion sauteed and simmered in Misir Watt
Dinich Watt$10.95
Chunks of potatoes cooked with garlic seasoned in tomatoes and berbere sauce
Shimbera Watt$12.95
Chickpeas and green peas simmered in a gravy made with diced tomatoes, onions, and roasted and powdered peas
Veggie Combination
Your choice of 4 vegetarian items
- for One Person$10.95

What people are saying

Blue Nile Cafe reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

4.9

4.9 based on all time ratings

4.8Food
4.6Service
4.5Ambience
4.7Value

Noise • Moderate

5 Reviews

OT
OpenTable Diner
Kansas City1 review
5.0
Dined on August 20, 2018
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 3
The food was really rich and flavorful. Great meal to share with 2+ people. Also make sure to try their honey wine.
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j
joeketch
Kansas City33 reviews
5.0
Dined on July 21, 2018
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Always fun with good service and excellent food. We introduced two of our grandchildren to Ethiopian food and they were fascinated. It was OK to eat with their fingers!!!
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KF
KellieF
Kansas City4 reviews
5.0
Dined on June 30, 2018
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Fantastic, as usual!
Is this helpful?
OT
OpenTable Diner
Kansas City6 reviews
5.0
Dined on June 17, 2018
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
My boyfriend and I’s first time at Blue Nile. We both did the lunch buffet. I had a mango juice which was very good while my boyfriend had coffee, which he also enjoyed. I asked the man behind the counter to pick for me as I had no idea. He gave me a little bit of everything and I loved it. Very comforting, hearty food. My bf is vegetarian and he had plenty of options to choose from. We will definitely be back!
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CW
CommandersWife Gold
Kansas City81 reviews
5.0
Dined on June 15, 2018
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
One of the few places you can get genuine Ethiopian cuisine in Kansas City. The food & service was fantastic, you can order from the menu for shared plates or try the all-you-can-eat weekday lunch buffet. The host was especially helpful by recommending dishes to try, and he checked on us more than a few times to make sure the food was good and if we needed anything. Highly recommend checking this place out in the River Market District.
1 person found this helpful

Additional information

Dining style
Casual Dining
Price
$31 to $50
Cuisines
Vegetarian, Ethiopian, Mediterranean
Hours of operation
Dinner Mon–Sat 11:00 am–8:00 pm Brunch Sun 11:00 am–3:00 pm
Website
http://www.bluenilekc.com/
Payment options
AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Dress code
Casual Dress

Location
20 E 5th St, Kansas City, MO 64106-1102
Neighborhood
Kansas City
Parking details
None
Additional
Beer, Cocktails, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wine

Not available on OpenTable

Unfortunately, this restaurant is not on the OpenTable booking network. To check availability, please contact them directly.

Is this your restaurant?

Claim this listing

Blue Nile Cafe

About this restaurant

Not available on OpenTable

There’s more to explore

Additional information

Menu

Combos

Sampler Platter$33.95

Meat Combo$15.95

Meats

Doro Watt$12.95

Doro Tibs$13.95

Yesiga Tibs$13.95

Minchet Abish (Ethiopian Chili)$12.95

Kitffo$14.95

Yebeg Tibs$16.95

Yebeg Watt Alicha$15.95

Seafood

Shrimp Tibbs$17.95

Assa Goulash$17.95

Starters

Vegan Sambusa

Beef Sambusa

Duba Shorba$5.95

Bora Shorba$5.95

Vegan

Vegan Sambusa

Gomen$11.95

Misir Watt$12.95

Atikeltt$11.95

Yekik Watt$10.95

Fosolia$11.95

Inguday Watt$12.95

Dinich Watt$10.95

Shimbera Watt$12.95

Veggie Combination

What people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Additional information

Not available on OpenTable