Style Weekly dines at Portrait House

Reviewer Karen Newton navigates a river of eclectic Ethiopian dishes at the Carytown spot.

May 4, 2015; 9:05 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

Injera rules at Nile at Portrait House. Almost everything is served on a cushion of the traditional Ethiopian spongy bread. You could eat with a knife and fork, but indulging in dishes in the traditional manner means using a piece of injera to pinch up bites of meat and vegetables with your fingers. Fair warning to neat freaks: Ethiopian food is messy going. Wear your best duds at your own risk.

For those who don’t worship at the altar of the Richmond dining scene, you could be forgiven if you didn’t notice that the Nile restaurant pulled up stakes from Laurel Street in the heart of Virginia Commonwealth University last summer and made a welcome landing at Portrait House in Carytown.

Portrait House’s recent transition to the cuisine of the now-defunct Nile Ethiopian Restaurant definitely gives it a unique flair not found elsewhere in town, and I’m eager to try the new menu myself–very soon.