Ethiopia Restaurant

06/23/08

Very tasty eating

by HSingervine at Citysearch

I heard this restaurant had very good food, and okay service. I went there for the first time last night with my girlfriend.. and we had a delightful time. I found it nice that it wasn't super busy because the food was made faster. The lentil and meat samboussa appetizer was EXTREMELY delicious. It was crunchy on the outside, with a nice soft texture of meat on the inside, and exotic seasoning. I highly recommend, if you like spicy food, to order the meat "tibs" with a side of "awaze". The bread was yummy, and although I'm more of a meat guy, my girlfriend could not have enough of the veg. combo. Overall great experience, and fully plan on going back again within the next week.

• Pros: The food was an A++
• Cons: Not many customers.. but for me that's a pro

12/08/06

Poor service taints entire dining experience

by starrgrass at Citysearch

I went to this restaurant also based on decent reviews and although the food was decent, was highly disappointed by the service. The seating was prompt despite having a group of 14 since there were few patrons in the restaurant (it was raining outside). However, although we were seated at 7 pm, we did not order until 730 pm, and different people in our group received our food over the span of 30 minutes starting at 820 pm. Some people in our group had almost finished eating before others had even received their food.

Also, despite prompting, it took the waitress 10 minutes to bring us our check after being asked.

Oh, and the food was "okay"-- certainly wasn't the best Ethiopian food I've had; but, it was fair.

• Pros: Parking, Prompt seating, good for groups
• Cons: Service!!

12/08/06

Okay food, stale injera and poor service

by ishkibibble at Citysearch

I went to Ethiopia Restaurant based on the generally good reviews, but was very disappointed. First, the place was not heated (on a rainy day in December) and was uncomfortably cold. Second, the food itself was mixed. There were about six vegetarian dishes available for the lunch buffet. They were competently prepared and pretty tasty, though I've had better Ethiopian food. The injera (the staple bread of Ethiopian food), though, was bland, cold, and crumbly, and you had to reach into a plastic bag to serve yourself. I don't know what the restauranteurs are thinking, serving stale injera in a bag. Finally, the service was inattentive. With few customers in the place, another fellow had to go the counter to put in his order because the waitress was busy chatting with a friend, and I had to do the same to get my check after the waitress offered to bring my the check and then forgot about me for ten minutes. With the wide variety of east African food available in Oakland and Berkeley, I wouldn't bother returning to Ethiopia Restaurant.

07/25/06

Mediocre americanized ethiopian food

by steta at Citysearch

We tried this ethiopian based on the recommendations here and were quite disappointed. The service was painfully slow even though we were almost the only ones there. It reminded me of being in Africa, but unfortunately this was the only thing that reminded me of Africa. The food was ok, but just ok, which is sad because almost any ethiopian is pretty good. It was slightly bland, and the injera were lumpy and not sour enough. As other reviewers pointed out, the portions were quite small. For the same price at other ethiopian restaurants we have enough left over for another full lunch for both of us, but not here. The vegetable items were better than the meat, but still not as good as other nearby ethiopian restaurants. The tej was good however.

• Pros: honey wine
• Cons: service, price, portions

11/05/05

This is GOOD food!

by lamjam at Citysearch

Hi. I've found this to be my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in the East Bay. The food is excellent - the spices are truly Ethiopian, authentic. There are many menu choices available, the service is excellent and the prices very reasonable. The atmosphere is kind of quirky - I think it's a converted house/living room, so there's a fireplace in the front room that looks a bit out of place, but this doesn't detract from the great eating in any way.

• Pros: Price, Parking, Service