Ethiopia Restaurant

Ethiopia Restaurant's newspaper ads claim that they are the home of "792 vegetarian combinations". I'm not really sure how they arrived at that number, but if you feel like working out the math yourself to verify it, feel free. <br> All I can tell you is that they are the home of some pretty good Ethiopian food (but not nearly as good or fresh as Addis, down the street in Oakland), good service, reasonable prices, and strong honey wine (tej). <br> Unlike at Addis, our orders came rather quickly and we were treated as guests rather than intruders. (However, it did take an unusually long time to get our check when we were ready to leave.) <br> We ordered both the veggie combo for $8.50 and the meat combo (also $8.50). The veggie combo included Ye'abesha Gomen (collard greens), Tekil Gomen (cabbage and potatoes), Engudei We't (mush stew), Atkilt We't (string beans, zuchinni and carrots) and Shiro We' ... more

Ethiopia Restaurant's newspaper ads claim that they are the home of "792 vegetarian combinations". I'm not really sure how they arrived at that number, but if you feel like working out the math yourself to verify it, feel free. <br> All I can tell you is that they are the home of some pretty good Ethiopian food (but not nearly as good or fresh as Addis, down the street in Oakland), good service, reasonable prices, and strong honey wine (tej). <br> Unlike at Addis, our orders came rather quickly and we were treated as guests rather than intruders. (However, it did take an unusually long time to get our check when we were ready to leave.) <br> We ordered both the veggie combo for $8.50 and the meat combo (also $8.50). The veggie combo included Ye'abesha Gomen (collard greens), Tekil Gomen (cabbage and potatoes), Engudei We't (mush stew), Atkilt We't (string beans, zuchinni and carrots) and Shiro We't (garbanzo beans). I know that "mush stew" doesn't sound appealing, but it was actually quite spicy and very good! The Tekil Gomen was also quite tasty. <br> The meat combo included Doro We't (spicy chicken), Tibs We't (spicy beef friccasee stew) and Yebeg Alicha (mild lamb stew). The beef was a little sweet and a bit dry. The chicken was spicy but not too flavorful, and the lamb was a little bit hard, dry, and cold but had good flavor. The injera was also a little bit tough, but with good flavor. The honey wine was extremely strong and pungent - it tasted a lot like Chinese rice wine to me. <br> I should mention, however, that the seats in our booth looked as though they had been attacked by a hungry lion shortly before our arrival, the light in the women's bathroom makes an extremely loud, frightening noise, and my dinner companion mentioned that the men's bathroom was smelly and dirty. <br> Overall, Ethiopia Restaurant is certainly not the best among the many Ethiopian restaurants along Telegraph, but it's also certainly not the worst - the vegetable dishes definitely seem to outshine the meat dishes at this establishment, however, so maybe it's a better bet for vegetarian diners, especially vegetarian diners who happen to be math majors. <br> Recommended: Tekil Gomen, Engudei We't <br> Avoid: Doro We't less

I am a huge fan of vegetarian Ethiopian dishes. But I was disappointed by Ethiopia. Though they do have a huge selection of vegetarian dishes and combos, all fairly inexpensive, the food wasn't quite as good as I expected it to be. The biggest problem was that a few of the dishes were extremely oily. I've never known Ethiopian food to be greasy before I went to this restaraurant. Grease was literally oozing out of the dishes, and soaking through the injera. And one of the dishes was served lukewarm, and tasted as if it had been sitting in a vat for a long time before reaching my plate. On the positive side, the red lentil dish was really good, as was the cabbage/potato dish (though a little greasy). And they give you an abundance of injera for free. However, the carrot/string bean dish, usually my favorite, was so greasy it was almost creamy, and almost inedible. In my eyes, this restaurant is no better or worse than Blue Nile, but still quite inferior to Ethiopian resta ... more

I am a huge fan of vegetarian Ethiopian dishes. But I was disappointed by Ethiopia. Though they do have a huge selection of vegetarian dishes and combos, all fairly inexpensive, the food wasn't quite as good as I expected it to be. The biggest problem was that a few of the dishes were extremely oily. I've never known Ethiopian food to be greasy before I went to this restaraurant. Grease was literally oozing out of the dishes, and soaking through the injera. And one of the dishes was served lukewarm, and tasted as if it had been sitting in a vat for a long time before reaching my plate. On the positive side, the red lentil dish was really good, as was the cabbage/potato dish (though a little greasy). And they give you an abundance of injera for free. However, the carrot/string bean dish, usually my favorite, was so greasy it was almost creamy, and almost inedible. In my eyes, this restaurant is no better or worse than Blue Nile, but still quite inferior to Ethiopian restaurants in other cities. less