Asmara

I was so disappointed they gave me a nasty food A left over. This was wasted time and money. I had to throw that food away. So discussed. Mad for the bad food Will never go back again and will not suggest. !!!

This is our second home, best Ethiopian food in San Diego.
Teme is the owner, very friendly and warm person. My wife wants to eat their everyday. She can sleep and live on Injera.
She loves the vegetarian plate and I love their Beef plate.
Ethiopian cooking can be heavy on meat — but the east African country’s cuisine is also full of delicious and super-​satisfying dishes that are perfect for vegetarian, vegan, and gluten and lactose-​free eaters.
Hakim beer is must try, Hakim Stout is best Ethiopian beer I have tried.
We would go there again and AGAIN.

Our Ethiopian friend recommended this place to us, so we knew we had to try it out.
Quick, friendly service… waiter was helpful and patient with our party as we had many questions regarding the menu items. He made many recommendations although I’m sure he does this on the daily since not many are familiar with traditional Ethiopian food.
We got the meat and veg combo which we shared between our party of 5. I recommend getting this on your first visit as both serve as a sampler for many of their vegetable and meat options. Both came out on two overlapping injera. Oh my, I won’t fault them for this, but I was completely grossed out by the injera. Basically, it’s a spongy pancake that they offer to you on the side all rolled up like fresh towels. I felt very tempted to grab one and slap someone in the face with it! They seemed that ridiculous to me! But in all seriousness, expect to use your hands for the entire meal, using these rolled pancake towels as your utensils.
Setting my weirdness of the injera aside, I can say the meat and vegetables were tasty. I didn’t much care for the cabbage, but the lentils were good and went well when eaten with the meat. All the meat was seasoned very well. The marinade was delicious and there was some sort of spice kick which I appreciated very much.
As a random side note, don’t get the Asmara beer; it tasted like straw (but this is coming from a snob who drinks ales on the daily).
Overall, it was a great cultural experience with good company. I am definitely open to trying more traditional dishes, but will most likely avoid the injera.

Go there for the shiro. It’s a thick chickpea/​onion/​tomato concoction that will haunt your dreams. Comes in a hot pot and you ladle it onto injera. Kieran and I can’t get enough of it. Plenty of other delicious options: sambusas, doro wat. I crave it.

I have been using Unilocal for many years but this is my very first (and probably the only) review I will ever write because I have never been so compelled to rate a place until now.
I came in this afternoon to try this place after reading the good reviews. I wanted to feature it in my blog. It started great. The place was clean, I liked the decors and I noted the award they received for being a Best restaurant in 2011. Unfortunately it quickly went downhill from there.
I happened to be the only customer there when I came in. I ordered a veggie appetizer and the combo meat dish. While the food was good, I am giving it a 1-​star because of these:
1. The server was rude. I was asking her about the menu, the phone rang and she picked up the phone and finished with the call even though she was already in the middle of helping me.
2. The server was inattentive. i waited for quite some time for my food and when it came out, it was the wrong dish.
3. She brought me the right dish finally but after that she went back to the kitchen and remained there never once checking up on me. I had to call and try to get her attn to get my check.
4. Worst of all, she asked me to pay the bill in cash. I expld that I didn’t have cash and pointed to the sign at the door showing they accept major credit cards. She said that she can’t use it without the owner??? She said there was an atm machine next door. I said that I didn’t want to do that because I will incur the extra fee since it’s not my bank. She said she would wait for me then to drive to my bank, get money but wants my phone number. I didn’t want to give her my # so I ended up going next door, paying the $ 2.50 atm fee and paying her cash. Because of this, I didn’t tip (i usually give 20%).
Anyway it was such a horrible experience to put a customer through. I would’ve appreciated it if she had mentioned the ‘cash only’ part in the beginning. I might have eaten elsewhere or returned prepared with cash.
Also, to be honest I’m not sure if the cash even made it into the drawer because I did not see her put it in. If I could give this place a negative rating, I would.

Best Ethiopian in San Diego. Awesome little hole in the wall with extremely friendly service.

Unassuming from the outside but gets you transported once you step in and notice the beautiful paintings all over!
Get seated and prepare for the injera goodness with tibisi beef and washing it down within Asmara beer. Yes will need to eat with your hands too as is what a good patron is to do.
Service is ok as there was only but one gentleman behind the counter and he got all the tables in the house.

Amazing food! My husband and I had the regular tibsi and awaze tibsi dishes. Delicious and fulfilling! We highly recommend this restaurant and will definitely be coming back.

Why 2 stars? Here’s why. Because you have to be a masochist and adventurous.
Ok, imagine this. You’re enjoying an amazingly well seasoned curry dish surrounded by a raging fiery dominatrix holding a whip. Yeah! That’s what its like to eat here. Except that your master works as a waiter at Asmara.
The food is pretty good, actually its pretty damn good, especially if you’re adventurous and like spicy food. But you also have to be a masochist, because you will be made to feel inferior. Your existence here is to serve, not to be served. You will be made to wait, you will be told no, you will be ignored, and you will be expected to be gratuitous. All while LIKING it. So, again, the food is amazing, but the staff is your master. You peasant.

The waiter was rude, didn’t greet me and my partner politely, not even a smile. I will never return to eat here and will not suggest anyone else eat here. My advise is to hire women or a pleasant person to greet customer’s! !!

The first thing you notice when you walk into this restaurant is that it smells amazing. It’s clean, spacious has parking and a patio. The service was great, really prompt and polite.
My friend and I split veggie somosas as an appetizer. The crust was light and crips and the lentils were hearty. They serve it with a red sauce, which is a little bit spicy and smoky. Yumm.
We shared the meat sampler and the veggie sampler. My girlfriend and I have pretty hearty appetites and the food was SO good, but, hard as we tried, we could not finish it all. It was a lot. I feel like there was a great variety of flavors with the samplers.
On the meat sampler the zighini and the tibsi were my favorite. From the veggie sampler, I loved the collard greens and, again, the lentils. This place is great for vegetarians.
We also had Asamara beer. It had a subtle honey taste to it that had us over the moon. We will definitely be back. This place is a City Heights gem.

Good food, brisk service and great experience. Would definitely recommend to others.
Veggie lovers — we recommend going for the veggie platter and any other item. The quantity should serve four easily!

Based on the food, the place was 5 star status, the negative 2 stars was customer service. When we first arrived, the restaurant was dark and empty and the waitress was behind the bar talking on the phone. She handed us menus and then went back to chatting on the phone. When she came back to take our order, my sister asked if the meat was cooked because I’m pregnant and can’t have raw meat and the waitress had no clue what we were talking about. She kept saying «cooked», «well done?» So then we just said that we wanted to order #11 or something like that and she said, «what’s that?» By now, I am beyond frustrated but my sister has way more patience than me. She took the order and when the food arrived everything was fine. The vegetables and lentils were amazing and the meat was great as well. Loved all the spices they used and the level of spicy as well. When the check came she told us it was about $ 17 and we said okay, and then about 10 minutes later she comes back and says, «sorry, it’s $ 28.» At this point, we just wanted to pay and leave. Overall, I would definitely come back again just because the food was that delicious but beware that the waitress doesn’t understand English very well or her own menu :/​FYI when you ask for water… It’s given by water bottle so don’t expect refills of water either.

I can’t really compare to other restaurants with the same cuisine as the last time I had Ethiopian was a decade ago in DC. My nephew chose this restaurant to celebrate his 16^th birthday. It was all kind of new food to us and we took the waiter’s recommendations for the veggie combo and the meat combo. I loved all the rich aromatic flavors in both the veggies and the meat.
Some items were spicy and some milder. The only thing I wasn’t wild about was the injera bread which some describe as tangy, but I would say, «slightly sour.» Of course my slight distaste for this is because I am not accustomed to eating this type of food.
The service was good but wished we could have gotten tap water as charging 9 people for bottled water seemed kind of silly. My nephew thoroughly enjoyed seeing both of his grandparents eat with their fingers and break all the rules!

This place really made my day. Awesome food, service, and conversations. Appreciated the owner and bartender’s hospitality. Will be coming back for sure.
Highly recommend the spicy red lentils and shiro.

Definitely the best authentic Ethiopian food in San Diego. The injera is spongy, moist, perfectly porous (it’s beautiful!) and has got just the right bit of tang. Obsessed with the fact that it’s family style; one meat combo and one veggie combo easily feeds 4 starving college students. The veggie combo comes with assorted lentils (spicy and normal), cabbage, salad, and some greens. Not sure what kind of meat comes with the meat combo but my carnivore friends go crazy for both dishes.
Love the honey wine which is homemade and a must try! My friends and I leave with at least a bottle or two each visit. Be warned: although little and sweet, the honey wine be mighty fierce (kind of like my grandmother, ha!). finishing one of those cute little apple bottom shaped glasses of honey wine got me feeling pretty buzzed/​giggly. They also have a fine selection of imported beers which I have yet to try.
The last couple of times we went, the owner offered us extra sides free of charge to finish up the few extra rolls of injera we had left over. Such a sweetheart! He’s usually the only one running the restaurant yet still manages to serve us in a timely manner and checks up on us every so often. I love it. This mom n’ pop shop has got me and my friends coming back every week for the amazing service, food, and wine.

Very very sweet and friendly family business. You up for a change of food. No utensils There bread is your fork and very cool music playing and the honey wine must have with food. Food is a little hot and the wine help with all the rich flavor.

Delicious! I have been here before and enjoyed the food, but this time I came with my Eritrean friend who ordered the works, and it was probably the best meal I’ve had here. Among four of us we shared both the meat and veggie combos, plus this soupy type thing made with tomatoes and ground beans. Delicious! If the TV’s are not on, you can ask them to turn them on, and they can play Eritrean dance music videos, which were pretty entertaining.
If you’ve never had Eritrean/​Abyssinian food, know that you’ll be eating everything with your hands, and their rolled ‘bread/​not bread’ type of thing that you use to pick up your food and eat with. It’s kind of got the spongey kind of consistency of a pancake, but is thinner and yet more sturdy. Tear off a little piece, grab up a biteful of whatever is on your food tray, enjoy, and repeat. Don’t know what to order? Ask the waitstaff– they will be able to help you pick out some great items. If you order water, it will come in bottles, soda will come in cans. It’s that kind of place. Parking is available in the back of the restaurant. There may be cops driving slowly and creepily around the neighborhood, but don’t be alarmed! I think it’s sort of the standard, but nothing bad or dangerous has ever happened to me in this area. It’s just one of those bizarre fuzz things, I guess.
Come try this place, enjoy the food, and have fun!

The order
Tshebi Dorho (chicken)
Awaze Tibsi (beef)
Veggie platter
Both the chicken and beef were terrible. None of us could eat it because of how old the meat was.
The veggie sides were okay. This was the second time I gave this place a try and needless to say not returning. There’s no excusing the unpalatable meat.
There was only one guy who was attending the tables. He came over to take the order quickly but once the food was served he totally didn’t bother coming by. He was busy talking on his phone the whole time. even when we asked him for the check. So obviously he had no time to ask why all the meat on the plate was left untouched and looked like he didn’t care one bit. So we paid up and were just glad to leave.
Oh and like another reviewer mentioned, we were there when this guy walked in and gave everybody cold stares, asked for money, said something, came close to the people at every occupied table and the staff did nothing whatsoever about it.

Four of us came to this Eritrean restaurant after finding it on Unilocal.There was a bar area, TV, and small tables spread across the interior. It was a busy evening and the décor was minimal but warm.
The Vegetarian Combination ($ 12.95) came with collard greens mixed with spinach, two types of lentils, fresh salad, and cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. This dish was the highlight due to the freshness of the ingredients and good textures. The lentils were spicy and there was good hops and pops in the flavors.
The flavors on the meat dishes, however, were disappointing. The Dorho Tibsi ($ 9.95) came with sautéed chicken breast, onion, garlic, tomato, red pepper, sauce and seasoned butter. I wasn’t a fan of the use of chicken breast, and believe using dark meat would have kept the moisture and gave the dish a better flavor.
The other two meat dishes, Awazi Tibsi ($ 9.95) and Regular Tibsi ($ 9.95), were supposed to come with our choice of lamb. However, a few bites into the dish revealed a beefy flavor so we decided to ask the server if there had been a mistake. With no apologies, he said the kitchen had run out of lamb so the chef decided to serve us beef instead. The server proceeded to walk away without asking if we would be okay with the beef substitute. Instead, he was trying to deceive us into thinking that we were eating lamb. The situation was poorly handled.
The bottom layer injera was too thin. We were also constantly out of injera since service was unfriendly and inattentive. The server’s demeanor was rude, lacked a sense of care, and very offensive. He was more interested in congregating with his friends at the bar than to come to check on us. It took a long time for him to come around to our table and this resulted in a 30-​minutes wait for the bill. In addition to the meal being poorly orchestrated, the server should never assume that we would be fine with the beef substitute. I will never come back to this support this dishonest restaurant. This is by far one of the worst dining experiences, ever.