Dahlak Eritrean Cuisine

My first time to try this kind of food. Flavors were fantastic! A good variety between spicy and non spicy… so it met both mine and my fiancé palate preferences perfectly!
Be warned if your using a Groupon you don’t get to choose your menu. It is already choosen with the Groupon, we were told. We were ok with it since we didn’t know what to orde anyways. Dessert was tiramusu… a little odd we thought. Do they not eat dessert?
When you go either prepare for a wait or make sure you’re prepared to get the waitresses attention for your next course. It took WAY too long in between each course. As for atmosphere, Gordon Ramsey would have a hay day in this place!
Overall good food, but probably not a place we would seek out again for an evening meal. Quoting my fiancé «Heading to dicks for deluxe!» LOL

As others have written, please avoid using a groupon or similar deal at this restaurant. Dahlak will be «out» of the items you may want to order and may attempt to serve you entrees without you getting to choose for yourselves. Then, at the end of the meal the bill will be rung up at a higher dollar amount so they can charge you more tax than the actual value of the food on the menu.
The restaurant is also uncomfortable. It is a large space inside, with a big stage, and around three dozen seats. We were the only people in the entire large restaurant, and only a single person was working there as both cook and waitress. We sat there surrounded by no one for two hours!
«Ordering» food was not ordering at all. The appetizer we wanted with our groupon was unavailable for us. So after choosing two others, the waitress left. She returned with two small plates, and then left again. We were never given an opportunity to order our meals. We were alone at our table for over 15 minutes before walking to the kitchen to flag down the cook to say we were ready to place our order. She had begun preparing two meat combos and two veggie combos, without asking us which type of combos we wanted!
The food was ok, but it would rank near the bottom of the other Ethiopian/​Eritrean restaurants in Seattle. The bad groupon experience made our whole meal experience unpleasant. I will not be returning. Please avoid this restaurant, especially if you intend to use a groupon.

From the reviews I read I expected to see JESUS working in the kitchen. Maybe due to my palate I wasn’t overly impressed. The owner/​cook was very; extremely «in fact» inviting I instantly felt at home.
Maybe my opinion was skewed simply for the fact my soon to be wife is Eritrean and keeps me fed. However we all know nothing and I repeat NOTHING compares to home cooking. Still the food was filling and had decent flavor but I was hoping for something more robust!!! For the novice I say give it a try you will be impressed! But if you are accustomed to East African food then don’t except your mind to be BLOWN. Will I return? ABSOLUTELY!!! «gotta support small businesses and those from the MotherLand».

This place is so close by, and it’s excellent! The other reviews had me worried, but when our waitress brought the food out, it was excellent. Well-​spiced meat with delicious sauce, awesome injera to soak up all that savoury goodness, and there was so much food. My date and I should’ve just ordered one entrée. My first experience with Ethiopian food, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Way too full after eating!

This is my second time visiting, using a similar Groupon both times. We came back because we got a great deal on the Groupon and wanted Ethiopian/​Eritrean, but I’m still regretting it.
We entered (early Sunday evening), and no one came to seat us or even acknowledge our existence. Eventually someone sitting at a table on the phone, possibly a friend/​family member of the host, called someone in the kitchen and told us our waitress will be there shortly. It was all very odd.
We told the waitress we had the Groupon deal ($ 21 for $ 45 three-​course meal for two, which included an appetizer, a meat combo, a veggie combo, and dessert). She did not give us any menus, so we couldn’t order any drinks or anything else for that matter. She showed up with water (no ice) eventually, that we had to pour into glasses ourselves.
No appetizer was served. We were too hungry to complain by the time the entrees showed up.
The injera was cold. Some of the stews/​veggies were cold. One of the meat stews was just a hunk of bone. Last time we visited, the waitress explained the dish as she set it. This time, she placed it, and just left, so we really had no idea what we were eating (especially as we had no menus). At least it was filling (they’re lucky we were so hungry).
The dessert was definitely just store-​bought tiramisu, and not even a good one at that.
Mid-​way through my meal (literally, my hands were dirty and I was putting food in my mouth), the waitress comes by and asks how we are paying. Um, rude?
After they clear our plates, a different waitress scans my Groupon. So, when we’re done, we wonder if we should leave, since they didn’t come back to give us a bill or do anything (too busy hanging out at the bar, in fact). Eventually I go up and ask if I need to sign anything before leaving, and she comes with the bill. It has a meat/​veggie combo for $ 15.99, and nothing else, then a total saying we owe $ 4.75, which is presumably the tax. Obviously this makes no sense– how did we get a $ 45 meal from a $ 15.99 combo and two pathetic slices of store-​bought tiramisu? At first we put down a card to pay, but the waitress apparently forgot about us, so we just put down cash and leave.
The women’s restroom was all right, but apparently the men’s room had no soap or paper towel or working hand dryer. Definitely against regulations?!
The ambiance was awful as well. There was one party there that seemed to include folks who perhaps perform at the restaurant, but they left. Otherwise, the restaurant was dead– no music, just a strange buzz. We felt very awkward sitting there waiting, with minimal service, no drinks offered, very cheap plates/​glasses, etc.
Bottom line:
1) Groupon deal is a total scam. There must be something illegal going on there.
2) Restrooms are definitely not to code.
3) Cold food was boring, some of it even tasteless. I only enjoyed my meal because I was starving.

We came back for round two and everything was great… until we saw the rat. Apparently he is a regular at this restaurant as I saw another review about him. It’s a shame as I’d love to keep coming back here but I don’t think we ever will now.

This place is super cool, good food, live East African music and real nice people. Only been there once so far for take out, but while I was waiting they gave me a beer. Looking forward to returning soon!

Using Groupon was a big mistake. A family of 4 (2 little kids) went and the list price was $ 100 dollar of food.
Everything is so tiny and sample size. The only thing we get to pick was the appetizer. The dishes were pre-​set so we got veg + meat mix for main course. It was suppose to be like $ 15 entrée * 4 but more like $ 10 to $ 11 per entrée. Lots of gravy. The lamb portion was big bone with a dice of meat (bad luck for us). All meat portion is about 10 little dice of meat. The desert was 4 tiny pieces of cake. They are like half or ¹⁄₃ the size of Ikea café’s cake slice. I would say it worth $ 1 and not $ 6/​$ 7 listed.
There is also a $ 10.00 tax on top of it. Overall, I think we spent like $ 39+$ 10tax + tip. I would say the food we got is more like $ 40. More like a regular price meal. But I think if we really paid $ 40 for the meal (without groupon), our portion will be much bigger in that neighborhood + ambience.
This place is quite a run down. The table have glasses top on them and their edges were chipped badly. My daughter got a tiny cut from it when we sat down so we moved to a different table. Rest room was quite clean but soap was a washdown version with lots of water in them.
Service was good. Waiter was polite but we don’t see him much. Food taste is reasonable. We are the only one in the restaurant the whole night. What concerned me was if the flow of customer is so bad, you wonder how long are they keeping their cooked food. Almost all of these food are stewed. You can be eating food that is reheating over and over again in a week or even longer. Now you wonder why we are the only one in the restaurant tonight.
If you want to visit, don’t buy the groupon. Just go inside and order a dish/​two. I think you will get a better deal /​experience out of it.

Love this food so much, I crave it!
The owners (husband and wife) are lovely and gracious. Be prepared to wait for your food, but it’s worth the wait. They make a great fit-​fit, and a decent shiro wot. I love the gentle, funky, ambience, and the kids are always welcome.

Eritrean not Ethiopian! This is an oddball little place that I never would’ve normally gone to without having the groupon but I am so glad that I did.
First of all, I see other reviewers complaining about the limited menu options they give you for the groupon. Shut up. Businesses lose money on groupons that’s just how it works, if they’re lucky they get enough new customers that it ends up being worth it. I wasn’t surprised in the least they told us that we would get a certain appetizer and combo meal and something for dessert. They’re a small business trying to minimize the financial hit, jeeze. They ended up giving us a couple drinks since they ran out of desserts. Not a big deal, I was so full I wasn’t sure how we’d manage desserts anyway. $ 45 seems totally reasonable to me for how much food you get.
The food was excellent. I’ve eaten at many different Ethiopian places in Seattle and in Texas, mostly at the insistence of friends and I’ve never been impressed. I should’ve been eating Eritrean all this time. My biggest complaint about Ethiopian is the bread is always too soggy, I hate how slimy it gets. This injera was perfect. It was just moist enough to tear and scoop, I was so happy my wish for dry injera had finally came true!
The second thing that makes me know how good this place really is, is the collards. I can’t tell you how many wet slimy tasteless collards I’ve had languishing on top of injera. Not so here. Nothing but fresh, just moist enough collard greens! The meats were amazingly spiced, I won’t lie I used my spoon to drink the left over juice, and the appetizer was one of the most delicious little sour spicy ‘salads’ I’ve ever had.
The place has a small dining area close to the bar and an adjoining room with dance floor. It was totally empty while we were there having our minds blown but I bet they have some fantastic dance parties.
We are totally going back and bringing everyone we know.

No Honey Wine. Watched a rat scamper across the floor. Hour wait even though it was not crowded. Lots of
Rat poop in the bathroom wall. Not returning.

This was our second visit, with a 2 person combo groupon. Our first visit was enjoyable, however their service and food quality send to have gone down. The portion for 2 people was significantly smaller than before. The meat dishes had less meat and more gravy. We mentioned about the Groupon before ordering as the combo choice is limited. However the waitress told us they were out of dessert AFTER the main course and only offered a coffee/​tea as substitute. This is disappointing as we would have preferred this key info before ordering and ordered entrees from dinner menu instead. The coffee also was a poor drip coffee. Very inconsistent.

The Groupon deal is a scam. Dahlak offers you no variety when you come with a Groupon. They had just 1 starter available of the 4 – 5 on the menu. Similarly, they had no options for the combo — just 2 combos that they force down on you for the Groupon. They gave us 2 tiny slices of Tiramisu and that was the only dessert they had available. The value was no where close to $ 45 that they advertise. And then they added a 10% tax on total value of the Groupon (not on the value of the food they served). Very poor value and poor service. The food was average. And no wonder that we were the only customers in the restaurant.

Unfortunately I have to agree with other reviewers about the Groupon deal, it is a scam. We had eaten here before without a Groupon a few times and it was comparable to the many similar East African restaurants in the area. We tried the $ 30 for $ 60 Special Dinner for Two Groupon — thinking, $ 60 for two people in this place? they must do something really interesting — but were served about $ 10 worth of food. It was more like an hors d’oeuvres plate. Comparing to our last experience with the regular menu and by looking at pictures people posted from the restaurant I would say we were served about ¹⁄₃ to ¼ of a regular meat/​veg combination. No joke — I went home afterward and made a sandwich.
Two weeks prior we took a group of friends here for their first Eritrean food experience on a Tuesday but *fortunately* it was closed. I would have been so embarrassed if they got that kind of treatment their fist time out.

This place has nummy food. I can’t really tell the difference bewteen Eritrean and Ethiopian, but it’s killer to have this place so close to my N. Beacon hood. The veggie combo ($ 10.50) is pretty serviceable, better than many Ethiopian places I’ve been to in Seattle. I wish I knew the names of the stuff, but there’s a yellow lentil that is great and not spicy, the greens are tasty, and the salad is good (eat it quick as they pre-​dress it). One thing I found is that the dishes can be fairly spicy, even some of the lentil dishes that normally aren’t.
The injera kicks ass. Not too sour like at some places. My 4 year old eats it up by the handful.
We just ordered the meat combo ($ 13.50) based on other reviews here, and I will report that it’s also quite good. There is one of the meats that is cooked on the bone, the meat is super tender and falling off the bone, and the sauce is this lovely maroon colored thing, only slightly sweet, and it’s really the best I’ve had in this style of food. Wish I knew the name.
The atmosphere is different. There’s plenty of parking outside, and even some very low budget outdoor seating last time I was there. Inside there’s a bar and a dining area in the same room. Usually there’s some very nice people sitting at the bar, who will smile and say hi as you come in. Then there’s a dance floor and stage beyond there. It’s kind of a mysterious place, in a good way.
Service can be slow, but sometimes it’s fast. I’m not sure why. I like to call in my food in advance if I’m not prepared for a sit down wait. The to-​go food is just as good as eating in!

Very unique restaurant that’s worth a try! The ambiance is different than downtown; the outside and neighborhood seem to be run down and there were random people loitering at the bar. The food, though, is obviously the main attraction. We had the fitfit, which was not very good. It was cold and had an odd taste. But the vegetable and meat entrees were good and full of flavour. I wouldn’t come here for a second time, but am glad we tried it!

The food was good and the portions for two where more than enough. I had a pretty good experience. We had the meat and veggie combo.

I love this place!!! The food is great, service can be better. I assume the location is a hindrance for business, the neighborhood is not very appealing or attractive.
We got a groupon and got one veggie and meat combo. Also got an additional fitfit.
The appetizer fitfit ³⁄₅. Was tasty but cold not sure if that is how it is to be served.
Veggie combo ⁵⁄₅. Great flavors and well cooked veggies loved very one of them.
Meat combo ⁴⁄₅. Lamb curry was great cooked have been better cooked (more tender). Chicken was good not great.
Entrée fitfit −5÷5 this was superb, ful of flavor and great
Dessert? Was store bought tiramisu so won’t rate it.
On the whole will go back and liked the place.

Eritrean & Ethiopian dishes served up by a genuinely friendly lady in a welcoming Restaurant/​Lounge located next to Oboy Oberto off of Rainier. We were treated very well even while we were Groupon-​ing.
For Starters: We had the FetFet, a delicious appetizer of injera mixed with a slight kick of chilies.
Main Meal: We had the Vegetarian Combo and the Meat Combo served as one a large dish to share and it was perfect for 2. We each had our own Injera as our utensil! Great meal to dip with someone you love. :)
I have not had a lot of Ethiopian food but I can say the Injera served here is very tasty with a perfect spongy airy texture, great for soaking up the medley of veggies and meats.
We ordered the Ethiopian lagers, Meta and a St. George, which both are pretty good, all for a well rounded African Meal. We will be back!
Note: On weekend nights this spot opens the back Lounge with space for live music and spoken word acts.

An Eritrean bar/​nightclub/​restaurant in the flatlands east of Beacon Hill. Starving, we stumbled in at 9p on a Friday, startling the few Ethiopians who were there. Clearly they don’t see a lot of tourists, Japanese or otherwise, around this area.
I got the meat assortment; my sister ordered the vegetable/​meat assortment. The injera was good, the meats were excellent — but the vegetables were outstanding. I’ve never eaten better vegetarian, even in our fine East Bay Ethiopian restaurants. The collard greens, spicy okra, and red lentils with chile blew both of us away.
The beef and lamb are better choices than the chicken, if you’re after meat dishes. Not that the chicken wasn’t good, but the former were just more savory. Spicing is aggressive — this isn’t habanero hot, but it wasn’t somewhere we could bring elderly relatives without a qualm unless absolutely sure they could take a chile hit.