Harambe Ethiopian Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

Food 4/5 great flavors, nice options

(Side note: when you are pouring a massive plastic jug of "fresh mango juice" into a pitcher for the table, just do it in the kitchen where the customers can't see.

Price 3/5 a little too expensive.

Service 0/5 let me begin by saying, I don't like to throw businesses under the bus. Sometimes there is some figuring out to do by managers to improve customer service. I understand this. But after so many reviews saying customer service was lacking, they are still like this?

I have never experienced customer service that poor. When we came in we asked how long the wait would be. They said it wouldn't be long and sat us at the bar. We waited for an hour without water or menus despite asking for them. Then we were seated at a table but asked to get up because another party had been there before us and we obliged. Understandable mixup. We got up and they led us to the other side of the restaurant and pointed at a table and said "they're just paying". I didn't want to stand in the middle of the restaurant. I took my group of 3 and sat back at the bar. We then asked again for the 3rd time for waters and were given them. 20 more minutes, the table that we were promised was cleaned and given to another group who came after us. Another understandable mixup, maybe the staff didn't know who was next. But there was no communication. We waited another 10 minutes the were seated at a table. We got to look at the menu and quickly ordered. We were then asked to move to another table to accommodate a bigger group at ours. Once again, understandable. They didn't quite set our table. We had one napkin, and a glass. We brought our water glasses over with us. (Empty) we asked for more water and napkins. Nothing. Our food came 30 mins later (usual wait time for restaurants) understandable. We asked for water and napkins again. Nothing. We ate. No water or napkins. We were checked in with 30 mins after we finished eating. Plates were taken away. We asked for water. We ended up having to use 1 paper napkin between us 3. Despite this being a restaurant that serves exclusively finger food. They do not provide cutlery. 1 napkin for 3 people? We asked for the bill waited 20 minutes more and then went up to the bar because we wanted to leave and were tired of waiting. We then paid and left. We were pleasant throughout. Between 3 hostesses, we were juggled and left without napkins or water for hours. I just don't understand how they feel no need to improve their service.

Overall experience 1/5 food was unique but I am recommending people not eat here. Give your business to a business that...

Food was fantastic. Absolutely five star rated good-value authentic food, no questioning that. If you want great food, go eat here now; you might just wait a while for it. The dropped star is purely down to service, which was in no way bad, just a little slow and spontaneous.

My spouse and I arrived around 19:45 on a Saturday night after a show at the Rio. We were surprised to sit immediately as the restaurant was full with some people waiting outside. Turns out there was a bit of a mix up, but after a bit of musical chairs everyone was seated and happy. The atmosphere was vibrant with lots of happy punters, and the inside is all traditional decor and art.

We ordered drinks immediately, then food moments later when they were brought over: it's pretty easy, just order a platter to try a bit of everything (in our case, vegetarian). Around forty minutes later, with no subsequent check-in from our server, despite empty drinks, the food arrived. I siezed the opportunity then to order another drink.

The food was fantastic. While we eat a lot of similar foods, this was our first time eating Ethiopian cuisine and we will definitely now be seeking it out more. The smoky full-body flavored Misir Wot kinda blew me away.

The platter was served on one giant Injera (Ethiopian traditional bread, kinda like a sour pancake), with a bowl of extra rolled Injera on the side, and that's it. No cutlery here, it's all with the bread and hands.

The washrooms, clean enough, are down the side of the bar, passing which you may get a sneaky look in to the kitchens where food is being fastidiously prepared by cooks in traditional dress.

Satisfied and full of tasty food, the gentleman we assumed was the floor manager, if not of the restaurant, came over with our bill. I mean, we didn't probably didn't need dessert and had already eyed off the Elephant Creamery across the street, but being offered and checking out some persuasive options might be nice. By this time the restaurant was far less busy with no wait, so I don't think they needed to rush our table either.

So in 1h20m at the restaurant, we had four interactions. Sit, order, food, bill. I wouldn't normally mind the hands-off style, but given it was around 40 minutes to get our food, a couple more check-ins for more drinks or water refills would be a nice touch. In fairness they seemed perhaps a little understaffed.

In all, I will definitely return. The food stands up for itself and I get the impression the restaurant is there for the love of the food and satisfying people on that basis alone than for the passion of actually running...

DON'T GO DURING COVID-19!!! We were there last night and left before we ordered. This restaurant DOES NOT FOLLOW THE COVID-19 GUIDELINES at all.

Strike #1: no physical distance We arrived at 7:30pm and the place was packed. Like, pre-COVID packed. Almost all the tables were full. We got a booth, and my head was mere inches from the head of the guy in the booth behind me—no plastic barrier or anything. The diner at the table beside us was sitting only a meter away from my partner.

Strike #2: Menus While all other restaurants we visited recently had used a single-use paper menu, a digital menu or just a big menu on the wall that everybody shared, Harambe used their usual bound menus. Did they sanitize them between tables? Who knows, but 5 minutes after placing four menus on our table (we were waiting for another couple to arrive) the waitress came by to ask if she could borrow them for another table. She just took it there without any cleaning, not even asked if we touched them or coughed on them or whatever.

Strike #3: Masks While the waitstaff all wore masks, the big guy in the white shirt behind the bar (bartender? owner?) wore none. He was serving people who sat at the bar very close to him. When we got up to go before even ordering he came over to ask us why we're leaving, while wearing no mask and keeping no appropriate distance from us.

Strike #4: Noise Dr. Henry issued the wise guideline of turning background music beneath speaking level so patrons won't have to raise their voices while talking (thus avoiding the spread of spit that accompanies loud speaking). The music and noise in Harambe were way over speaking volume, and people were speaking loudly over it.

Strike #5: Ventilation As said, the place was full. No windows or doors were kept open, and it was very hot inside. If there was any ventilation, we didn't see or feel it working.

Strike #6: No contact listing Nobody asked for our name or phone number, as is now the norm in every public place to notify in case of a known COVID case.

All in all, we fled the place after 10 minutes, because we simply didn't feel safe to sit there during COVID-19.

Outside the door I looked for the usual sign that says how many people are permitted in the restaurant to keep the safe distance between them. There was none. The only thing I found remotely having to do with COVID preparedness was on the chalk sign that said WE'RE OPEN. Somebody added "under the guidelines!" -- but that clearly wasn't the case.

Unless Harambe drastically change their approach and accommodate to the new situation, I advise you all...