Fresh Touch Restaurant — Restaurant in Harar

We really enjoyed our time here at Fresh Touch and not just as a very pleasant place to eat and hang out but also as a place to stay after we escaped the clutches of the foul Sumeya Hotel (see other review).

Fresh Touch is known as a restuarant, and rightly so, but they also are a guest house with a small number of decent little rooms.

We stayed there for 3 of our 4 days in Harar and ate all of our meals at Fresh Touch as there really didn't seem to be anywhere else in the city that provided both the quality of food but also in a pleasant space (open air courtyard) in Harar

The food was generally really good (try either the GREAT omelettes or burgers) as well as good, clean Ethiopian food.

Our one complaint (and hence not 5 stars) was the ongoing issue with water for the bathroom in our room. Generally a dribble only at best until they (finally!) refilled the water tank on our second to last evening. The manager Mully (sp?) was a nice guy and he did his best to get the water happening for our room but it did get kinda tendious to have to keep on asking for running water. Otherwise the room was fine - clean and decent if not amazing.

The last thing to note is the very pleasant environment that Fresh Touch is in - set in a quiet (when the nearby school is out) little gully with trees all around. That we saw in Harar (Oct 2025) there really wasn't anywhere else to eat/drink that wasn't in a...

This restaurant is touted as one of the best in Harar. You have to consider, however, the overall very poor level of eateries in this otherwise wonderful town. Fresh Touch is located quite far from the Old Town. In fact, it's a rather unpleasant walk if you walk. I didn't try their burgers that are supposedly good - I mean, why would I schlep all the way there for a burger? So I tried goat tibs, something different from beef dishes every day. It was awful: so chewy it was barely edible. I ended up feeding half of it to the 2 stray cats loitering about. The only reason it's not 1 star was service - fairly good for Harar, and the outside bar across the courtyard which was totally dead anyway. I'd say if you do go, stick...

Don’t eat in Harar if you don’t have to - juices are great. The best European restaurant in harar by lonely planet and trip advisor. We went in saw the pricey menu and expected for a nice meal. However, when the food arrived, it wasn’t good to put mildly. Cheeseburger tasteless except for the chilies, with old bread. Reheated roasted chicken, at least still juicy. And for that lousy meal - 273 birrs. Bottom...