Addis Abeba — Restaurant in Berlin

It's a small Ethiopian restaurant close to the immigration office in Berlin, placed in an old building that has been repurposed to be used as a restaurant, they have limited outside seating available and offer variety of Ethiopian food, cannot say whether they are completely authentic or not but they tasted good, their menu lacks starters and begins directly with main course, it has been written in both english and German and offers bunch of dishes using some type of protein and a gravy, with probably toned down spices to accommodate the German taste. We ordered a combination (it was number 10 in he menu) and a chicken gravy plate (number 6) and they arrived after a while, with a specific type of bread. They also offered forks for those who don't want to eat with their hands and each plate looked good and flavorful. They were also kind enough to serve some of the gravy themselves (which usually u don't see in restaurants at this price point). The chicken was the most delicious, with a distinct hint of cinnamon and other spices, not so hot but it tingled your mouth a bit. It tasted fresh and not heated up several times after a long day(since I arrived there kinda late and i was one of their last customers that they accepted) and the salad beside it was completely fresh, crisp and not soggy or soft due to the heat and the warm weather we have in Berlin right now. The combination had 2 meat dishes using small cubed lamb and beef pieces in it, and a vegetarian course using lentils, it kinda reminds you of Indian food because of he spices but it was a unique style and you wouldn't get a feeling of eating the same spices like masala or curry or .... Every gravy should've been eaten using a special type of thin bread, baked on a hot plate that has a very soft texture and not so much of a flavor, ready to soak everything from the gravy and be a good vessel to enjoy it. In the end we enjoyed an Ethiopian Coffee, which tared like regular coffee to me( I'm not a coffee drinker) and was ok, nothing special. They serve it in small cups and a traditional type of teapot. The restaurant was reasonably priced, their service was really good, they were attentive and caring and patient with their customers. You could also pay with either card or cash (which nice since you won't have this option in many restaurants like this in Berlin) In the end, it was a nice restaurant, I would recommend it for people who want to get a taste of Ethiopian food, had good services with reasonable pricing, offered multiple seating options (unfortunately no air conditioning inside) and had good vibes and...

I haven’t really heard much about Ethiopian cuisine, but since this restaurant is close to my house and I thought of giving it a try. And it was so good that I was there the next day as well.

The highlights of this restaurant is both the Food and the People. An old gentleman (i guess the owner) helped me with choosing the dish- Beef in spicy sauce, and it was again amazing. It has a resemblance of an Indian street style tawa masala meat/mutton. The dish is flavourful, not as spicy as I excepted but could be on a slightly higher side for the european taste.

My second visit was for the same spicy sause dish but this time with chicken. And again, I loved it.

The sauce was a little bit less for me (maybe I liked it so much that I was eating it disproportionately) but the owner was happy to provide me extra sauce to finish my Injera. An extra star for their service. Special thanks to the people here.

I am looking forward to trying more dishes...

Oh Gott, war das schlecht. Wir kamen zu dritt um 20:00 nach vorheriger Onlinereservierung. Die Reservierung war das Einzige, was zur Zufriedenheit geklappt hat. 20:00 angekommen, zum Tisch geführt und................Warten. Nach 20 min kam endlich die Kellnerin und nahm die Bestellungen auf. Dann wieder..................warten! Um 20:45 kamen "schon" die Getränke, eins davon auch noch falsch! 10 min später kam dann auch das richtige Getränk. Gegen 21:30 kam dann auch "schon" das Essen. Die Getränke waren bis dahin dann wieder alle, aber was Neues zu bestellen, war uns zu riskant. Wer weiß, wie lange wir noch hätten bleiben müssen. Zum Essen, 1. Gericht: gebratene Rindfleischstreifen mit Currypaste. 2. Gericht: gebratene Rindfleischwürfel mit Zwiebeln und Pepperoni. Hm, bis auf die Form der Fleischstücke waren beide Gerichte absolut identisch, sowohl optisch als auch geschmacklich. Die Gerichte wurden auf einem kalten, säuerlich schmeckenden, eierkuchenähnlichem Brot serviert. Nicht mein Geschmack aber ok, dafür kann ja das Restaurant nichts. Schade nur, dass beide Gerichte gleich schmeckten. Das Rindfleisch bei beiden Gerichten total zäh. Ich frage mich, wie man Rindfleisch so zäh zubereiten kann. Meine Vermutung ist, dass es sich um ein Stück Schmorbraten oder eine Tafelspitz gehandelt haben muss, also nicht für's Kurzbraten. Schade. Gericht: gekochtes Hähnchenfleisch. Es kam wieder dieser Eierkuchen nebst Salat und gekauftem Dressing, der Salat und dieses Dressing waren übrigens bei allen Gerichten bei. Dazu ein Schälchen mit einem weißen, wässrigen Krümelkäse ohne Geschmack und eine Suppenschüssel mit merkwürdiger, dickflüssiger Suppe. Und darin lag eine gekochte Hähnchenkeule. Das war alles an Hähnchenfleisch, traurig. Geschmacklich auch eine Niete.

Fazit: unterirdischer Service und schlechtes Essen. Ich bin gern für kulinarische Abenteuer zu haben und offen für Neues. Ich habe auch kein Problem damit, landestypisch mit den Fingern zu essen. Aber eben nicht erst nach 90 min und gleichschmeckenden Gerichten. Und ja, der Laden war gut besucht aber eben nur gut besucht, nicht permanent fluktuiert. Wir saßen draußen und hatten den Eingang im Blick, während der gesamten Zeit kamen keine neuen Gäste. Im Gegenteil, nach und nach verließen Gäste das Lokal. Was hat also so lange gedauert? Dieses Lokal für mich nie wieder. Leider muss ich einen Stern vergeben um diese Rezension posten zu können. Verdient ist nicht mal...