Goorsha — Restaurant in Durham

Overall, our experience was tasty, authentic, and quick!

My girlfriend and I arrived around 6 PM (reservation) during a weekday. It wasn't busy and we got perfect seating (small table and two comfortable chairs near the window side of the restaurant).

Our server was kind and very helpful! She made wonderful suggestions, advised that some dishes were spicy, but could be made mild, and asked if we had preference of eating with our hands over using silverware (so cool).

We started off with a Sambusa which is filled with lentils, onions, garlic, and jalapenos. It was served with Deko sauce which was spicier than the Sambusa. I feel like if your use to spicy foods, then you wouldn't have any trouble with this appetizer at all. My girlfriend said it reminded her of Indian samosas.

Next, we had Awaze Tibs (comes with 2 sides) and Doro Tibs (comes with 2 sides). For our sides we got Sinig Karya, Timatim Fitfit, Beet Root Salad, and Azifa. We ordered it all on one plate and boy was it a wonderful combination of lamb, chicken, jalapenos, beets, lentils, and the list goes on. It was all served with Injera which is an Ethiopian bread made from teff flour. It's very spongy and was the icing on the cake since it reminded me so much of tortillas (same use). Once again, if you're used to anything from mild spicy to really hot spicy, then you're in good hands. If you're looking to sweat a bit from the spice, then you may want to ask for extra peppers or something.

The food quality was amazing and the portions were reasonable for the price. Honestly, we would've been okay with one order of the tibs, but we...

The portions are incredibly small for what you pay. Ordered Doro Wat, and it came with a singular chicken leg, one boiled egg, and the rest in sauce. With tax and tip it comes out to well over $25 per person. Imagine eating one chicken leg and one egg when you order an entree for dinner. Vegan entrees were a little better, but still the main dish to injera ratio is way skewed to just eating bread to fill up. Don’t even get apps, literally one bite for $10.

The food tastes great. Every bite is delicious. But I can’t stress how terrible the portion sizes are at this place for what you pay.

Service is slow as well, no one came to check in on the diners, they clearly have their favorite customers. No water refills. Other tables have to ask for refills. Had to ask the servers for a check.

Overall one of the lackluster Ethiopian restaurants I’ve been to. This place is way overhyped on Eater and other restaurant guides online. Only saving grace is that they’re the only Ethiopian joint...

Food was delicious for the most part, the injera was a little too sour for my taste; and our waitress was lovely. However, when we requested for our checks to be split into 3 separate parties (there were only 6 meals total on the ticket), we were explicitly told “that’s too much work.” And when we explained that when we sat down, we weren’t given the option of splitting our ticket prior, we were explicitly questioned “well, did you ask?” Then the same woman went on to lecture us about how it’s our sole responsibility to mention if we want the checks split as soon as we’re seated, then she went on to explain this is how a majority of restaurants handle checks, regardless, of if that’s been our own personal experience. Her tone was very condescending and ruined my experience and perception of the restaurant. I am unsure of her role at Goorsha; however, I hope moving forward, the woman who degraded us is able to learn...