Rahel Ethiopian Vegan Cuisine — Restaurant in Los Angeles

While we were in LA in June 2023, we were looking for some vegan food and came across Rahel. This was surprising because that is the first Ethiopian vegan restaurant I came across. We all thought this place we have to go to since its vegan (we are all vegetarians and this is perfect because we do not worry about any cross-over of mixed spoons or flavors from meat dishes to vegetarian dishes plus all of the sauces would be vegetarian friendly ). Just to be sure I also asked a friend who resides in LA about this restaurant and he said this is his go-to place for ethiopian food !

Food - We were a group of 6 and 1-2 people had not had ethiopian food before plus they also had other dietary restrictions (no onion or garlic). The owner of the restaurant was so gracious as she said she could ask the chef to make couple of the dishes without onion & garlic. Since ethiopian food is all about sharing we ordered couple of combination platters - Veggie Paradise combo special, Hudade Special combo and couple of side orders and soup plus extra injera. They were bringing the injeras warm/hot so we could enjoy with all the various stews and vegetable dishes. We also asked them to make couple of dishes spicy. Overall the food was good as expected but we probably had ordered too much food as we had some left overs. Unfortunately we could not take it as there was no refrigerator space in our hotel room.

Since we did not have room for dessert we decided to try the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. If you have not tried this you should and I will not give away all they do here (keep some mystery) but the coffee was amazing. The coffee is only served black - no milk. Except for my eldest brother, we do not normally drink black coffee but we all ended up drinking this coffee - not one cup but couple of cups. Its pretty strong coffee and to be fully transparent couple of folks in our party could not readily go to sleep; it did not impact me as I slept normally.

Service - The owner was really nice and we were able to have a nice conversation with her as she was explaining how she decided to make her restaurant vegan and she also made suggestions on what we may like. We have had ethiopian dishes before but there were couple of new items in this menu. The rest of the service staff was also very friendly and constantly came to our table to ask if all was ok and if we needed anything.

Ambiance - some ethiopian artifacts, pictures and table pieces to give it the ethiopian feel. Coffee ceremony was also uniquely ethiopian

Rahel - thank you for a nice meal and experience. I think we were there...

My favorite restaurant in the world, actually. The food is excellent, the people are wonderful, and the atmosphere so rich, yet so peaceful. I like their vegetable gomen dish (made of collards or kale) VERY much, their unique Tofu Dish, and love their 100% Teff grain Injera, and thus Gluten Free, also. This is a vegan restaurant yet fine for non-vegans (such as myself). I have to admit, I'm tunnel visioned and only and every time order their Gomen (collards-kale dish), Tofu-Dish, and 100% Teff grain Injera (like large crepes, a type of flatbread, but very amazing, and you must tear pieces of the Injera and then grab the food using the Injera thus making small sushi-like bites. The juices mix with the (sour/fermented like sour dough bred, but more so) Injera and the combined taste makes the sour, less sour, and adds amazing taste aspect with the food that you enclose and pickup with the injera pieces. They also offer more bland, less sour, mixed grain Injera pancakes. Again, it's really worth having them explain how to eat the food, if you've never learned. Rahels!!! Again, my favorite...

Fantastic unique vegetarian food in an atmosphere with an acquired taste.

Having never experienced an Ethiopian restaurant, I did not know what to expect when I walked past the door.

We were immediately seated and menus were distributed. Definitely keep your phone on you to search up any unknown ingredients, if this is your first time.

We ordered a feast for two, which came with a delicious appetizer (I think it was a lentil sambusa), followed by a medley of lentils, squash, cabbage, and other foods patterned atop a flatbread (what I think was injera). More of the bread was provided in a side basket to be used as a utensil and we were off. Pinching and scraping is the preferred medium of transport here from plate to mouth. Olive Garden's unlimited breadsticks were no match to the sheer quantity of bread we were given.

Finishing off the feast was the thickest (respectfully) freshly squeezed mango juice I had ever encountered and we were finished. Enlightened, we were finally able to appreciate the unknown music on repeat from a nearby TV and the weird carpet under our shoes.

Great place,...