Abyssinian Ethiopian Restaurant — Restaurant in Middletown

During the pandemic, we didn't even get takeout anywhere. When we were vaccinated, unfortunately, our favorite Ethiopian restaurant had gone out of business and we drove 40+ minutes to get here after ordering the day before authentic 100% teff injera which just happens to be gluten free which wasn't an issue for us. Teff is a whole grain that like quinoa is a complete protein full of micronutrients and authentic injera is not easy to make but tastes wonderful and is also probiotic. It is essential to Ethiopian cooking. The injera here are larger than usual and expertly made by hand by the wife of the owner of this family owned business. We also ordered two vegetarian /vegan dishes made with authentic berbere, a mixture of many spices that the owner gets directly from Ethiopia. The dishes were both delicious and authentically spicy not Americanized but reflective of what is actually home cooking in this restaurant. The owner is a charming, personable, well educated Ethiopian who speaks the two main Ethiopian languages, English and fluent Italian since he was educated probably in the Italian school system left behind when the Italian rule in Ethiopia ended. Italian happens to be one of the languages I speak and the owner and I chatted a bit. The other employee is the owner's son. This restaurant is worth a detour and should be visited not just for the authentic food but also to keep a family owned business going in these...

Where's the meat? Not a good value for the price. Decided to try Abyssinian again since it reopened recently under new management. It's better, but still has a lot of room for improvement. Surroundings were pleasant and clean. Service was good and fast. We had doro wat chicken stew ($17) and a vegetarian sampler platter ($19). The Doro wat was pretty good, but had only one small chicken thigh! That was all the meat in it, just ONE small chicken thigh! Chicken is cheap, so it's utterly ridiculous to serve a $17 chicken dish and put only a little bit of meat in it. For that price, in a simple ethnic restaurant in a poor, low rent district, the dish should have had half a chicken, certainly at least a quarter of a chicken! The vegetarian platter was okay, not great, just okay. The yellow split peas were very bland. Red lentils were okay. Ground chickpea paste was bland and had the texture of toothpaste. The potato dish was good, but the portion was very small. The cabbage and carrot dish was bland. Again, just not enough value for the price. The injera was good. They say they can make 100% teff injera for those with gluten issues with 24 hours notice.

The only competition is Walia in Manchester, which is no better, maybe worse. I long to go back to Washington DC, with its many excellent Ethiopian restaurants. But Abyssinian could be better than it is. Right now, it's overpriced, and...

Amazing food. We wanted to try this place for a long long time and we're very glad we did! Loved the place and the food. We got there before the place opened by mistake and they still took us. They served us some wine and the food was just outstanding. We spoke for a while with the owner of the place and WOW! Such incredible people... everybody working there is just great. He talked to us about how they opened the restaurant and how they actually import the Teff grain to make their bread, amazing. Great attitude, friendly and soooooo welcoming. If you're not familiar with Ethiopian food, please try some at the Abyssinian Ethiopian Restaurant. You won't regret it. Amazing family, amazing food and great environment. Loved every second of it, we'll be back regularly for some more of that Ethiopian deliciousness!!!!!!!

As for COVID regulations, they seemed to follow their rules. We were the only ones in the restaurant when we got there because it hadn't even opened yet but they had tables blocked in between so I imagine they won't sit people so close. Overall a great experience. My husband and I both have worked in the service industry and this was just great. We love to try new places where people are humble, honest and work hard. Definitely worth your business. Go...