Cafe Romanat — Restaurant in Oakland

I need to have Ethiopian food more often because I really love it. So far, this is my fourth try of this lovely cuisine since I moved to Oakland last year. Since 2016, I have tried Enssaro (Oakland), Lemat (Berkeley) and Massawa (San Fran) and had been really keen to try Cafe Romanat which is really close to our home.

My cousin and I came here yesterday for dinner at about 8:30pm and place was half full, which is not bad for a Thursday night ;). Ample seating and beautiful interior decor makes me happy.

The host promptly greeted us and gave us menus and water. We set our minds pretty quickly and shared:

fresh lemonade ($4) veggie romanat salad ($8) veggie combo platter for two ($28)

Salad came first, followed by the combo platter which came with lots of injeera and last came lemonade (a tad late and we had to remind the host about it as she forgot).

Service was relatively fast and super friendly. Menu has the right amount of options without being too much or too little and noticed they have lots of smoothies and fresh juices compared to the other places I have been to.

Food was really good overall and portions were great - at the end we were really full. Injeera was so nice and soft and sour enough for my taste so I was thrilled - happy prego girl me!

Pricewise I think they have done a good job apart from salads which I think are a bit overpriced. All in all, we paid 20$ each (excluding tip) which is not too bad and honestly we could have done without the salad for sure.

Place is neat though they need to do better job in the bathroom as there was no soap at the end and the hand paper-towel was stuck.

I look forward to come with my hubby and friends and try their meat combo and more from...

I've been craving this food for a while, and I haven't ventured out to try other places since the spot I liked closed down. A friend of mine kept telling me to try this place out, but I was hesitant. I finally decided to grab some to go for lunch today, and... I was pleasantly surprised. I got the Veggie combo and Doro tibs. I don't know if she was the owner, but if she was, her service, the great small talk while the food is coming up, and her good food should make her proud. The spice was on point, good portions, I'm sold. You got yourself a new customer. Pardon the grammar, just was excited about sharing...

The food is great, you can taste the freshness in all the ingredients. Presentation of the dishes are a delight. The service is warm & subtle yet timely. The atmosphere is smooth and charming. And the coffee here, well that's another conversation (And personally I am not a coffee drinker either). You'll just have to experience it for yourself:)

I rate this place on a scale with all three area of food, service, atmosphere in mind. They easily pass all three. It's no wonder they've been Michelin rated. Cafe Romanat is worth making a trip out of...