ASTU KITFO BAR AND RESTAURANT — Restaurant in Washington

The service and atmosphere takes you to Africa. The scents the sights the feelings takes you out of DC for a little bit. The service was awesome, very attentive and alot of time spent explaining the various dishes as well as answering our millions of questions. The food tasted really great. If you have never had Injera Bread before, its the texture essentially of a not too fluffy pancake with a slightly sour taste, hope that helps. It was our first time so we went with an open mind and open pallets ready to taste the food in it's authenticity and its really unique, cannot be compared to anything else, you have to like it for what its is. All in all if you're up for a cultural experience head over. Parking is street parking, if you can find in the streets around the restaurant. Our meal was the meat combo so we could taste the various entrees all in one place. There were yellow split peas, red lentils, beef with jalapeños, brown screwed beef, stewed chicken, chicken with a boiled egg, cheese (White stuff in pic) and kitfo (Semi cooked well seasoned ground beef) bottom...

This was the best Ethiopian food I've ever had. (And I've had great Ethiopian in multiple cities: Oakland, New York, Houston, Ithaca, DC.) I am so happy that they are just 20 minutes from my apartment. Will be back often!

We ordered the Beyaynetu veggie combo for two, and everything was amazing. Each dish was perfectly spiced and distinct from the others. We ordered it with 100% teff injera, which they said was from Ethiopia. It was delicious.

The staff were extremely warm and generous. The owner greeted us warmly when we arrived and the server checked in multiple times to see how we were enjoying the food. Toward the end of our meal, they saw we had eaten most of the dishes but still had some injera, so they brought a little more of the mesir wat so we could finish the injera. Amazing generosity.

The ambiance of the place was wonderful. There was a slight scent of incense combined with food that made the place feel cozy and warm. There were Ethiopian music videos playing on the screens which were fun to watch.

5 stars isn't enough. You need to...

I had an absolutely incredible experience here! The staff was extremely attentive and courteous. The decor was beautiful. The location was clean and the music was catchy and set to a very conversational volume.

I ordered the small meat combo platter with a coffee and was astounded by presentation with which it was received.

The food itself was excellent and the combo platter was very well varied. It felt like the perfect sampler yet was well more than ample as a full meal. Each dish was colorfully unique, though my favorite portion was the Quanta Firfir which was rich and spicy.

Finally, the coffee was outstanding… and I am a coffee snob.

I would recommend this place to Ethiopian enthusiasts and new...