Addis Ababa Restaurant

One of my main goals in traveling to Toronto from cayman, where we live, was to eat Ethiopian again. We chose Addis Ababa over Nunu because it looked more traditional. While we were the only patrons in there for most of our meal, it was awesome. Highly recommend. I got spoiled with Ghenet in Brooklyn, but this was as good. Very reasonably priced as well.

my original intro to Ethiopian food… Must be fair in first saying; not my fave compared to most other foods (indian, carribean, asian…). Way too expensive for what we ate, the 4 of us had a bill that was ridiculous for this quality and quantity of food.

It’s only my third time having Ethiopian, which I really enjoy. First time however at this place. I am very disappointed. Service is terrible. The restaurant was empty except for 1 table with 5 ppl drinking. Still we had to wait for our menus. Wanting to have a glass of wine and asking for a wine list we were advised there’s only one type of wine, red and white. I wanted to know what kind of white wine… the way the waitress said it, it could’ve been boxed white wine. When I asked to see the bottle she gave a smirk although obliged. I get it that I’m not at a fancy restaurant but still may I have a preference and should it not be the type I like a choice to not order it? FYI, it was Citra.
To eat, I wanted to order something I’ve had before but do not know the name of, so I described it, the waitress of course knew right away what it was. Having been to an ethiopian restaurant before and having had this mixed platter, I know that one order is plenty for two people (I was with a female friend). Never did she ask me if we wanted one or two orders. Instead she just charged for two orders, needless to say exactly about half of it went back at the end of dinner for $ 50 (which includes this mixed platter and 2 glasses of wine @ $ 5.50 each).
Since ethiopian food comes out on these big plates and it’s natural that you share, I don’t think this would be a crazy question to ask: one or two orders ?
Also we asked to be seated outside but the weather got a bit windy and chilly so WE moved ourselves in. Inside, the restaurant was empty. I asked for the music to be turned lower as I couldn’t hear myself. This fell on deaf ears. Perhaps she couldn’t hear me either.
Never during dinner did the waitress come back to see if a, everything was ok b, we wanted some more water, maybe another glass of wine and truthfully I was reluctant to ask her for anything after the wine encounter. So instead after dinner I stopped at a store for coke.
There are certainly other ethiopian restaurants with far better service, where they’re actually happy to have you and you get the feeling they’re happy that you’re trying their food. So I don’t recommend this place simply based on it’s service and hospitality.

I really wanted to love this place, I really really did. For some reason my step-​dad refuses to go to any other Ethiopian restaurant and I cant for the life of me figure out why.
The three of us (my parents and myself) came in on a sunday night around 7. The front door was closed and locked with the sandwich board behind the glass and I honestly thought they were closed. Upon closer inspection, the board said to go through the door on the patio which was kind of an obsticle course to figure out. Once we got in, I realized the place was literally COMPLETELY empty. That made me a little uneasy.
There was a single server who was also the owner’s son. He was very nice and that is honestly what has earned them 2 stars instead of one.
Let me clarify by saying that my parents have now been to this place a total of 5 times including this visit. One of the times, it was randomly closed to we went to Lalibella instead and the other 4, including this time, they were out of lamb. My parents have gone on weekend and week days, at the begining of service or toward the middle and never have they had available. When we asked why they didn’t have lamb this time, he told us that he didn’t have a car and he goes to to the meat shop himself to pick it up usually and hasn’t had the time. He also said that normally he just writes on the sandwich board when lamb is in and people come in so it goes quickly.
I get the whole small business thing, I’ve worked in small restaurants, but I found the whole exchange EXTREMELY unprofessional. The explination was ridiculous and the way it was put to us was more of a «take it or leave it, I don’t really care» kind of deal. I would much have preferred to leave it at that point, but my step-​dad assured me the quality of food was better here than anywhere else. Now that I’ve eaten it, I would like to respectfully disagree.
The portions were small, the prices were high and the injera was cold. Not just like room temperature cold, i mean it was taken out of the fidge and delivered to us cold and hard. So hard in fact that when I was bending it to pick up my food, it was cracking. It also had an aftertaste I’ve never experienced with injera that I can only assume came from the chilling of it.
All in all, I didn’t see one reason to come back. The next time I go out with my parents, I’m going to try and convince them to get sushi.

I’ve been to Addis Ababa a few times now, and will go back for more.
The ambiance is laid back and intimate, the food yummy! The service is a bit slow, so I wouldn’t suggest this place if you’re in a hurry. They have big table’s, perfect for groups. I usually come here with a big group of people, often for birthdays and celebrations.
I always get the veggie platter which comes with 5 different items served on top of generously over-​sized injera (yeast-​free flat bread, made out of teff flour). You rip off pieces of the flatbread and scoop up the foodstuffs and then put all of that yumminess in your mouth (eating with your hands FTW!).
I don’t eat meat, but from what my friends have told me, the meat dishes tend to be pretty spicy, whereas the veggie options tend to be very flavourful. They use lots of garlic and rosemary in their cooking.
At the end of your meal, if you are served coffee. It is the best coffee I’ve ever had! I would say it’s more akin to espresso. They serve it with burning frankincense.
You should try it out!

(Writing this entire review under the cover of parenthesis in a weird bid to not upset my dear sweet friend who has taken me here three times.)
(First of all: we had to order more food. On two occasions. What the what? Normally a veg combo of E food for 2 = leftovers for two days – we had to order more food!)
(This last time the platter came with no injera sides. Just bread over-​flapping on the edges to use for our eating. I have no idea why this is. Another unheard of. I’ve been to more than 30 Ethiopian restaurants all over North America and I have never experienced this.)
(The salad was mostly chopped iceberg lettuce and scant.)
(With the exception of the management and staff, there were no Ethiopian people eating here, something I take as a bad sign.)
(The dishes were under-​seasoned and over salted in addition to being skimpy.)
(Bonuses: pleasant staff, warm towels to clean hands and a burning resin incense that was passed through the restaurant — it smelled like copal.)
(I’ll come here again to be with my friend, but I won’t like it. Again. That’s how much I love my friend.)
(Give me Blue Nile any day.)

This is my 2^nd Ethiopian dining experience, and first time at Ababa’s. They happen to be right beside Nunu’s where I had my first experience. Let the comparisons begin…
Ababa’s is more laid back and homey. I liked Nunu’s modern touches. Both were comfortable dining atmosphere’s.
I had the vegetable combo, a mix of dishes served on an injera. My friends shared a combo veggie and meat platter. I loved my dishes, I was so famished I ate the entire injera and every morsel of food. The price is similar to Nunu’s, maybe $ 1 – 2 cheaper.
Service was… casually paced ;). The place was ~half full. I liked the incense, added an essence to this place.
Later when we paid for our meals at the bar, the chef chatted with us for a bit .She was super sweet, commenting on how she makes all the food herself, and learned from her mother. We both agreed on the similarities between Indian and Ethiopian cuisine.
Hard to say whether I’ll come back to Nunu’s or Ababa’s next time! I think I’ll just take turns between the two places :)

Went to Addis Ababa tonight, another spot that I’ve walked by many times on queen street. Funny, I’ve been next door at Nunu a couple of times but never to this spot.
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere was definitely more authentic ethiopian than others, with traditional décor and in scents burning.
Service:
The young waiter was extremely friendly and helpful with the menu ad joked around with me a bit. Except he joked about cutting me off after my first corona — not funny. Ha ha ha
Food:
Very very tasty with decent sized portions. we had a mix of three kinds of meat — beef tibs, lamb tibs, and chicken (something — ha ha). We also got a mixture of veggies too. I ordered less spicy food because I’m a spice wimp but despite that the food had a lot of flavor…
Would go back for sure again. Prices were reasonable, Based on e menu.
Only downside was that they didn’t have any cocktails and a basic list of beers options. No cider at all — ha ha

This is the one and only place that I have ever had Ethiopian food so I can’t really compare it to anything. Two things are always constant: The food is delicious & the service is slow.
If you are in a hurry, just don’t go. To give you an idea, it took 45 mins for our vegetarian platter and she forgot my 2^nd beer (which was fine because we were running late, even though we gave ourselves lots of time for dinner).
My suggestion is to pick a night that you can go out with friends and take your time. We went last Thursday & they had a band, to listen to while you wait for yummy food.
**don’t go unless you have lots of time to wait for yummy food and chill out **

The quest for Ethiopian food in Toronto took us to Addis Ababa. We ordered a vegetarian sampler and kitfo with cheese and greens. Unfortunately they were out of cheese, so we had to do without that part.
Both the legumes in the vegetarian sampler and the kitfo were dense. The red lentils and the kitfo had a little bit of kick, but not really the fullness of flavor. Portion sizes were tiny, we easily kicked our two dishes and had bar food at the rhino later on in the evening.
Service was slow, but friendly, and they were definitely content to let us sit and enjoy ourselves. We didn’t order drinks. They also have a nice patio to sit outside, though it also was the smoking section. Inside smelled very strongly of incense and I was glad to be eating out in the fresh air.
Not a bad place to eat at all, and perhaps it is unfair that I’m looking at Ethiopian food in Toronto through the lens of someone who just has a lot more choices/​options in DC, but this doesn’t stack up to back home.

Service was good as was the coffee, but compared to Nazareth the food was really subpar, portions smaller and prices higher. But they are the only Ethiopian resto open on Tuesday’s. Which prompts me to wonder why everyone else is closed on Tuesday’s. My recommendation is to go to Nazareth.

— my fav ethopian place in the city!
— just came back from having the Beye Ainetu and Yeson Beye Ainetu (meat and veggie combos, respectively), and the kifto.
— about 13 bucks per dish, and was all piled onto one beautiful dish of injera. and i love eating with my hands!
— our server was a really cool dude who hooked us up with extra injera, extra sides, and even recommended us to hit up the tim burton exhibit at the TIFF building. haha.
— he also mentioned that every 2^nd friday, they plan to have a dj or live music and turn the place into a little night spot.
— this friday (jan 14^th), they are having a jazz night (ie. coltrane) where a dj drops beats on top to make it all awesomely dance-​able — and no, he didnt ask me to plug the event. haha.
— my only real complaint is that the heat isnt that great, and would totally recommend sitting next to the radiator on the side wall :)

We have been wanting to check this place out for a while and did this evening.
Gord ordered Doro Wat (an Ethiopian favourite, tender chicken marinated in Berber red pepper sauce). I ordered Beye Ainetu (a combo of Key Wat [strips of Canadian Grade Beef braised Ethiopian style, served in a red hot sauce], Alitcha Wat [lean beef in a very mild and tasty curry sauce] and Doro Wat [an Ethiopian favourite, tender chicken marinated in Berber red pepper sauce]).
Both meals arrived on one platter with injera (Ethiopian bread).
The Key Wat and Doro Wat were really spicy. The Alitcha Wat was surprising bland and I couldn’t taste any curry. The meal was surprisingly filling.
Gord had coffee afterward. It is a ritual. First they roast the coffee beans and bring ‘em out for everyone to smell. The coffee service includes burning frankincense.
It was a fun and interesting experience!

I hadn’t had Ethiopian food since I was in elementary school, and my friend’s mom gave me some Injira with chicken stew to try. I remember liking the bread, but really disliking the stew. Well, my taste in food has changed since I was 11, so yesterday after having spent the entire day walking and shopping on Queen st., I decided to give Ethiopian food another try.
We walked by Addis Ababa, and the patio looked busy, and everyone seemed to be enjoying their meals, so after a quick check on Unilocal,we walked in. We were inmediately greeted by a very friendly waitress and escorted to the patio. We were perusing our menus when the waitress walked up to us and asked us if we needed any help deciding what to get. We ended up getting the veggie platter, and a chicken stew that we were told was very spicy.
Our food arrived on a huge platter, and we were given wet towels to clean our hands, as these were going to be the only utensils used to eat our meal. We dug in, and were very pleasantly surprised. The food is really, really good. The veggie platter consisted of some cabbage and potatoes, split — pea stew, lentil stew, beats, spinach and tomato and lettucce salad. Everything was delicious, and well prepared. The Injira was soft, and was the perfect to sop up the veggies and chicken stew. And talking about the chicken stew, well it was nothing like I remembered. The meat was moist, and falling off the bone, the sauce was spicy, but not overpowering or unbearably so. We ate it all up, and were really full (the platter is big), but I really wanted somehing sweet, so I got the only dessert they had: fried bananas with vanilla ice cream. YUM! The bananas were caramelized, the ice cream soft, and melty from the heat, and it had some sort of caramel sauce and toasted sesame seeds on top. Delicious!
I really enjoyed my experience at Addis Ababa, and will return. The waitstaff was some of the friendliest and happiest I have ever encountered, our water was topped off regularly, and we were checked on by the owner as well as the other waitresses throughout our meal, who asked us how things were and if we liked everything. LIke other reviews have stated, the service is a bit slow, and they do take a really long time bringing out the bill, but we weren’t in a hurry and used this time to chat and enjoy the patio. Not the place to come for a quick meal, but great place to have a leisurely dinner with friends.

The smell of incense was almost overpowering enough to make us leave as we arrived, but I’m glad we stuck it out. Dinner was great.
My mom and I shared a veggie platter and the least spicy chicken dish (for mom’s sake, not mine). The food was excellent, with the exception of the spinach dish, which was just sort of like a pile of soggy spinach. Highlights were the beets and the lentil mess — both flavourful and crisp or soft in appropriate turn.
We finished the meal with coffee service, and relaxed while sipping the thick, sweet tar. Our server was adorable and only loses points for not quality checking in a timely manner and leaving us stranded without the bill for far too long.
I’m looking forward to taking my fella so I can a) show off my find and b) eat the spicy stuff.

This place can be hit or miss. It’s a family run restaurant and I once had a meal made by the son which wasn’t properly heated.
That said, the food is normally very good, better than some Ethiopian I’ve had, and the coffee service can be a lot of fun if you’re ready to fend off the incense fumes.
Also try the sister restaurant Nunu a few doors east!

Amazing food, prepared fresh when ordered (unlike other places where they have large vats prepared and just slop it on injera, fast-​food-​style). The coffee service at the end of the meal is amazing.
This is a dining event, expect 2hrs+ between the time you arrive and depart. Great for socializing and chatting while you wait and enjoy great food.

After increasingly strong cravings for Ethiopian food, I finally made it out to West Queen West to try the original of the west-​side east-​african country’s food. I had no idea that my 3 table mates were so vegetable averse. I’m going to have to get Kat F to take me to the all veggie sister restaurant down the street. It was a sad state of affairs that the other 3 people shared a platter of meat dishes and I had my own multi-​veggie tray. Maybe I should be grateful I didn’t have to share my veggies, lentils and injera with anyone else.
The ‘hot sauce’ served on the side, is a powder of Cayenne pepper, I think. I dipped aplenty and finished my whole plate of yummy salad and injera. We then had some of that home-​roasted and ground coffee. Very good, with enough sugar. I like it sweet!
The downside is they are ‘on Ethiopian time’, meaning they are in no hurry to clear your plates or get your bill. It took 3 hours to eat!
If you are in a hurry, sit near the back bar where the servers hang out. The servers are quite nice and offer advise on what to order and try help out. I hope they do take out for the next time that craving creeps up.

Last weekend my husband and I made our way to Addis Ababa and had a fabulous time enjoying one of the best meals in Toronto. Both of us love Ethiopian and we used to live right across from a well-​known one in New York and were very happy to find Ethiopian House right next door here in Toronto (but it was quite a disappointment. I have reviewed it on Unilocal.)
So a strong craving brought us to Addis and we loved the ambience. Dimly lit with candles, both the patio and the restaurant have an informal romantic air and is a great place to unwind on a Friday evening. I ordered the Ethiopian beer and settled in to listen to a great live band (starts late). We ordered the collard greens, Shiro (lentils), Chicken and Lamb which comes on top of an injera (Ethiopian bread). The food was amazing and the best Shiro I have ever tasted. We will make this a once-​a-​month staple.
Cons — although the staff is very nice, they are difinitely a little stretched on busy evenings.

My recent trip to Addis Ababa was only my second time ever eating Ethiopian food, and the first time was over three years ago. This experience had my good first memories rushing back though, as the food was incredibly delicious.
Our group had fairly diverse tastes, so the four of us all ordered our own separate plates, rather than sharing. I had a sauteed chicken breast dish with tomatoes, onions, and herbs, and the flavours were fantastic. The injera (flatbread that your food is served on and you use like an edible fork!) was as yummy as I remembered. Also, the portions were very large so I had a great lunch for the next day!
The service was a bit of a mixed bag though. Our main waitress was a bit of a ditz who oddly grouped our bills… that is, when she finally got around to bringing them over after we tried to get her attention several times. One waiter who brought us some extra injera and wrapped up our food for us was very courteous and friendly, however.
I’ll definitely be making a return visit to this restaurant, and I’ll be bringing some more friends along next time!