Cafe Abyssinia

What a lovely little place located at the end of an arcade with parking at the back. Lovely staff serving up beautiful clean yummy food. My wife and daughter had dorowat (chicken), prawns in mild sauce and I had yetsom beyaynetu, a really lovely vegan dish, both were served with the lovely teff enjera. The enjera was so light and even better once the currys had seeped into them. I have wanted to visit Cafe Abyssinia for the last year and finally we did and feel all the better for it. Next time we will visit with friends and family.

Enjoyable particularly if you're looking for something a bit different to a heavy Indian or European dish. All main dishes are served on an injera (essentially a flatbread which has the texture of a spongy pancake), main dishes are $18-20 each. Limited menu options but both the chicken and beef were delicious with some dry chilli sprinkled on top. Some heating in the venue perhaps would have helped with the ambiance. Pictured are two main courses side by side.

If you haven't tried the only Ethiopian restaurant in Auckland, get yourself here, now. It's so different to anything else I've had before, it's more than a meal, it's a cultural experience in itself. The staple food is injera/enjera, which is a sourdough flatbread with the texture of crumpets (holes on the top, smooth on the bottom). It's paired with wat, which is a stew. You pour the whole bowl of wat on top of the injera, tear off a piece of the injera with your hands, and scoop some of the wat into your mouth. It's such a fun experience and good bonding times with your friends. Injera is very sour when eaten by itself, but it matches perfectly with the rich wat. It's a normal shop at the back of a mall, decorated with some Ethiopian art on the walls. They have a traditional low table with stools you can sit around if you want the full experience but you can still use standard western tables and chairs. Definitely recommended.

Incredibly tasty food. We got there early in January and there was nobody around. Still, the food was great. We had driven from the North Shore because we wanted to experience this restaurant and their food. And we would most certainly go back. We went back in April and tried bothering the food we'd eaten + some other delicacies. And yes, Ethiopian coffee. A second trip and as wonderful as the first.