Reviews for Asmara Restaurant in Oakland, CA
This is one of my all time favorite Ethiopian and Eritrean style restaurants. The food is consistent and the staff is helpful if... you are unsure about what to order. The have good Oakland brewed, Ethiopian style beer and honey wine too. Read more
Food was delicious. We got lamb, beef, catfish and another vegetarian option. Fresh fluffy injera. Friendly waitstaff. Pretty... good atmosphere. Affordable for the area. Would say the honey Mead was just OK tho. Maybe go for the small portion if you wantto try. Read more
I LOVE THIS PLACE! Seriously. The atmosphere is inviting and the service is top-notch. My mother and I ordered in a same plate... lamb and a vegetarian dish. Came out in less than 5 minutes. The music is cool and modern. Definitely recommend ????????. Watchout if you have a small stomach, the food is definitely gonna fill you up! Read more
A few years back I would have given this place 5/5 stars however, as the years past I've noticed that the quality and flavors of... the food have declined to the point to where it doesn't even taste like Ethiopian food. Everything is bland and it's veryobvious what Asmara's new target audience is. It's very sad to see another place that makes authentic good food change for theworse. Read more
Cozy and intimate spot in Oakland. First time trying Ethiopian food, and it was a great experience. Friendly and fast service
Tried the meat combo, veggie combo, and the alitcha gomen (cabbage and carrots). All the food was delicious (especially like the... lamb and chicken on the combo) and the injera is PERFECT. Also nice ambiance and our server was very sweet. Highly recommend andwill be back! ???????? Read more
Asmara was the second restaurant that I tried in Oakland after Enssaro. It is located on Telegraph Ave so parking is almost... impossible. I took and risk and parked in the Walgreens lot across the street (definitely not advisable in the day, but I've gotaway many times during late evening hours). At around 9:30 pm it seemed pretty full so it is definitely popular. I got what Igenerally get at any new Ethiopian restaurant that I try namely the Meat sampler ($14.95) to-go, which as per their menu is acombination of Ziggni/ Key Watt (strips of marinated beef cooked in berbere sauce & spices), Doro Watt (Spicy tender chickensimmered in berbere sauce & spices served with a boiled egg) and Ye-Beg Alicha (Cubes of lamb stewed with curry, onions, garlic& spices). After ordering it was a excruciating 250 minute wait before I got my meal (they got a lot of call-in orders so eithercall in the order or be prepared to wait at least 20 minutes). I got a one decent sized container which meant that the injerawas placed on top of the meat dishes meaning that by the time I got home it would absorb all the moisture for the stews andbecome nice baby food. I should have asked for it to be packed separately but the person taking my order was so rushed that itslipped my mind. Note to self - order online next time and request that they injera be packed separately. Anyway, lets come tothe food. As expected half the injera had to be thrown away but the other half was pretty good. The meat sampler had a chicken,beef and lamb dish so I was able to sample a wide variety of their food. The good news is that the stews tasted different i.e.the same base was not simply reused as I've found in other Ethiopian restaurants in San Jose. The not so good news is that thetaste was all very mild. You would really have to concentrate to pick up the flavors. Overall this was just better thanaverage. Price-wise it was in exactly in-line with what you will pay at other Ethiopian restaurants in O Read more
We ordered the vegetarian combination which was amazing!