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Café Eritrea D’Afrique
4069 Telegraph Ave, Oakland CA
Overall Experience: 4.0
Menu Variety: 4.0
Food Quality: 4.0
Value: 4.0
Service: 4.0
Ambiance: 3.5
I happened upon Café Eritrea entirely accidentally. I was supposed to take a friend to Addis, my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Northern California, for his first Ethiopian experience. No one mentioned that Northern Californians have some sort of aversion to being open on Mondays, however, so after I dragged my poor friend on a 90-minute drive only to be greeted by a “Closed” sign, I was determined to find Ethiopian food nonetheless. A brisk walk up Telegraph yielded gold (and saved my friendship): Café Eritrea.
The dining area was on the small side, with square glass tables and black chairs. Ethnic music was playing, but there was little in the way of decoration. However, arguably, minimalism is Ethiopian.
The menu lists a vegetarian sampler option for one person, but only lists the meat sampler for two or more. If you ask, however, you can get a sampler for two that is half vegetarian, half meat. I’ve found this is the best way to break someone in who has never had Ethiopian before, as even the most hardcore of meat eaters wants a little vegetable complement. The kik alicha was perfect; the gomen was slightly dry, but still delectable.
Their injera was twice as thick as any other I’ve experienced so far. My dining partner and I each had only one piece of bread (not counting the injera the food was actually served on) and could barely finish just that, when normally I find myself asking for a second basket. Though it took some getting used to, I actually preferred this thicker injera.
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