Stephanie S.
Yelp
I first learned about Habiba when she was the chef of the month at With Love Restaurant. As I now live in Vermont, I was excited to see she was opening up her own place in Syracuse that I could go to with my family members, many of whom have never had the opportunity to eat Ethiopian food, as there has not been an Ethiopian restaurant in Syracuse in years. If you've never had the opportunity to eat Ethiopian Food, I highly recommend the experience.
Our server was a pleasant young woman who helped us choose a platter combination of meats and vegetables. We each ordered the mango smoothies and also one hot chai. The smoothies were described as mango pulps and chunks, strawberry, banana, blended with skim milk.
The chai was a steaming and fragrant tea served black with sugar and cream on the side. We love chai and I think this was the first time we'd had it with the additional spice of clove.
The platter came out soon after, piled high with four vegetarian sides and four meat sides. It consisted of:
Gomen Wot x 2: Finely chopped seasoned collard greens stew with garlic, black pepper, and onion
Shiro Wot: Seasoned ground chickpeas stew, with berbere, garlic, and curry powder (mild)
Misir Wot: Seasoned red lentil stew with berbere, garlic, tomatoes, and black pepper
Doro Wot: Seasoned drumstick chicken stew cooked slow with berbere sauce, Mekelesha (special blend of 7 spices), onion, garlic and ginger
Awaze Doro Tibs: Seasoned diced chicken breast sautéed with onions, garlic, rosemary, peppers
Siga Wot: Seasoned beef cubes stew cooked slow with berbere sauce, Mekelesha (special blend of 7 spices, onion, garlic and ginger
Siga Alecha: Seasoned beef cubes stew with onions, garlic, fresh ginger and a touch of curry in a sauce
Everything was well seasoned and excellent; the beef cubes were a little tough, but not a real complaint.
We had more than ample food and injera (traditional and special homemade gluten free sourdough bread).
The meal is extremely reasonable in terms of value, quality, and price. Four of us ate well for $75 (including tax and tip) and we still had leftovers.
Our service was very good, but our server had to be asked a couple times for napkins, etc. As they've been open less than a month, I am certain this will improve in time.
Habiba's Ethiopian Kitchen is aptly named. When you are here, you are treated as family. Habiba came out to personally chat with each table in order to have a sincere conversation with her clientele. We each let her know we'd definitely be back.
FYI: please be sure to have cash for tipping. You can pay for your meal on a credit card, but there's no line for tipping on the card.