Sally L.
Yelp
I'm going to be honest, I was really skeptical about this place at first. It's located in not the best corner of town, and also - coffee, wine, AND Ethiopian food? You can't be good at all these things. Plus, walking into this cafe was like walking into a sketchy bar filled with regulars, if these regulars were only all old Ethiopian men. As two girls who know nothing about Ethiopia, right when we entered into the place, groups of men all looked up, confused as to who invaded their territory.
Lucky for us, the owner was INCREDIBLY nice, and showed us to a table immediately. We were out of place for sure, but quickly felt right at home. We came here after purchasing a Groupon - $9 for $15 worth of food. We spent this on the Kaffa Combo plate, which is their take on the traditional Ethiopian slaw of different dhals and vegetables on top of Injera bread. This was priced at $15.99, so using the Groupon for 2 people was an insanely good deal. This definitely serves 2-3 people. My friend and I were struggling to finish this at the end. Everything was so flavorful and uniquely spiced, the injera bread was spongy and soft. I honestly did not know what I was eating, but everything I dug my bread into was delicious.
If the food didn't win you over, the service really will. Although getting my food took a while, especially since no one else was eating and the place was pretty empty on a Saturday night, the owner was so nice. He kept asking if everything was fine, and then offered to bring more bread or any of the dhals if we wanted more. What restaurant offers to bring more of their food that you like after you finished eating, free of charge???
This place is truly a hidden gem in Seattle, and considering how slow business was on Saturday night and the "customers" (more like people just hanging around) that were there, this place definitely deserves some praise. Mind you, this review is only for their Ethiopian food - I didn't try their coffee or wine. I did take a slice of their tiramisu to go, which was great, but it is not made in house. I will definitely be back soon and telling everyone I know to support this great, local business.