Just behind Brixton tube station (396 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8LF, Tel.: 0207 737 4144) there is Asmara Restaurant. I thought that because of the vicinity of other Ethiopian/Eritrean and other African immigrant communities the restaurant may be a popular meeting point for them. But according to Yegennet, a young relative of the owner, Asmara Restaurant is rather popular among adventurous common Londoners.
According to her, Asmara Restaurant opened in 1995, and in its first decade it proved its reliability. Although the name (Asmara is the capital of Eritrea) and the decoration reflects the founders origin, the restaurant employs two female chefs, an Ethiopian and an Eritrean.
I ordered Zilzil tibs with a bottle of Castel. Yeshimabet, who acted as a manager on duty and waitress in the same time, asked me about side dish, i.e. should the tibs arrive on injera, or with rice. I opted for the injera. I mention here, that Ethiopian meat dishes with non-traditional side dishes, such as rice or potato, are not only blasphemous for me, but such mixtures are also against cultural traditions. The thing is, that injera is not a side dish but the main course. In the Ethiopian sense of gastronomy, they eat injera with something and not the opposite.
The zilzil tibs (stripe cut tender beef roasted with spices) was really excellent, the beef was tender, perfectly spiced and juicy. I like the Ethiopian tradition of "side spices" (like awaze, or mitmita, both special spice mixtures) but they were not available and I had to compromise with a small berbere (hot red paprika powder). However, I had problems with the injera (the pancake-like Ethiopian flat bread. It seemed it wasn't made of teff (or not pure teff, unique Ethiopian millet), and therefore it was very thin and very light (yellowish) and rather sweet than sour (as it should be). Nevertheless, the food was excellent, as was the beer. Would I have ordered tej (an Amharic word for honey mead, mez in Tigrinya) or talla (Amharic, home fermented traditional beer, suwa in Tigrinya) I should have ordered in several days advance.
The interior was really nice, reflecting style, care and a homage to the motherland. Apart from some interesting archive photographs of Asmara from the 1940s, the paintings also attracted me, especially the one showing a rural countryside home's kitchen because it reminded me how many times I spent beautiful times in them.
The price for the food and a beer was £ 12, more than fair for such a unique culinary adventure in the autumn fog of London.
----------------------
RATING
29 (strongly recommended)
According to her, Asmara Restaurant opened in 1995, and in its first decade it proved its reliability. Although the name (Asmara is the capital of Eritrea) and the decoration reflects the founders origin, the restaurant employs two female chefs, an Ethiopian and an Eritrean.
I ordered Zilzil tibs with a bottle of Castel. Yeshimabet, who acted as a manager on duty and waitress in the same time, asked me about side dish, i.e. should the tibs arrive on injera, or with rice. I opted for the injera. I mention here, that Ethiopian meat dishes with non-traditional side dishes, such as rice or potato, are not only blasphemous for me, but such mixtures are also against cultural traditions. The thing is, that injera is not a side dish but the main course. In the Ethiopian sense of gastronomy, they eat injera with something and not the opposite.
The zilzil tibs (stripe cut tender beef roasted with spices) was really excellent, the beef was tender, perfectly spiced and juicy. I like the Ethiopian tradition of "side spices" (like awaze, or mitmita, both special spice mixtures) but they were not available and I had to compromise with a small berbere (hot red paprika powder). However, I had problems with the injera (the pancake-like Ethiopian flat bread. It seemed it wasn't made of teff (or not pure teff, unique Ethiopian millet), and therefore it was very thin and very light (yellowish) and rather sweet than sour (as it should be). Nevertheless, the food was excellent, as was the beer. Would I have ordered tej (an Amharic word for honey mead, mez in Tigrinya) or talla (Amharic, home fermented traditional beer, suwa in Tigrinya) I should have ordered in several days advance.
The price for the food and a beer was £ 12, more than fair for such a unique culinary adventure in the autumn fog of London.
----------------------
RATING
29 (strongly recommended)
