Asmara

Christopher Chung

Well-remodeled interior, dark wood finishes make for an intimate dining experience. A wide selection of Eritrean classics — vegan, vegetarian and meat. Manageable portions, a wonderful place to gather for an intimate meal. Traditional dining available in the back of the dining room.

Eve Longuele

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 👌🏾. Watch out if you have a small stomach, the food is definitely gonna fill you up!

Suvrajit Saha

Good food and very friendly and attentive staff. Shiro wat, mushroom tibs and meat combo were all delightful.

D P

I had the vegetarian sampler, which came with a variety of stewed lentils, collard greens, potatoes, and a side salad on injera (a spongy flatbread that’s great for scooping up sauce). It was absolutely delicious and the serving was generous. I had a glass of their homemade honey wine as well. It was very sweet and on the strong side. I really liked it. The service was friendly and fast. The restaurant had a nice, calm atmosphere. Overall, excellent experience and I will be dining here again.

Joanna

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 want to try.

Ebehiremen Ayewoh

Wow! This was my first time dining at Asmara and will not be my last. I am in a literal food coma. You will leave Asmara so happy. I was recommended #20 and it was sooo good! I loved the hospitality and service. The music in the restaurant is such a vibe and the ambiance is warm and inviting. I got my food spicy and the spice level was spicy enough to feel a kick and still taste the flavor of the food. The chicken was well seasoned and paired well with the injera. I would recommend this place!

My family and I have been coming here if not every week - at least every other week and it is the best Ethiopian food in the Bay Area! The food is super consistent regarding taste, portion size, and commitment to excellence! We love this place and we know you will too!

Food was absolutely phenomenal!! We had the veggie combo and the gored gored. Everything tasted fantastic, especially the gored gored. The seasoning was spectacular.

My go-to Ethiopian restaurant...never disappoints! Such warm and friendly service to go with the delicious food! Mushroom tibs are shockingly good. Appreciate the 100% teff injera option. Can never go wrong with the veggie combo as a base, then add dishes from there. Amazing!

In town from Chicago and DC ( me and my sister) and the food is amazing! Everything was delicious and I love that this looks and feels like a family run spot and incredibly welcoming! Being from DC we know Eritrean and Ethiopian food and I cannot say enough about the food and the atmosphere- please please don’t miss this place. It was delicious all around!

Shireen Jayatilaka

In town from Chicago and DC ( me and my sister) and the food is amazing! Everything was delicious and I love that this looks and feels like a family run spot and incredibly welcoming! Being from DC we know Eritrean and Ethiopian food and I cannot say enough about the food and the atmosphere- please please don’t miss this place. It was delicious all around!

Isabella Swartz

Food was absolutely phenomenal!! We had the veggie combo and the gored gored. Everything tasted fantastic, especially the gored gored. The seasoning was spectacular.

Roland Jenkins

My family and I have been coming here if not every week - at least every other week and it is the best Ethiopian food in the Bay Area! The food is super consistent regarding taste, portion size, and commitment to excellence! We love this place and we know you will too!

Jason Markison

My go-to Ethiopian restaurant...never disappoints! Such warm and friendly service to go with the delicious food! Mushroom tibs are shockingly good. Appreciate the 100% teff injera option. Can never go wrong with the veggie combo as a base, then add dishes from there. Amazing!

Jess Park

This place has the friendliest staff and it’s cute and warm feeling inside. The food is consistently delicious, highly recommend the vegetarian plate. They are fairly quick even when they’re very busy (which is often).

Good Ethiopian and service. I would prefer the enjira to not be cold. The owner is quite friendly and nice.

Asmara is a staple of the neighborhood. The service is always sweet and earnest, the food arrives on time and is tasty. I don’t like that the injera is served cold- and the entrees are quite plain. We had the Chefs special - gored gored and it was delicious, if a bit fatty. We had a side of greens which was fine, and a delicious ginger beer. The restaurant is large and a bit stark, the delightful service makes up for it all.

Hopefully Google will one day listen to me and have half stars. This place is definitely a 4.5. Food is so flavorful and well prepared. We ordered family style which means all courses are served on a large platter on top of injera (Ethiopian flatbread) without cutlery.

Somitra Saxena

Good Ethiopian and service. I would prefer the enjira to not be cold. The owner is quite friendly and nice.

Deb L

Asmara is a staple of the neighborhood. The service is always sweet and earnest, the food arrives on time and is tasty. I don’t like that the injera is served cold- and the entrees are quite plain. We had the Chefs special - gored gored and it was delicious, if a bit fatty. We had a side of greens which was fine, and a delicious ginger beer. The restaurant is large and a bit stark, the delightful service makes up for it all.

Nicolas Diaz

Hopefully Google will one day listen to me and have half stars. This place is definitely a 4.5. Food is so flavorful and well prepared. We ordered family style which means all courses are served on a large platter on top of injera (Ethiopian flatbread) without cutlery.

The food was okay. A bit smaller portions for the price and it could have used more spices. It would have been nice to be able to order a combo of veggie and meat but for one person. There were only 3 of us so it made it hard to get a good sample of different dishes when most everything came in full size.

Maya Mikelson

The food was okay. A bit smaller portions for the price and it could have used more spices. It would have been nice to be able to order a combo of veggie and meat but for one person. There were only 3 of us so it made it hard to get a good sample of different dishes when most everything came in full size.

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 got away many times during late evening hours). At around 9:30 pm it seemed pretty full so it is definitely popular. I got what I generally get at any new Ethiopian restaurant that I try namely the Meat sampler ($14.95) to-go, which as per their menu is a combination of Ziggni/ Key Watt (strips of marinated beef cooked in berbere sauce & spices), Doro Watt (Spicy tender chicken simmered 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 either call in the order or be prepared to wait at least 20 minutes). I got a one decent sized container which meant that the injera was placed on top of the meat dishes meaning that by the time I got home it would absorb all the moisture for the stews and become nice baby food. I should have asked for it to be packed separately but the person taking my order was so rushed that it slipped my mind. Note to self - order online next time and request that they injera be packed separately. Anyway, lets come to the 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 the taste was all very mild. You would really have to concentrate to pick up the flavors. Overall this was just better than average. Price-wise it was in exactly in-line with what you will pay at other Ethiopian restaurants in Oakland for the meat sampler. I personally liked the taste of the dishes at Enssaro better that than what I got here. Looking at the overall package of quality, price and service I would have to go with an A-OK grade.

As an Ex-VEGAN - I had decided that All my Meat Choices would be "" HALAL MEAT "" circa 1998 !!! Love Ethiopian Cuisine, and had a couple spots in SF way back I used to Frequent. Love the name of this spot, but their Manager / Staff stated they cannot guarantee any Halal / Kosher offerings !!! Red Sea nearby were a bit better in that they said their Chicken & Lamb are HALAL, but not Their Beef Offerings !!!! Feel much safer knowing the Animal was ' Properly Bled ' .... Besides which the Animal goes " Unconscious " as the Jugular Vein is SLIT !!!! With s..o..o much Cruelty & Unhygeinic Conditions in Our Meat Packing Industry - one needs to be " CONSCIOUS " !!!!

Anwar Hussain

As an Ex-VEGAN - I had decided that All my Meat Choices would be "" HALAL MEAT "" circa 1998 !!! Love Ethiopian Cuisine, and had a couple spots in SF way back I used to Frequent. Love the name of this spot, but their Manager / Staff stated they cannot guarantee any Halal / Kosher offerings !!! Red Sea nearby were a bit better in that they said their Chicken & Lamb are HALAL, but not Their Beef Offerings !!!! Feel much safer knowing the Animal was ' Properly Bled ' .... Besides which the Animal goes " Unconscious " as the Jugular Vein is SLIT !!!! With s..o..o much Cruelty & Unhygeinic Conditions in Our Meat Packing Industry - one needs to be " CONSCIOUS " !!!!

The food is good, definitely one of the better Ethiopian restaurants in Oakland. Unfortunately our experience was horrendous. We were seated while the restaurant was a quarter of the max capacity, and all of the other customers had already been served their food. Three waitresses passed by us for 20 minutes before we had to wave them down to get served, and were told "it's busy"; fair enough, I should have done it earlier. She left into the kitchen to place the order and we waited. In the span of 40 minutes, 5 different groups of guests had entered, been seated, orders placed, and food served while we waited for our two regular dishes. It was clear that our order was never placed, and I had to wave down the waitress to confirm this. She came back from the kitchen and said "it's almost ready". 10 minutes later our food arrived, and the comment we received was "sorry, it's busy." I am not blind to the myriad of other customers who entered after us to see that the order was forgotten, so not owning up to the mistake was disappointing.

Nico Milligan

The food is good, definitely one of the better Ethiopian restaurants in Oakland. Unfortunately our experience was horrendous. We were seated while the restaurant was a quarter of the max capacity, and all of the other customers had already been served their food. Three waitresses passed by us for 20 minutes before we had to wave them down to get served, and were told "it's busy"; fair enough, I should have done it earlier. She left into the kitchen to place the order and we waited. In the span of 40 minutes, 5 different groups of guests had entered, been seated, orders placed, and food served while we waited for our two regular dishes. It was clear that our order was never placed, and I had to wave down the waitress to confirm this. She came back from the kitchen and said "it's almost ready". 10 minutes later our food arrived, and the comment we received was "sorry, it's busy." I am not blind to the myriad of other customers who entered after us to see that the order was forgotten, so not owning up to the mistake was disappointing.

Once a restaurant, now just a Food Shop. We were five and wanted three veggie dishes, then to add more. The owner demanded minimum four dishes ordered at once—more bouncer than host. All four came on one plate—economy of scale at its best. The experience deserved better.

Daniel Gebremariam

Once a restaurant, now just a Food Shop. We were five and wanted three veggie dishes, then to add more. The owner demanded minimum four dishes ordered at once—more bouncer than host. All four came on one plate—economy of scale at its best. The experience deserved better.