Pretty solid Ethiopian food. Maybe not as good as some of the best places in Dc (Habesha is my…read morecurrent favorite) but decent for Baltimore. The Doro Wot was great and many of the lentil dishes were good as well. I wasn't a big fan of the Shiro but the other veggie dishes were decent.

I was in the mood for some Ethiopian cuisine and came across this location!…read more I was greeted and able to choose a table of my picking. I dined in during the afternoon (lunch time). The restaurant seemed very empty, as I was the only one dining in. I did see a'lot of people ordering takeout, so my guess is that business ramps up in the evening. The ambiance was relaxed with dim lighting. Now, onto the cuisine! I ordered a Kala and a Beef Sambusa as appetizers. The kala was very delicious! A jalapeño pepper stuffed with minced jalapeño, tomatoes, and peppers! It was the perfect mixture of both spicy and savory. The beef sambusa was oh so smooth! The beef was nice and seasoned, and the shell was nice and crispy too! For my main meal, the lamb for the awaze tibs was seasoned extremely well and tender!!! The spicy red lentils were oh so dreamy, and the collard greens hit my spirit with a powerful medley of flavor!

Upon reading the reviews here, I saw how they're mixed up so I wanted to try this place out to see…read morehow it is. I walked in on a Saturday afternoon and found that the place is very spacious. Wooden booths and wooden tables with wooden chairs. Everything here is wooden. Not necessarily a bad thing. As I walked in, I was greeted by a woman. When I tried to ask her some questions, she didn't understand what I was trying to ask. So I just said "menu please" and she gave me a menu. The menu is small which I thought was great. I asked her if she had any recommendations. She pointed at the Jollof Rice dish and asked me what kind of meat do I like. I said the Goat and Tripe then told her either one is fine. She nodded her head and started to walk back to the kitchen but I stopped her and asked for another dish. She then pointed at the Okra dish. The Jollof rice dish comes with rice, plantains and a choice of meat and the Okra dish comes with Fufu (Solidified Mashed Potatoes used like bread.) and a choice of meat. Cool so I waited while watching the news on the tube. I checked in the restaurant first time and because of that, Yelp said I could get a 10% off of my first order there, yay! So I waited till she gave me my food and told her about the Yelp coupon. She smiled, shook her head and told me "no". I then asked her one more time because I'm sure Restaurants have to contact the company and advertise. I'm sure the company doesn't do the advertising for the restaurants... She again said "No, we don't do". I understand if the place is trying to get that money especially when it was empty when I came in but I found that to be a bit odd at the least. Then she gave me the receipt and come to find out, she charged me more than what the menu said. The menu said 13 bucks for each dish (The 2 dishes I got.) so including tax, it would have been around 27 bucks and some change. Instead the total was 33 bucks. Like I said above, I understand if they're trying to get money or survive but charging me hidden prices is terrible. If she had told me beforehand, I wouldn't have mind giving them extra money. It's not the amount of money that they took from me, it's the principle of their menu saying 1 price then charging me extra as if I wasn't going to find out. Anyways I paid it then left and when I got home I tasted the Jollof Rice dish. The rice had a distinct flavor to it which I liked and it came with Goat. The Goat was tasty and tender and the plantains were just plantains. I then had the Okra dish and the goat in that was very delicious. However, there were only 5 pieces in the dish. I then took some Fufu and laid it on my plate and got some Okra sauce and laid it on top of the Fufu. I took a bite and WOW it was terrible. You know how when you get too drunk and throw up, there's that after taste and burning sensation in your throat? It was EXACTLY like that. But oddly enough, the goat was good. The food was good aside from the Okra sauce and the service was horrendous. It wasn't about how long the food took, it was about the woman there lying to me about Yelp and charging me extra for the 2 dishes. According to the receipt, 5 pieces of goat equals 15 bucks. It doesn't say "Jollof Rice Dish" or anything of the sort. It's like she charged me A La Carte. I'm gonna stop by Nando's PERI PERI soon and hope they can better serve me without any hidden secrets.

STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY!! Because I saw the previous reviews, I did My due diligence to calculate the…read moreprice before I was given my receipt. Needless to say, YES I was overcharged. After I lengthy discussion with the male worker (who's not in charge, and the person in charge has vanished) I was told that goat meat is extra money. Even though the menu doesn't state that, it says $12.95 for my choice of meat PERIOD. He says when the ring it in the system a la carte, it comes up that way. So I explained they have less than stellar Yelp reviews for this reason and should fix the problem. He says he's not I. Charge and can't do anything about it. I walked away leaving the food. He followed me outside to give it to me for the price it should have been but complained that I was blaming him for a system error. I still didn't want the food and kept walking. DAMN and I really wanted some African food today!! Such is never. Needless to say I will NEVER come here again!

Baltimore Review 7/Many: I was at this tiny Ethiopian spot for a light lunch as a bit of…read morehappenstance, since it was too early for the more popular Ethiopian spot a couple of doors down to be open, and it was near the pretty bad La Quinta Downtown. When I went in, there wasn't anyone else outside except for a friendly woman who was presumably the owner, but eventually a few other people came in, either to eat in or to take out. For food, I went with fir-fir, or fit-fit, a mixture of shredded injera and other ingredients. I thought about getting the $19.99 Kwanta Firfir, made with stewed beef and sun-dried beef, but instead went with the slightly cheaper Beef Firfir for $17.00, or spicy beef stew tossed with injera. The plate was pretty big, with the whole stew served on a large piece of that spongy, sour bread. Otherwise, the beef inside was pretty tender, and there were pieces of injera mixed with the stew along with some peppers. There was a nice mix of spices, and it was indeed moderately spicy, but not too overpowering. The injera helped soak up all the flavors and was good quality. Overall, I liked it a lot. Soon enough, I paid for the check and left.

Food was authentic and delicious! I got the veggie platter and the seasoning was giving what it's…read moresupposed to give! The service was great and the atmosphere was cozy amd comfortable. Highly recommend this restaurant!

The food's always good when I order. If you like stuffed wraps & getting your hands messy (in the…read morebest way), the chicken shawarma is great. I always love the matcha, especially with their new hibiscus flavor. Whoever's running the playlist sets a relaxing vibe

Asun was really good as was the Shawarma but the egusi needed work as did the Yaaji chicken. It was…read morevery dry especially for dark meat and no flavor

The place is kind of falling apart, not the best looking restaurant in town. I ordered on yelp and…read moregot there about 15 minutes after I got the message that food is ready for pickup. When I got there, my order was not ready and I had to wait for 15 more minutes to get it. While I was waiting, I checked out their menu and noticed that the prices on yelp were higher. I ordered pepper goat soup which was $20 on yelp while it was $12 on their menu, jollof rice with chicken was $15 while it was $9 on the menu. I will be ordering on the phone from next time. Coming to the food, it was worth all the wait. Pepper Goat soup did justice to the name. It was peppery spicy and delicious! Jollof rice became my favorite instantly. It was well made with all the perfectly blended spices. I could not stop eating it. I want to eat this everyday. They just found a loyal customer. Cannot wait to try the other dishes on their menu.

Tasty hit the spot Not sure which country but food I got…read morewas delicious Nice and soo

This is probably the hardest food place to find. It takes courage to navigate all the conspicuous…read morealleyways to get to this location. First of all, this is a startup trying to fill the gap in the African food desert of Baltimore downtown. This place is not all that put together guessing by the local, but it does offer excellent surprises. The Jollof is taste and flavorful, the natural ingredients brings out the flavor in unique French Ivory Coast way. The meat is tender and chewy. The Oxtail was just an overpriced collection of fat and bones. There is a delivery option, highly recommended since finding this place can be confusing. Make sure to call ahead to confirm the menu items. For most foodies, this will satisfy but leaves you asking for better meat and better food experience. Inside seating is limited or non existence. It's a labor of love for the owner and passion for the cook.

I have tried this place a few times since my last review…read more Gotta say, definitely one of the best African food spots. They also have a nice Caribbean selection. The food is always seasoned to perfection, and the portions are reasonable. I would still say call before placing an order just to ensure they have what you want. This is definitely my boyfriend's favorite restaurant!!

We stopped by Mera Kitchen Collective for lunch on our drive to Philly, and I'm so glad we did…read more The food was fresh, flavorful, and they had plenty of great vegetarian options. We shared the cauliflower appetizer, which was delicious, and I ordered the falafel sandwich while my husband enjoyed the grilled chicken kebab. Everything was well-priced and came out quickly, even during the busy lunch rush. The staff were friendly, and I really loved the community-driven mission behind the restaurant, it made the whole experience feel even more special. Parking can be a little tricky, but it's manageable and well worth it. I'd definitely recommend stopping by if you're in Baltimore!

I had read a bunch of excellent reviews for Mera but our visit was unfortunately disappointing. We…read moretried the: - popular crispy cauliflower. It was fine but just very bland. Adding hot sauce helped. - plantain and avocado bowl: also so-so. Nothing terrible but nothing great. Somewhat bland as well. - goat barbacoa. Tough and dry. Maybe we ordered the wrong thing here that nobody had ordered in a while but the goat was supposed to be braised but was just very tough and very dry (and bland). We had a disappointing visit which seems to be an outlier given all the other reviews.

I only ordered a side of Joloff rice. It was good and had the right amount of spice and flavor. I…read morerecommend it if you like Joloff rice.. A bit pricey tho.

I ordered the jollof rice, assorted meat, plantain, and vegetable sauce…read more When the food arrived it had spinach in it, that was a plus. I ordered assorted meat but there was only chicken. The cost of assorted meat is more expensive than the jollof rice with just chicken so I should've been refunded a few dollars. The rice was good. The plantains were dry. The chicken taste old and freezer burnt. The meat was dry and old. The spinach was bland. This meal left a bad taste it my mouth. I probably will never be back. The picture looks better than it taste.