11 of us had an excellent Ethiopian family style dinner at hareg and left full and happy…read more Quickly to the pros and cons Pros 1.Injera : soft fluffy fermented delicious injera . One of the best versions I have had in Ottawa 2. The platter , I prefer beef , chicken and goat in that order 3. Parking : they are towards the northern end of banh st hence there is a fair chance to find parking 4. The Ethiopian experience : the shop tries to preserve the authentic Ethiopian experience and they succeeds to an extent 5. Service : efficient and fast Can be improved 1. The coffee ceremony : not so much of a ceremony , they do use the traditional utensils and methods but it's more rustic than ceremonial 2. No dessert : what ?????

This place is a cute little business on bank street. I came with a friend and we both got the…read morevegetarian combo. The prices are really reasonable! It kind of took a long time for the food to come out, and then when people came in after use their food came out what felt like right away, which was a little confusing. Anyway, the food was great! So flavourful-- I reason why I live Ethiopian food so dang much! We asked for more injera and scraped our plates clean! I have been craving Ethiopian for a long time and I'm so glad I could try it in ottawa. 7/10

I tried Ethiopian years ago and didn't like it. I couldn't get over the using your hands aspect of…read moreit. Fast forward 20 years and my friend suggests Habesha for lunch and I go along. We ordered two Habesha platters (mix of meat and veggie dishes) with injera bread. I found out you can use the bread to pick up the meat or veggies. The cabbage was my favourite. Great flavours! The beef cubes/stew was great too. Lentils were well prepared too. The tea and coffee were unique and good. I am converted. This was delicious! Service is a bit slower so plan accordingly. The decor is plain but it doesn't matter when the food is good!

Highly recommend this restaurant!!! Every single item we tried was delicious unique with different…read moretextures and flavors. Family friendly and staff is happy to explain dishes to people new to Ethiopian cuisine. I definitely recommend getting a platter so you can try more than one thing. Each person can have an individual plate or you can share a large platter to eat communally (our group of 7 asked to eat together and we were given two large platters). We just said we wanted to try a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes and asked to add on the special stewed lamb that isn't usually included on the Habesha Platter. It was the best lamb I've ever had and my daughter still talks about it months later! I don't know the name but it was super tender small cubes of lamb meat stewed in a very spicy red sauce. Even as a meat lover, many of the vegetarian dishes like the cabbage, green beans, and yellow split peas were among my favorite bites of the meal. We will definitely go back next time we're anywhere near Ottawa.

My husband and I had lunch at Safia Restaurant recently and overall we loved it!…read more My husband was going to a Hobby Show nearby, so we were in the area. We had been to the restaurant at this location when it was called Far Jano, and I found out from the staff at Safia that the owner of Far Jano sold her business 2 years ago and they believe she went back to Somalia. So Safia took over the place. They also sell Somali food. We got a few dishes to share. We got the Liver with Anjeero ($14), which comes with Somali Ginger Milk Tea. We also got the beef and chicken mixed suquaar plate with rice ($17). The liver dish is called "Beer." It comes with your choice of malawah, chapati or anjeero. Since I've already had the 2 former breads, I really wanted to try the anjeero. The man taking my order advised me it's a bit sour. I had heard it's similar to Ethiopian injera, which I like, so I told him I was good with that. The anjeero was delicious! It's less sour than injera. The best I can describe it as is if a crepe, a crumpet and some sour dough starter got together and had a magical baby, it would be anjeero, lol. I dream of anjeero now. I need more anjeero! Lol. The Somali Ginger Milk Tea is also so good. It was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but I still enjoyed it. It's creamy and full of ginger flavour. I would get this again. The liver was also good, but too oily for my tastes. It's fried with lots of onions, tomatoes, and some bell peppers. I would love it if they used less oil. The spices were amazing though. It masked the "liver flavour" well. I don't really like the taste of liver, but I eat it to boost my iron levels, so I like it when it's prepared in a way that it doesn't really taste like liver, haha. The beef and chicken suquaar with rice was also a hit. The chicken is slightly spicy, while the the beef is not spicy at all. The chicken was so tasty. It was moist and tender and full of flavour. The beef was also full of flavour, but it was tougher and not as tender, but still good. The rice was soft and fluffy and rich with warm aromatic spices. There were lots of onions in this dish, but also some peas and bell peppers. This dish came with a side salad. The salad was really boring with just romaine lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, but the vegetables were fresh. It came with a ranch dressing on the side which I did not use. We also got 2 sauces. A red one which was mild and a brown one which was spicer, but I would describe as mild-medium. Since I dislike ranch dressing, I actually used the red sauce on the salad. Service was really friendly and welcoming. The restaurant is right next to a mosque and it appeared that all customers other than us were members of the mosque. So even though we obviously stuck out, the staff did not make us feel out of place at all. The dining area inside is small, but they have this nice more private area where you need to remove your shoes to enter and it's furnished nicely and is somewhat separated from the rest of the restaurant. There's also 2 tables outside, which is where we ate. It's covered with an awning and is well shaded, which is great when it's hot and sunny out, like it was on the day of our visit. Lots of free parking in the plaza. The parking lot is also shared with the mosque. It's a pity that this place is far from me and is in an area that I no longer frequent. Although they have another location on Cobden out near the Ikea, which is not close to me either, but a bit more convenient. I'll have to give that location a try sometime ;)

The food is a must try ! The samosas are delicious , I bought them 2 days in a row!…read moreGood food and great service ! Prices are good too ! Will definitely recommended

The food was amazing and the portion large so come hungry! I ordered the vegetarian platter so was…read moreable to try a variety, and all were delicious. If you are not familiar with this food, you do eat with your hands, so get ready to dig in! The staff could be a little more helpful, especially if guests are not familiar with the food. This is an upstairs location and I am not sure if they have an elevator, so check options if you are unable to do stairs.

If you're craving a hole in the way dining experience of delicious Ethiopian cuisine, D'Afrique is…read morethe place to be! The highlight of the evening was definitely the lamb--succulent, flavorful, and a definite 10/10. The mixed platter we chose was perfect for sampling a variety of dishes. It included a delightful assortment of vegetarian options alongside two chicken dishes and a savory beef dish. Each item was bursting with unique flavors and perfectly complemented the injera bread. We were able to ask for medium spiciness and some extra spice on the side so we weren't overwhelmed. The service was friendly and attentive - our waitress was able to give us great recommendations - adding to the overall enjoyable dining experience. The easy to miss entrance leads you upstairs to a nice dining area with table cloths but comfortable ambiance. Great for your dairy free and pork free friends plus there are gluten free options.

I love Ethiopian food, but admittedly don't know the names of all the different curries, except for…read moreDoro Watt which is the curry with spicy chicken legs and boiled eggs, and happens to be my favourite, lol. This location of D'Afrique Restaurant & Bar is their second location. Their first location is on Laurier Ave. This location has been many restaurants in the past. It was a Peruvian restaurant called Petit Peru and then it was a Mexican restaurant called Los Tacos de Mauro, both of which were excellent, and I'm happy to report that D'Afrique Restaurant keeps the trend going, as it was also excellent. I saw their big sandwich board by their entrance advertising a Special of the Day for $13.99 which consisted of chicken, beef, lamb and vegetable curries with injera and thought this would be a great way to try out a variety of their products. So I got it for takeout. Admittedly, the takeout presentation is not as aesthetically pleasing as the dine-in version, but the taste was good. It came with my favourite Doro Watt, as well as a beef curry, a lamb curry, and some vegetable curries (lentil, cabbage, split peas, and I think ground chickpeas curries). The injera was soft and tasty. The chicken leg in the Doro Watt was so tender and fall off the bone and had a good spicy kick to it. The beef was also tasty, but not as tender. The lamb portion was small and be warned that it's bone-in, but it was good and not too gamey. The vegetable curries were good too. Everything was really flavourful and fragrant. Service was friendly. I did hear the microwave go off a few times in the kitchen though. So I suspect some of the items are reheated when ordered. Also the takeout container was styrofoam, which I don't like. I really hope they didn't microwave anything in styrofoam! Anyway, use of styrofoam and microwave were the only two negatives. I would return for the Special of the Day again. I also want to try the samosas. The restaurant is up a steep flight of stairs on the second floor of the building. The space was at one time a discotheque. It's quite pretty inside and no longer looks like a night club, lol. Street parking only.

They are awfully nice. All smiles! The food is average. I thought the Injarra was rubbery. I wish…read morethey would pay more attention to cleanliness too. The staff was watching a soccer match when I arrived and were very enthusiastic about one of the teams. The tables and floor were dirty from the night before. A little more effort on their part could make this restaurant a standout in the area.

Food wise, it's cheap and large portion. But there's little variety. Everything is big bread with…read moredifferent variations of toppings. For mine, it was soggy where the toppings were placed because of the olive oil. Service was close to non-existent. They forgot my Coke until I reminded them. It also took time for the food to be ready or to get the bill. I only saw one star, so I assume he's the wait staff, the chef and the cashier.

Pre-pandemic, I had an appointment down the road and I decided to walk the 15 minutes to get some…read moreEthiopian food. I used to live in the area and visited their old location on Gladstone ages ago, so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to try their new(er) location, also on Gladstone. I've only had Ethiopian food a few times in the past, including at Blue Nile, but I was in the mood to try a dish I never had before. The restaurant had just opened for lunch so it was empty. I was grateful to have the full attention of the server, who I realized later was also the cook - the one and only staff member there! He was patient with me as I took a look around and debated over what to get on the menu before asking him for a suggestion. He asked if I ever had tibbs before, a staple in Ethiopian cuisine, and I hadn't, so that's what I ordered. I definitely read the menu, but I didn't pay attention at all to what he was making. I just said yes and got excited lol. It was about $12 at the time, before taxes and tip, though the price didn't matter at all because I was hungry and drooling at the sights and smells of him making the food. He made it with such care, packed it for takeout with such care, and rang it up with such care. He was very kind and courteous. Top-notch service. It was about 20 minutes or so before I was able to sit down to eat it and it was still piping hot. I had no idea what to expect. Whatever it was, it was fully wrapped in a huge piece of injera. When I unfolded the injera, there was a giant portion of sliced beef, onions, and peppers in a tomato-based sauce. I looked at the menu online and saw you could get juicy or dry, so I assumed I got juicy. My coworkers kept asking what I got, saying it looked and smelled amazing. A couple of them even tried some. It was delicious! The beef was tender and the sauce was very flavourful. The injera was light and spongey, not too sour. The meal was super filling, too. The injera soaked up some of the extra juices and it was all great to eat it with your hands. I would, however, separate the beef from the injera if saving leftovers, as the injera at the bottom would be super soggy. I would definitely eat here again. Maybe in person next time! I was tempted to buy some of the snacks, spices, and other pantry items by the cash, but I get carried away with that stuff and I knew I wouldn't be able to carry it back with me. But I totally regretted not getting anything. Definitely next time, too!