Asmara Restaurant

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!

Yuki C

Cozy and intimate spot in Oakland. First time trying Ethiopian food, and it was a great experience. Friendly and fast service

Bereket Kifle

I have been going to this restaurant for the past 4 years, and I really like the vibe in here, the host and servers are always nice and helpful. Unfortunately the past 2 years the food is loosing its quality, its becoming flavorless. Even thou the price is almost the same with the others Eritrean/ethiopian restaurants but the portion is very different. Today I couldn't go to the restaurant so I orderd on doordash a meat combination; when you go to other restaurants "like Addis in Telegraph or caffe Eritrea" this meal is more than enough for two people, but the one I order from this restaurant was not enough even for 1 person. I always support black owned business and habesha restaurants, and at the same time I don't like when restaurant loose their quality instead of improving.

Ahmad Jetha

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.