cafe lalibela

yesterday for lunch, i had a real craving for ethiopian food. i had been wanting it for a while now, but just couldn't seem to get myself over to cafe lalibela, my favorite ethiopian in the valley. moody was feeling the same way (perhaps it's the npr spon

i liked their food, the way they serve and their ambience. we went for a team dinner. enjoyed lots and lots of food. also took coffee. everything was good.

lalibela is stellar. let me tell you, as much as my wife and i love ethiopian cuisine, we waited far too long to finally try lalibela’s. in the words of andrew zimmern – wow! terrific meal! my wife started with hot yekemim shai tea and i had a st. george beer – excellent. being our first time, we decided to go for their deluxe meal for 2 where we could have an extensive try of most things on their menu. we indulged in alicha sega wat (super tender beef stew in kibbeh sauce with onion and turmeric), doro wat (chicken stew in berbere, kibbeh and spiced butter), key sega wat (tender beef cubes in berbere spice), yebeg alicha (incredibly tender and moist lamb in kibbeh, onion and turmeric), fosolia (luscious green beans and carrots with tomatoes and onions), gomen (collard greens with garlic ginger and onion), misir wat (red lentils with onions, berbere and other spices), tikil gomen (nicely and moderately spiced cabbage, potatoes with turmeric) and yekik alicha (tasty yellow split peas with onion turmeric and herbs); and finishing with a desert of tres leches cake. everything served was fabulous. an example i can offer you is that if you’ve never been a fan of collard greens or lentils – you’ll be a fan when trying them here! lalibela’s experience for us was across the board fantastic. a clean, airy and comfortable seating; incredible service and attention and excellently modest prices – and i repeat, the food was excellent! if you’re not an ethiopian food connoisseur, lalibela is the place to get started. if you’re an aficionádo already, this is a must visit. highly recommended and we will be back… bon appétit from gástro ecléctico!

authentic ethiopian restaurant!

ordered their exclusive platter for 4. it had both veg and non veg dishes with injera. non veg included chicken, beef, lamb and fish. veg included potato, spinach, lentils, beans and cheese.

loved every item ; injera was soft and tasty. overall a great experience.

the first time i had ethiopian food was in amsterdam and its fabulous. when i came to know there is this famous ethiopian restaurant, we with our extended family (7 of us) sauntered in. 

the decor is good but could be more ethiopian considering its very rich culture (the civilization is older than egyptian). the menu was easy to pick. it was a platter and when the food came we all dug in. its a large plate and has to be shared by everyone. 

the wats were awesome.. especially the misir wat. the injeras were light and had just the right sourness. i loved the ethiopian coffee.. which i drank traditionally with salt.. my wife almost fainted :). 

would i come again.. well of course... one thing that would stop me.. the cost :) its a tad expensive but its really good food. 

they also have a market place where you can buy traditional ethiopian food as well as other curios.

great food! ethiopian food is an interesting experience and always fun. you can eat with your hands or with a fork. but the spongy injera bread they serve us amazing! if i could just have that, i would be a happy camper. service was great.

we were looking for another restaurant when my wife saw "ethiopian" and we changed our plans and stopped here for lunch.  we are glad we made the choice, since it was excellent.  the family platters only start for 3 people, so we had to have individual platters.  with ethiopian food you use the injera flatbread to eat with, no utensils, so not everyone is comfortable doing so.  we love ethiopian.  my wife had the chef's favorite combination (#20)- doro wat (spicy chicken stew), gomen (collard greens), ayeb (homemade cheese), salad and injera.   she was very happy with her meal and ate it all.  i had the manager's special (#21) - kye sega wat (spicy beef stew), tikil gomen (cabbage, potatoes and carrots), yekik alicha (yellow split peas), salad and injera.    i tried to eat all of mine, but ended up with some injera left over.  if we would have needed more injera, they would have provided it.  they also have traditional gluten free injera for an upcharge, if needed.  the service was friendly and attentive.  we are happy to know it is here and will try to come back.

every time i come here i am amazed by how good the food is! i've tried other ethiopian places and nothing comes close to this place! food is beyond good, and so is their tea/coffee. very reasonably priced as well. i highly recommend the vegetarian platter as it is absolutely fantastic. great to share with friends!

even though i can still hardly make out the difference between the majority of these dishes and what one encounters at the local delhi palace i do say that i love what these guys are doing with lentils and veggies!  the prices are splendid and this place could easily turn me into a 4 day a week vegetarian.  three cheers for injera! the 'must try'-  i'm not exactly sure how it's pronounced but try it!  veggies never tasted so good.

the only recommendation i can make is that they get a good cook. i am not ethiopian but i have had great ethiopian food in new york and chicago many times. this was just bad food, made by a bad cook. sorry, but i couldn't even finish it. maybe it was an off day, i dont know, but the soup tasted like canned tomato soup with a sprinkling of lentils. the doro wat was spicy enough to burn my stomach and make my nose run, but it was not flavorful, it had a coagulated consistency, and it had clearly been sitting for a few hours. as it was about room temp, im actually afraid i will be suffering from food poisoning. very disappointing, overall. even the injera was tasteless. none of the tang i was craving. i get it, this is tempe, not nyc, but i wouldn't take anyone to this location. maybe the cooks and owners are ethiopian, but just because you are from somewhere doesn't make you good at the cuisine. aaaaaargh. my stomach is in rebellion from just the four bites i took. if you have any concept of good food from any part of the world, and if you know and love ethiopian food, don't go to cafe lalibela. i wish they had at least offered to withhold the check. the waitresses didnt have any reaction to the fact that i was clearly dissatisfied with the quality. what a bummer.

caution. before you decide to eat here again ask to peek in the kitchen...not really going to say more than that, just ask to look in the kitchen. ``if he doesn't want you to see the whole place you should automatically assume something's wrong" and find another place to eat.

excellent food. had the meat combination and it was all delicious! even the dressing on the salad was memorable.

ordered the vegeterian platter and the meat platter for 2 people. delightful and tasty. the top 3 portions were the green beans, the split red peas, and the spicy red beef. you can order individual portions and that will be my 3 choice platter next time.

i've never had ethiopean food, so take this review with a grain of salt, but i absolutely loved it! i got the meat combo which came with three different stews and the flat, fluffy tortilla-like bread. it was all great. i wasn't a big fan of the honey wine, kind of tasted like apple juice and honey to me. the service could have been a little better too, but they were busy and i think there was only 1 waitress in the whole place. overall i was very impressed and will go back for sure.

not too bad for what you get. injera could have been fresher