cafe lalibela

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 ;injerawas soft and tasty. overall a great experience.

great food! ethiopian food is an interesting experience and always fun. you can eat with your hands or with a fork. but the spongyinjerabread 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 theinjeraflatbread 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 someinjeraleft over.  if we would have needed more injera, they would have provided it.  they also have traditional gluten freeinjerafor an upcharge, if needed.  the service was friendly and attentive.  we are happy to know it is here and will try to come back.

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 theinjerawas 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.

not too bad for what you get.injeracould have been fresher