kokeb restaurant

unfortunate ending to a great night!!. there were 6 of us that went for a birthday party and it was the first time to kokeb for all of us, half of us had never had ethiopian before so we were pretty excited. the service was very slow but we were in no rush so we weren’t too concerned. we decided to order 2 combination platters for 6 people ($56). the stuffed jalapeno peppers were very disappointing yet other than that the food was really good. we ordered the coffee service ceremony (i believe it was about $25 for all of us - one of us does not drink coffee). the whole ceremony was very enjoyable (and interesting with the butter and salt). we were all very impressed and interested in the history and he explained the traditions of the service which we totally enjoyed (the restaurant was empty so we did not feel that we were taking all of his time).
when we were ready to leave we asked for the bill - he just paused and said “one hundred and twenty dollars”. we laughed as it was obvious he was not going to "ring us up".... yet in all of the confusion we did not pay attention to what the bill should have been, we only realized this after the fact. the bill should have been $56 for the combination meals, $6 for either a samosa or gross jalapeno pepper, and $25 for the coffee service – this equals $87.00. he told us the bill was $120.00, so we each gave $25.00 (as we do like to tip well and we were there for a while – having not have seen each other for years). therefore he gave himself a $63 tip (although not ringing it up he probably pocketed the entire $150). i realize it was totally our fault for not noticing until after we left….. yet he blatenly ripped us off. for this reason i have not been recommending this restaurant and will not be returning (nor will my friends).

went to kokeb because they have a buffet. i am a total spice wimp , but i am getting better. the buffet was a major disappointment!! i was concerned the buffet would be too spicy, turns out it is very bland. too bland for a spice wimp, go figure. no meat in the buffet at lunch. just because i don't like it hot, doesn't mean i don't like flavour, it had none. will not be back. service was almost non existent. will stick with the other ethiopian restaurants in the city. even brandon has an ethiopian buffet that is way better than this.

not sure.... service is very slow, so don't be in a hurry. many items i tried were so delicious and tasy but i can't get past the old stale flavour of the chicken drumsticks. it tasted as though it had been reheated more than once and it really turned me off.

terrible. we went there for lunch a few years ago. they had a buffet for lunch so we just had the buffet but were very disappointed and all of us vowed never to go back cause the food is horrible. it was super bland and that's not what i know of ethiopian food. you're better off going to harman's on sargent or the massawa on osbourne.

ebjoyable experience and awesome food!. went there with a few friends for dinner and it was amazing. the platters are absolutely the best value. you get a large assortment of food, with the injera bread to eat it with. i loved how for first timers they have the instructions on how to use the bread on the table. the samosas and dip were the best i have ever had! the only negative thing about the place might be it's size. it's not a huge restaurant so had it been really busy the night we had gone, we might not have been able to get a table quickly. that being said, the service is outstanding! can't wait to go back!

it's a close second to harman's cafe for the best ethiopian restaurant in town (hard to choose a runner-up between this place and massawa, but the service and prices here are much better) and they have the most convenient location if you live and/or work downtown. they have the best samosas/sambusas out of any ethiopian place in town, too; the shell is super crispy and i love the jalapeno sauce they serve with them. if you're going with someone else get one of the platters or if ordering/coming solo, get the misir wot. everything comes with jalapeno sauce so that you can adjust the spiciness to your liking and extra berbere is available on request.

one of my favorite winnipeg restaurants for many years. their injera bread is oddly addicting, the prices are very cheap given the flavour of everything is so amazing. the vegetarian platter with a stuffed jalapeno is always my go-to.

i love kokeb, their prices are super reasonable and quite delicious food. bonus that they have vegan options, that's so amazing. it's a little less spicy than i would expect from ethiopian food, but they do have little containers of spicy green sauce that helps, but it's very mild. i've gone for the buffet before, which is really fantastic for a quick lunch. it was also good, but mild flavor. i am not sure if the buffet is vegan, i have not been since i cut out dairy and eggs. yum!

worst customer service. i will never go there again. food quality is very low
would rather eat at home than spending money and time. a big no to this place

so. full. this place was amazing. we shared samosas and a veggie combo for 2, and i don't even know what the individuals items were called but there were lentils, split peas, salads, cabbage, potatoes, beets, all flavoured so perfectly. i can not wait to be back!

pretty mediocre lunch buffet in my opinion.
reasonably priced at 10-bucks all in, but pretty thin on variety.
no meat.
4 lentil/bean dishes, 2 potato dishes and 2 cabbage dishes.
and many of them tasted alike.
and why no injera available, the crepe like bread you traditionally eat it all with?
need to up their game!

so disappointed.  other than the wonderful and vibrant green sauce the meal was bland and all the meat dishes were dry and tough and flavourless.  service was perfunctory at best.  back to my "usual" ethiopian place next time - there is much better ethiopean food in the city..

kokeb delivers quality ethiopian cuisine. the true standout dishes were the vegetarian options and given their quality, kokeb offers incredible value for the low price charged. perfect for anyone in the area looking for good african/ethiopian food, just get your protein load elsewhere.

i have been going to kokeb for a number of years now. each time, i’ll bring a new friend along with me to try ethiopian food. everyone i have brought to the restaurant had nothing negative to say and many have requested me to go back with them. i think ethiopian food is quite fun to eat. the first thing you’ll notice is that they don’t eat with utensils so make sure you wash your hands! they tear a piece of injera 1 and use it to scoop up the stews and salads. their new location is close to portage place shopping centre. during the day, it is well lit, however, in the evening it can get a bit dim inside. i think it was a bit too dark for my taste, but i didn’t mind too much. my friend and i walked in at around 7:30pm and took a seat at table. we were given menus and water. something that i do have to mention is that the service is very leisurely. once you’ve received your food, most often you will have to waive down the server if you need more water or would like to order something else. i ordered the veggie combo and she got the beef tibs. we also ordered one beef samosa and one veggie samosa to try out. both of the restaurant owners know me and always include a little bowl of their hot sauce with my food. their hot sauce is kind of like a paste that resembles relish, but is a mixture of delicious, hot spices. (those of you who aren’t a fan of spicy food might find this sauce a bit too much.) our samosas came and my friend was eager to open them up. i warned her that they are really hot in the inside for a bit so we split them and let them cool some more. our food came shortly after. i’ve tried most of the things on the menu, but the veggie combo has to be my favourite. i really like the selection that’s on the plate and with the different spices they use, i tend to forget that there isn’t any meat. i really like vegetables and i find that the meat dishes don’t come with enough salad to my liking, but my friend didn’t mind. when i asked her to describe the food as

waiting time too long over 2hrs. my bf and i come to visit from states. we thought that would be good idea to tried this. when the time we got here, we were really hungry and thinking we would get our food served in 30mins. it proved we were wrong. after we sat down, we waited nearly 2.5hrs to get our food served. at that time, both of our appretize were gone. the food was so-so. but the serving time were ridiculous. probably that was our first but also the last time come here