Lunch at Asmara
What Asmara brings is class to eating Injera. Asmara is either no 1 or close to the top as the best place for injera/anjera if your looking for a classy place. I received an invitation from a friend to visit the Asmara restaurant in Karen, I put all those opinions and prejudices aside and gladly accepted. It was certainly an elegant welcome to Asmara. (By the way, it is on the right of the Ngong Road, not far beyond the Karen Dukas roundabout and close to the Talisman restaurant.) It is a red-tiled and white-walled building, set in an extensive Karen garden. Just inside the main entrance a white-dressed waitress was brewing and serving coffee. Clearly, this coffee-serving ritual is as much an Eritrean as an Ethiopian tradition. She was roasting green coffee beans over an open flame and then grinding them. Her low table had the boiling pot, the jebena, and an array of small, handleless cups. Despite the chill, we sat out in the garden, but we were soon warmed with jikos placed around the table, I was looking forward to trying their strawberry smoothie first before anything as my sister had recommended and I can tell you for sure it was everything she described it. fresh and tasty. We were served by very polite and friendly staff, I should say her smile was charming. I later ordered steak and mashed potatoes. My love for potatoes couldn’t go unnoticed, ever since I got married to a Kikuyu hehe. Anywhere there are potatoes I am game on! the meat was crisp and crunchy; the spices were strong and aromatic. And I wasn’t bothered about messing my fingers! So the Asmara menu is quite eclectic – with a range from pepper steaks to pizzas. But the mains are, of course, the Eritrean dishes. There are a number of vegetarian options. First up on the menu is the Asmara vegetables: a mix of cabbage, kale, potatoes, peas, lentils, and beetroot in a spicy Eritrean sauce. The menu has a Kids’ Corner, too, with the likes of fish fingers or beef burgers and fries. The garden has an assortment of climbing frames and slides. So during weekends, this is a great place for a family lunch.