Kokeb Ethiopian Cuisine

Really enjoyed our dinner at Kokeb! Friends recommended it, and I'm glad they did. Went as part of a group of 6 people, and the owner made us feel extremely welcome. She helped us order and was patient and not condescending to those that hadn't eaten using injera before.

We ordered a variety of dishes, about half vegetarian and half meat dishes. Managed to finish everything, although we were all extremely full by the end and only ate what was left on the table because it was so delicious!

Prices seem extremely reasonable. Drinks prices (beer and wine) seemed fair, and those in our group drinking juices seemed to enjoy them.

We'll definitely be back, and are also looking forward to going again when the weather is nicer as it seems that there are outside tables available.
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Zilla
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 06, 2012

As with a previous reviewer, I visited Kokeb after a matinee show at the Pleasance Theatre nearby. I'd looked it up on the internet when searching for restaurants near the theatre; walking up Roman Way we initially didn't think there'd be any commercial places there as it all looked very residential, but suddenly there was a small parade of shops including Kokeb.

This was late afternoon/early evening on a Saturday and at first it was just us. The owner was very friendly and as mentioned many times below happy to explain the dishes. We had the vegetable platter and the doro wot. I already knew I liked doro wot from having had it at the sadly departed Calabash so was eager to see what it was like here - I was not disappointed, it was rich and spicy without burning your mouth, the dark flavourful sauce neatly mopped up by the lovely injera bread. The veg platter was very tasty, including some outstanding lentils. Castel beer washed it all down most agreeably. By the time we finished, other diners were starting to arrive.

Now we want to find reasons to travel from SW London to Caledonian Road so we can eat here again. Must check the Pleasance itinerary.
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Backdrifter - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Very good. Party of 3 on a Wed evening. Ordered 4 mains - Awaze tibs (beef cubes), Minchet Abish (beef mince - but not Kitfo), Doro Wot (chicken and egg!) - and at a stretch - Assa Tibs (fish pieces). Good quality meat - cubes not tough to chew, fish pieces exteremely soft. Asked for food to be made spicy, it was. Also asked for 'mitmita' chilly powder on top. Had a runny nose from all the spices - bliss.

Coffee ceremony at the end. Don't understand the concept of coffee, but the whole affair added a very nice traditional touch. Coffee wasn't bad either. Made to feel at home and confortable by the lady in charge, we chatted about all things Ethiopian.

Highly recommended. If anything, i'd go when its more lively - Fri/Sat. Didn't see a soul for the 2 hours we were there on Wed.
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PD
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 03, 2011

This restaurant is very, very special. It has a wonderful atmosphere (clean, well-kept with great light and nice decor), delicious food, and reasonable pricing. But the best feature is Getenesh, the host and cook. She welcomes you as if you were her own family, caters to your every need, and leaves you feeling very inspired. She also takes the time to explain the dishes and customs of Ethiopia for those who are interested. I organised a group event here last night for a network that I organise, and it was by far the best one yet. Everyone had an incredible time and could not stop raving. We left happy and very full.

Location wise, it is just by Caledonian Road tube station, which is very convenient since it's on the Picadilly line. I highly recommend this place, and will definitely be back!
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Justine - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, July 22, 2011

A really lovely local restaurant, serving amazing Ethiopian food! Get there, listen to what the lovely owner recommends, and get your hands a bit dirty!

I can't wait to go back.
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James Creedy - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, May 03, 2011

This is a truly great little place. The food is really amazing - my favourite is the "Lega tibs" - juicy lamb in rosemary sauce on traditional Ethiopian (injera) bread. The music played is usually Ethiopian Jazz which I only discovered recently - truly adds to the atmosphere. This is the best value for money you can get - food is great and really cheap (round £13 with drink pp).
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, November 07, 2010

Having only recently discovered this restaurant ,it is quite possibly one of the best I have ever been to, and is guaranteed much more of my custom!

Immaculate interior and bathroom, charming and friendly service, and the food.... fantastic!

Mounds of tasty and spicy lentil curry, superb spinach stew, and a spicy chicken dish, all of which were washed down by Castel beer, a fine Ethiopian ale.

Thouroughly recommended as a complete dining experience. .
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Roy
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 15, 2010

We ate here on a cold wet November Sunday evening after a visit to the Pleasance Theatre and had chosen it on the basis of other people's reviews. We were the only people there (it was early) but we still thoroughly enjoyed it. The lady who owns it is a delight, as is the food.
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Harold
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 26, 2010

This was a first time for us to try Ethiopian food. I first learned about this kind of food from a Wilbur Smith book, wherein various feasting people in Ethiopia stuff themselves with a kind of stew called "wot", cooked in large metal cauldrons.

Many years later I tried to cook "wot" with my children. This was an interesting experiment, and it involved trawling around for endless spices and stuff we had not used before, grinding, mashing, pounding and generally taking ages to cook what we hoped was a fair bash at Doro Wot. However we did not attempt the "injira" bread. This is a strange, sour, soggy, pliant bread which is unlike any kind of bread I have tried before.

If you like the taste of unusual wheat beers and sourdough, chances are you will like it. At Kokeb the injira bread arrives covering the entire flat surface of an enormous metal circular platter, with some more pieces of the bread folded over napkin-style on top of it. The bread comes served at room temperature. The menu dishes come hot and are served like curry, on metal oval platters or, for the meat stew or "wot", in metal balti-like dishes.

The "wots" on the menu at Kokeb seemed to be mostly focused on beef and chicken. As a hen-keeping person I always avoid chicken when eating out on principle as the poultry farming industry is unnecessarily cruel, so we chose two beef wots. Usually I try to choose lamb over beef as sheep have at least usually had a better than average chance of being able to express some natural behaviour before being knocked on the head and turned into dinner - it is not always easy to know where the cows have come from, but the choice of lamb wot dishes seemed limited, so beef wot it was. I was half expecting to see on the menu goat or perhaps mutton (which I prefer over lamb anyway) but these may be a bit off the radar of a small restaurant hidden away in Holloway. There is a steak-tartare (raw beef, minced) option on the menu also, but I am not really brave or foolhardy enough to eat raw bits of cow unless I know exactly where the animal came from and I didn't feel like having a Mr Bean moment in case I didn't like it.

Well, the other thing about this restaurant is that you do not get cutlery - you have the use your "natural fork" as the friendly woman who runs it will tell you.

Going to this restaurant is an interesting experience and kind of what I imagine it would be like going to your Ethiopian aunt's house for dinner. Except if like me you don't have any relatives much further south than Munich then the next best option is going somewhere like this.

I had no idea what to expect from the injira bread as I never tried it before. I saw a DVD once where Michael Palin ate some where he seemed to like it and of course I read about it and found recipes for it. I had considered trying to make it, but after reading the instructions what with all the waiting around and fermenting, rising, falling, covering, etc it sounded like a bridge too far. (When I made "wot" with my kids we had cous-cous with it, and it seemed to go well enough, but then we like cous-cous and North African food generally.)

What you do with this massive platter covered in injira bread is you slop the substance of your dinner over it with a spoon (provided), and mop it up into little rolls and little canoe-shaped roll things with your fingers, and eat it.

Eating this way feels informal, communal, slightly messy, very fun and companionable.

I liked the injira bread a lot. It's bendy and squidgy and pliant a bit like carpet underlay. It's got a slightly sour taste, but is absorbant while being aerated and light, almost fluffy, so unlike Indian bread does not have any stodge and is sufficiently bland to more or less completely take on the taste of whatever you are mopping up with it. My wife got a bit overwhelmed by it after a while so I think it may be an acquired taste for some.

Although partly this may have been that it is deceptively filling stuff.

We had a kind of vegetable combo which gave us the chance to try around five vegetable dishes on one platter. French beans were delicious; likewise the spinach. The lentils were OK. The other dishes did not make much impression on me as I have forgotten them, but it was all pleasant to eat nonetheless. There was some ginger in there somewhere.

The beef wots were great. They were both marked with two red ticks for heat, but I did not find them particularly strong - more aromatic, piquant and exciting. My wife, who is not a big fan of the hotter curries, and tends to steer away from vindaloos and jalfrezis at the curry house, was perfectly happy with the strength of these. The flavour is very full and tangy, unlike Indian food though many of the spices are probably the same. I preferred the one which was (I think) called "Awaze Tibs". We also had the "Key Wot" I think it was, and this was also good though being a cook myself could detect that it had tasted as if it had been made with tinned tomatoes rather than fresh. Not necessarily a complaint as I use tinned myself on occasion, but as a bit of a food purist the use of tinned tomatoes would not be authentic.

To drink we tried the Ethiopian export beer of which two were on offer. The St George is pleasant enough but very sugary, and the other one (with a name like Castel) was a more traditional blond beer. Both perfectly acceptable to drink and went fine with the food.

The cost? We spent 40 pounds which included a dessert cake (stodgy, indifferent quality, not recommended) and two strong black coffees (good) and a large Evian.

Would we visit again? Yes, definitely.

What would I change if it were my restaurant? It would be more romantic and relaxing if it were less bright inside. I prefer subdued light in a restaurant as I find it more relaxing. My wife's observation was that she found the injira bread a bit clammy and cold, and wondered if it would be served warm in Ethiopia. I have no idea, but I expect in a warmer (dryer?) climate things might be a little different. Of course once you shove the hot food on top of it, it warms up anyway. I was happy with it the way it was.

It's great to try a place like this. Good antedote to the endless same-old pizza, curry house, typical formula copycat restaurants everywhere. Also nice to feel the sense of connection with the cook/owner who takes a cheerful and personal interest in the food and your enjoyment of it.

I think going again, we would have a full dish of the french beans, and perhaps the same of the spinach or the lentil, probably both if we were hungry, and perhaps only one of the hot meat wots between two, as I felt that with two meat dishes and only one vegetable, the balance was too meaty-proteiny. As the meat dishes come with a lot of sauce and the veggies are quite dry, I felt that the best and probably healthiest way to have this food would be to have mostly vegetable perhaps in the ratio 2:1 veggie to meat, obviously with the injira bread as a base to the veggies, and then adding meat stew and sauce to add a bit of bounce and excitement to the bundles thus created.

With sensible choices two people could eat well here for 30 quid or less which seems very cheap for real cooking.

We'll try to go back for the coffee ceremony one day to see what that's all about.
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richard
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Went here for valentines and had a wonderful evening - the lady who runs it is extremely friendly and the food delicious...i love ethiopian food and have tried several london restaurants but this was especially good.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 15, 2010