In Manchester for an Open Mic night recently, I decided to eat at this Ethiopian restaurant just off Canal Street.
If you’ve never been there before, Habesha is easy to miss. However, if you find Clone Zone and look across the road opposite, you should spot the spiral staircase on the corner leading up to Habesha.
When I visited, it was midweek but was still pretty much full – mostly by (what I presumed to be) Ethiopian families. As well as being fairly quiet (music-wise), the restaurant felt spacious and was decorated with (what I presumed to be) traditional Ethiopian artefacts.
Although the menu is limited to just 8 dishes – only 2 of which are vegetarian – being an Ethiopian restaurant, it is quite a unique dining experience.
I ordered Yetsom Beyaynetu, which is spicy red lentils, yellow split peas, cabbage, carrots, spinach and salad served with sour flatbread (Injera).
The dish is served without cutlery and the way I eat it (whether this is the authentic way or not) is to tear off bits of the flatbread and use them to scoop up the other bits between my fingers.
It is really delicious, not all that spicy, and all the constituent parts compliment each other nicely.
As you may also be able to see from the photo, the serving is huge. I could only manage about half of it by myself – and I was still stuffed the morning after!
For such a large dish, the price is a very reasonable £6.50 (although it says £7 on the website) and I heartily recommend it.
Veggie View 