Little Africa

Having heard of ethiopian food while I was in London last year, I felt it a necessity for me to indulge in some. So when I moved to Melbourne and heard that there was a very popular place located in North Melbourne, I couldn’t wait to visit little Africa.
I tried to go there for dinner last Friday around 6pm and was told that they only do two seatings 6 – 8 and 8 – 10 and bookings need to be made. The restaurant is tiny and there is limited outdoor seating with no heating (so not ideal for Melbourne weather with its wind and rain). We were sadly turned away.
This time though I made a booking and arrived promptly at six. And was disappointed to see that the restaurant was not fully reserved so I guess you can try your luck by not making a booking. You will certainly not get queues at this place.
The restaurant is pretty simple and looks slightly dirty (the floor was dusty and the floor tiles looked grimey). There is only one waiter and one person at the counter. It is cash only and the nearest one is in this pub where you pay 2 bucks to withdraw cash.
However you pay for what you get. The menu is fairly cheap and the menu looks authentic with dishes of hard to pronounce strange names.
It was so hard to decide what to get having never had ethiopian good but this is made simple if you get the vegetarian or non vegetarian platter for two.
What you get is similar to thali in an Indian restaurant. So the meat platter for two ($ 45) comes with three meat curries (one lamb, one chicken and one fish), three vegetarian curries (potato carrot and capsicum curry, red lentil curry and fool (fava bean) curry). You also get some salad and three massive injera breads (each one is at least 20 diameters in circumference).
Food arrived pretty quickly and came in this massive platter with a cone shaped top (sort of like a tagine). The platter covered the tiny table we were sitting at.
The food is meant to be eaten with you hands so no cutlery is provided unless you ask for it.
The dishes looked very Indian but on tasting them they were nothing like Indian dishes. The injera bread appears steamed and reminds me of oppom which are steamed fermented rice and lentil pancakes that you get in the south of India (Kerala) for breakfast or can be eaten with fish curry for dinner. The injera bread definitely had a sour taste to it and was very filling.
All the curries had very subtle flavours and through I could taste the turmeric in most of them I couldn’t place the other spice. After asking the waiter about what went into the curries, he told me that they only contained turmeric, Moroccan spice, and tomato.
None of the curries are spicy. They are lightly salted. All the meat curries had an oil based gravy and all the veggie dishes were dry. The potato curry wad the most disappointing being literally two pieces of boiled potato two pieces of boiled carrot and one large piece of red capsicum. It tasted like an Indian curry but lacked the strong flavours of an Indian curry.
The fava curry and lentil curry just had tree f like boiled beans and lentils with a but of turmeric and tomato purée. Very disappointing.
The food that arrived was cold but arrived quickly. You can tell that the food is not freshly made and has been reheated in the microwave because of how quickly it loses its heat. All I had to do waS take a photo and bam it was cold already.
Service is quick.
Don’t expect a receipt. They don’t even offer it as an option.
Food is just average. It seems to be influenced by Moroccan cuisine due to the tagine looking like dish and the Moroccan spice in the food however it lacks the strength of flavours, herbs and spices you find in Moroccan cuisine. No fresh herbs like coriander, mint, basil, thyme or parsley were used and hence the food lacks freshness.
I recommend the restaurant if you want to try something you’ve never tasted but don’t expect feeling like you’ve had the best food ever. See it as a cultural experience.
Owner is from eritrea — country located to the north of Ethiopia. :)

As noted previously, the place is cash only.
I have never had Ethiopian food before and didn’t know what to expect. I ordered the vegetarian combination for one and the serving was so generous; could have been shared between two people. My favourite was the misir wot (lentils) and it was a very cool experience to eat with my hands. An amazing restaurant in Melbourne and would highly recommend.

Embarrassing to admit, but I’d never had African before now. And so while I have no measure of comparison, it’s safe to say Little Africa blew my mind regardless. My dinner mates all were wiser in the ways of this food though, and all agreed it was some of the best they have had.
No utensils — grab the bread off underneath the food and smoosh/​scoop it in a dish and away you go. Spices are delicious without being too bum-​burningly hot.
Only issue is that it’s both small, and obviously popular, so you feel cramped in (I had to vacate my seat for people to squeeze past to the bathroom).
Tip is to head two doors up to Prudence bar — you can get Little Africa to deliver there, where you get the best of both worlds with amazing food in much cooler and more spacious surrounds.

Very reasonably priced, fresh food — it’s a good restaurant. Others have described the food fairly well — the menu is fairly limited and hasn’t changed.
The only thing to be aware of — the food here can be extremely oily, and the chefs lean heavily on the use of berbere spice mix. Most of the time, neither of these are problematic — however, every now and then, the two combine to give a below-​average meal. To be fair to Little Africa though, I’ve rarely had this problem dining in, instead noticing it frequently when getting takeout.

I came here because of all the great reviews. I left feeling full and satisfied, however I felt the experience was missing something.
I was amused that as soon as we sat down, a woman at the next table, from Darwin, exclaimed to us that every time she comes to Melbourne she has to eat here. Great reviews on Unilocal and before I can even read the menu I was told that this place rocks from a fellow patron, I was expecting the summation of all of Africa’s flavors in my mouth, so maybe my expectations were too inflated to start.
It was good, but I will be taking my search further. Weirdly, my hometown of San Diego has lots of Ethiopian restaurants and most of them I felt were better, maybe I had an off day, but half of the dishes all had the same texture and flavor which didn’t overwhelm my tastebuds.
My search for Ethiopian food continues.

Little Africa is a really nice place for African (more specifically, Ethiopian). They have a good selection of things that you can try out on injera (that isn’t too strong in flavour for people who have never been before).
One of the best, sometimes unknown, things about Little Africa is that you can get ordered to you when you’re at Prudence. Bit of a win!
Come if you like sharing, difference, a world of spices and using your hands to eat!

This place is awesome! **Cash Only**
I first heard about it after seeing an article in the age. I was super excited to go, since I’ve not had good Ethiopian food since Demera in Chicago.
Little Africa is tiny, cramped and completely unassuming. As everyone else says — the food is out of this world. I made a bold move and picked it for my birthday dinner. All up we were 7 adults and 1 toddler. It took a couple tries to book, and their email (from the website) bounced back — but I did get a confirmation call a couple days out.
We were squeezed in to their largest table, but as soon as the food came no one cared. It was delicious. My partner’s family all loved it — and these are some hard-​cored foodies. We ordered 4 platters, and there was so much left over we took it home. Each dish was seasoned to perfection, and the consensus was that the veg dishes out shined the meat. (I don’t eat meat, but I can say the veg was fabulous.)
I would recommend this place to anyone. It’s a great addition to the Melbourne food scene and I will be back very soon.

I first came across this place while having drinks at Prudence. They have a selection of take away menus you can choose from while at their bar, this is a great idea! We decided to order from Little Africa which is right next door as we were quite hungry and a little drunken! The food was outstanding!
We ordered a combination platter for four people and polished off the lot. The dish comes on a large tray with a spongy type bread layering it. Then there are three meat dishes (fish, lamb and chicken) served in dishes on top, with veggie dishes dispersed around the dishes. Let me just say, I’m a chicken and lamb kinda girl, but the fish was the tastiest I’ve ever had. There was a beautiful cabbage dish, eggplant and a salad in the middle. You rip off the spongy bread and use it to pick up the meats and veggies (sort of like eating Indian food).
It’s spicy, delicious and I will return again and again. I went to Ethiopia last year and had the same traditional meal while in Addis Ababa. Little Africa in Melbourne was better, just sayin!

This place blew my mind. I walked it and was greeted with kindness. The food was incredible and the service surpassed expectations. I ordered one of the poultry dishes, the chicken was cooked perfectly and the sauce was delicious! It is served in a traditional style with no cutlery and only a large circular and incredible flat bread that was delicious and nutritious! All in all I would recommend this place to anyone willing to get their hands dirty and experience a new culture!

— If you come here, you’d better be stupidly hungry
— Combination platter seems to be the way to go; abit of (a tonne of, rather) everything including a few veggie dishes, seafood, lamb, chicken and beef, all mopped up with loads of traditional sourdough bread underneath, and some leafy salad in the middle… but you don’t make friends with salad.
— Don’t ask for utensils, use your hands and get into it! It’s the best way

Little Africa serves up some amazing Ethiopian food, in a warm and wonderful family-​run environment. The food is gorgeous and served in extremely generous proportions. My dining companion and I ordered the lamb tibs and the pumpkin, which came out on four large round of light, spongy, and delightfully tangy-​sour Injera. The lamb was tender and slightly spicy, and the pumpkin was served in a traditional Berbere sauce, fragrant with clove, cardamom, and ginger. All of the mains on the menu are around $ 12 – 20, very reasonable considering 2 – 3 dishes is enough to feed a small army!
Our chef/​waiter was lovely and welcoming, and she proved very helpful in sorting through which dishes to order (I have a dairy allergy and many Ethiopian dishes contain ghee). This would be a great place to come if you are a vegan (she knows what that means and told us that they regularly accommodate vegan diets).
While not fancy, the cozy space is perfect for an intimate conversation; quiet music, candles flickering in red votives, and just the right amount of light. If you’d prefer a bit more ambiance, you can go next door to Prudence Bar –
– Little Africa will deliver food there.

Little Africa doesn’t look like anything fancy, but the food is absolutely delicious, the portions are generous, and the service was warm and friendly.
We shared the vegetarian chef’s selection platter ($ 35 between two). All the dishes had distinctly different flavours and there were a variety of textures and cooking styles (something that isn’t always available on a vegetarian menu). I will definitely be coming back soon!