Injera

I really want to give this place 4.5 stars but that is not an option. I deducted one star only because I think the food is overly priced for the small portion given. The décor/​ambiance is definitely in line with other restaurants located in the meatpacking district– intimate and chic. It looks nothing like most traditional Ethiopian restaurants.
In regard to the food, the doro (chicken) tibs was definitely on point– very flavorful. We received a very small portion for $ 22. I dont eat kitfo (beef tartare), but my friends commented that it was just okay and that they preferred the kitfo at Awash. The veggie combo was standard of most Ethio restaurants. The fasolia could be seasoned more. The others– miser wot, kik alicha, atakilt and gomen were decent. My favorite was the kaye siir. Again, a small portion for $ 36. Our bill ended up being $ 120 for 4 dishes which is insane for Ethiopian food. I guess that is the price you pay for the location.
What really made the experience is the owner– an Ethiopian woman who opened the restaurant with her French husband. She is absolutely beautiful and hilarious! She sat down with us even though the place was super busy and had us cracking up. She is reason alone to go back!

It’s taken me awhile to grow to like Ethiopian food, but thanks to Injera, I now love it. I am by no means an authority on the cuisine, but consider Injera to be my favorite Ethiopian restaurant of those I’ve tried in NYC and DC.
What makes Injera’s namesake Ethiopian bread unique is that it has a sourdough taste, subtle enough to enhance the food without overpowering it, but delicious enough to eat by itself, with enough sponginess to provide texture but not too much to be distracting.
The way to eat here is to order a combination platter. My friend and I have visited twice now and have had plenty of leftovers sharing the chicken platter for 2 (but I wouldn’t have it any other way, as the food the next day still tastes great. The injera actually soaks up a lot of the flavors too). Ethiopian food is spicy, but not too much as to overwhelm, and is so much unlike any other cuisine I’ve tried.
Like a handful of other restaurants in the City, Injera only accepts cash or American Express. I normally only use my Amex card in groceries (that 6 percent cash back though), but it’s worth sounded bougie among friends by saying «Let me just whip out my Amex» (and you can Venmo me later…).
It’s small so make a reservation, but don’t delay and give Injera a shot!

Awesome! Never had Ethiopian food before this weekend, The food is great! I got a hot cider type of cocktail that I was disappointed with because I thought it would be sweeter but that my fault for not asking. Overall great experience!

Great experience here. The place has a hip but cozy and intimate décor — good for groups (booth seating) and dates. Excellent service — friendly & helpful hostess, water was always refilled and fresh injera was consistently brought out. What set this place apart from other Ethiopian places I have dined at is their wide variety of vegetarian options including beets, cabbage, string beans and carrots (not just lentil/​split peas), each with a distinct flavor. Lots of variety in the meat as well — my favorite was the doro tibs, so good!
If I could, I may knock this place down ½ a star; I thought it was a little bit on the pricey side but certainly not out of the ordinary for nyc restaurants. I can also see how one might find the injera a bit too sour, but in my opinion it paired perfectly with the dishes (would not eat it on its own).
Lastly, their platter for 2 could definitely be shared among 3, even 4. Don’t over order!

My first Ethiopian food experience, and it exceeded all expectations. Incredible service and food to match. Possibly my new favorite restaurant, perfect for date night.

Awesome place to get Ethiopian in NYC. My wife and I are a big fan of Ethiopian food and this is an absolute gem in west village. The service was excellent. Everyone was welcoming and professional. The place is small so it gets crowded on busy days. Luckily, we got a seat on a Saturday night without reservations :-)
We ordered Vegetarian Sambusa which was the best Sambusa we ever had. It was crispy, tasty and very flavorful. Being vegetarian, we tried the vegetarian combination. It contains all the vegetarian dishes in their menu so you can have a taste of all of them. And it was pretty good too.
The only thing to note as other reviewers have mentioned: they take either Amex or cash.

This restaurant is fantastic!!! Order 48hrs ahead for gluten free injera. Incredibly friendly staff, great sense of community among them. Excellent food, so fresh and tasty. Could not fault. Fun atmosphere: casual and intimate. Great date night spot or even for a larger group! Super tasty cocktails, interesting wines, delicious desserts, great coffee! Can’t wait to come back!

I went with 3 friends to dinner and had a wonderful time. The waiters/​waitress were very sweet and helpful, and we picked 2 combinations for 2 to share. Our water glasses were never empty, and any questions we asked about the food were answered with a smile. I would definitely go back! And the food was awesome — can’t get enough injera!

Went on a Sunday night and managed to easily get a table for 2. Service was great! Everyone super friendly and attentive to bring more water /​drinks /​bread, etc. Shared the vegetarian platter and it was more than enough for 2. Favorite items on the platter would be the beets and the chick peas. (Admittedly I wasn’t super hungry, but next time would add some apps to round out the meal a bit.)
Loved the live music!
Only Amex or cash accepted.

It’s places like Injera that ensure I’ll never leave this city. Where else in the world can you find an Ethiopian wine bar? Not even in Ethiopia, I’m pretty sure!
Came for dinner the other night with a fellow food-​loving friend and went to town. We ordered the meat combination platter for 2 and a bottle of red wine. I’m amazed we were able to move afterwards. That platter meant business. The stirfry, lentils, and beets were my favorite dishes of the bunch.
The service was lovely and doting and the prices are very reasonable.
The only reason I’m going with 4 instead of 5 stars is some of the side dishes, like the shiro (blended split peas), lacked flavor, and our table was awkwardly facing a wall.
Otherwise, Injera was a delicious time!

Great service, great food and sufficient options for vegetarians. Try going on a Thursday night for some live Spanish guitar and vocal.
Seal the deal with the yummy raspberry sorbet

LOVE the place! Great cosy setting, friendly servers and what amazing food! We got the chicken combo for two and were absolutely blown away, great flavour, great variety, loved every bit of it. I also ordered for a honey wine sangria which was made to perfection!

My husband and I ordered the meat combo to share, which is a huge portion because it comes with vegetarian sides. We ate almost the whole thing and one of the servers came by our table to tell us that we did a good job. I wasn’t sure whether to be proud or embarrassed of the sheer amount of food consumed, but the food was some of the best Ethiopian that I’ve had!
I walk away from a lot of Ethiopian places with an MSG aftertaste in my mouth, but not at this place. Everything seemed to be spiced just right, and really fresh.

After seeing this place on ROTD and realizing I haven’t eaten Ethiopian food in a very very very long time, I made it my mission to give it a go this past weekend. My boyfriend has never had Ethiopian food and given its uniqueness of no utensils, I thought this would be a fun, delicious experience. And it was.
First off, I would like to give a standing ovation to the service. I can see why this place is so highly rated. This service is so nice and attentive. They were the epitome of service I would hope for from any restaurant. They made it known right away when I was making reservations that it’s AMEX or cash only. While there, they took our order at the perfect time, constantly refilled our water and followed-​up at the right pace and timing to see if we were happy with our meal or needed anything else. Great service.
As for the food, it was just as good. I am not an Ethiopian food expert so I cannot speak of the authenticity but it sure was delicious. The injera (the rolled up sourdough crêpe-​like bread) was super soft, strong to hold all the food with a good hint of sourness. It mixed well with the food. My boyfriend and I got the Meat Combination for Two which includes 4 veggies choices and 4 meats. We got the Misir Wot (lentils), Atakilt (cabbage), Kaye Siir (beets, carrots) and Shiro (with chickpeas). All were very flavorful and unique in their own way. The meats were two beefs and two lambs. I think my favorite was Mild Tibs (beef cubes). That had the most flavor and plenty of meat. All had plenty of meat but this was my most favorite in texture and taste.
The meal came out to be about 80 total including tip and tax. We left full and happy to say the least. Definitely a great try of Ethiopian food and the atmosphere of the restaurant is great for dates or small group of friends.

Came here with two of my coworkers after a day at the museum. It was chilly out and coming into this cozy, comforting restaurant was really great. The staff was very accommodating and kind, I am a vegetarian and they had many options for me and even went further to offer vegan options to me in case I didn’t eat butter, etc. The food was awesome, so flavorful with so many different textures. I am Nigerian and this was my first time trying Ethiopian food, happy to say it was a very pleasant experience.
This place is small and intimate so you can definitely hear people at other tables and vice verse. It suited me and my coworkers really well though and I hope to be back soon.

I have been craving Ethiopian food for months now, and finally decided to pick some up before heading back home on Monday night. You can place orders via Unilocal which goes thru EAT24… and I did just that. The restaurant doesn’t open until 5pm, and I had ordered my food at 3pm to be ready by 5pm. I was a little worried it would be delayed just because it takes about 20 – 30 mins to prep the food I am sure and I wanted to hurry out with my food so I can catch my train back home. I arrived at about 5:15pm and my food was ready, I just signed the check and left! They only take AMEX and cash as others have stated. From what I saw of the restaurant, it is fairly small and I can see it getting packed quickly. The lights were also VERY dim, but I liked the romantic appeal. Also someone said they had jazz music playing I am not sure what kind of music it was but it was ethnic and it went with the vibe!
The bag my food was held in was heavy so I knew I would not be disappointed. I ordered the chicken combo with 4 veggie options. From what I saw on the menu there were only 2 options for chicken, but when I looked at my food it seemed to have 3 chicken options, which I am not complaining about! Every item was flavorful and mouth watering just like my past Ethiopian experience. They gave plenty of injera to go as well so I was happy. The item I got was served for 1, but dude if you know your portions haha this could feed 3 – 4 people! I can’t wait to eat leftovers tonight. Overall– worth the price if you know how to not overeat, $ 30 that feeds 3 people so an average of $ 10 per person — not bad at all!

I love Ethiopian food, which is why I just had to try this place. It has one of the highest Unilocal ratings in NY. I came on a Friday evening around 6:30pm and was shocked that there was no wait despite the restaurant’s small size. I’m sure it filled up up by 8:30pm.
The service was excellent. Very attentive and friendly. The ambience is upscale and a slightly dressy. I was in jeans on the way to the airport with a giant backpack. Classy.
In any case my friend and I shared a chicken platter for 2, which came out to about $ 42 total. You get 8 items total on the injera with 2 duplicates (the meat items). You will be full! They are so good about refilling the bread that you won’t even notice you’ve eaten about 5,000 calories until you develop a bad stomachache an hour later.
The food itself was flavorful but I wouldn’t say it was among the best Ethiopian I’ve had. One thing is that they’re not afraid to spice it up with peppers. Be careful!
Overall it was great service and ambience. Very reasonably priced food that is good quality and well portioned.

While visiting New York, I wanted to try something new (to me) that I couldn’t get back home. We decided on Ethiopian. We came about 6pm and they had a few tables opened, so luckily there was no wait. The interior gives a very romantic feel. Dim lights, candles and intimate seating. They have about maybe 5 tables that fit groups of 4 and maybe 6 tables for two, you can also have dinning at the bar area too.
We decided on the combo platter for two, we picked from various meat dishes and vegetarian that the waiter kindly suggested for us (sense we are newbies to Ethiopian). When the platter came out the meat and veggies provided a beautiful presentation and my first thought was this isn’t going to be filling. But I was wrong, between two of us we didn’t even finish everything!
They provide the spongy bread to use to pick up the food and I think that’s what really filled me up. The flavors were very good, some very spicy. It was a overall great experience and meal!
It lost one star for me since they only accept cash or American Express.

A review update is in order, because I keep coming back to Injera and I enjoy it every time. If that doesn’t justify 5 stars, I don’t know what does. The ambiance here is dim and appealing – you could come here for a dinner date as easily as for a friendly hang-​out. It’s got a cozy feel but isn’t as tiny as «cozy» usually implies – between the small bar, one big table, and a bunch of smaller tables, groups of all sizes are accommodated. Every time I’ve been here it’s been full and lively, but not crowded or loud. And service is for the most part attentive, and always warm.
My first review focused on vegetarian options, and since then I’ve tried most of the meat dishes. They’re swell, but I’d still suggest you try the vegetarian combo – it’s flavorful and varied, and good enough that even meat lovers probably won’t miss the meat.
I haven’t tried the cocktails, but as I mentioned in the original review, the African beers are swell (St George, and Meta – both good), and if you’re looking for something non-​alcoholic, the spiced tea is nice, kind like Indian chai without the milk, or like Kashmiri kahwah minus the almonds. I’ve come here for dinner, not yet for lunch or brunch, but as far as dinner goes it’s become a go-​to spot.
One big annoyance, though: they only take Amex or cash. (There’s a Chase branch around the corner to the north, if that’s of any help to you.)

Weekday dinner delivery
6PM
Vegetarian Combination Platter two ($ 36)
We were so pleased that we try this place again. When the restaurant opened, we tried once. The food was strange and uneatable. The mushy mess in a container. I think from delivery but whole thing looked something I did not want to see. I hate to throw food but went in trash.
This time, the food was fantastic! Our food (we got the same as last time) looked the same but vegetables were separated nicely and they were nicely wrapped as flower petals using Ethiopian sourdough crepes (Injera bread) holding into the center. It was beautiful. I tore a piece of the crêpe like Indian bread and scoop the food with it but my hubby kept the rolled crêpe as a piece of bread and enjoying his meal. You can definitely smell of sourdough and it complemented very well with the meal.
Each vegetables (tasted like what it should taste like and they were absolutely delicious. High acidity in this dish helped to shine the flavors and not overpowering heat from the spices were soothing and comforting. What came out of my mouth after few bites was «I’ve never had a such a tasty vegetarian food!»