Food Review: Kokeb Restaurant

Kokeb Restaurant

266 Edmonton St

Updated September 2014

When I am unsure of where to take someone for a (non business) lunch downtown this is my fall back option. Kokeb is located in an beautiful and well lit space across from the Hydro Building. Despite this perfect location it is rarely full during the lunch hour. You will never have to wait to sit down. The crowd clears out by 1:15.

The owner is friendly and always offers a bit of green hot sauce in a small cup, which you should accept because neither the sauce nor the food is very spicy (to my level of tolerance). It’s a buffet so don’t expect a server fawning over you. The food was true to buffet form: there were good options (8 dishes?) and better than anything else, I could try them all. A vegetarian buffet is something of a miracle of gluttony for me.  Injera is available so that you can eat with your hands in the traditional fashion (there are forks as well). Of the dishes on the lunch menu Kik Alicha, and Misir Wet appear to be the only ones on the dinner menu. I must qualify this comment because: 1) there are no cards identifying the names of the dishes; and 2) I know nothing about Ethiopian food. I am only guessing this is what they are serving. 

Regardless, the options are all tasty enough to be worth trying. One or two of them really stand out: the Misir Wet, and a dish that must be the Ethiopian equivalent to beet borscht. Since the buffet is 10$, it will not break the bank to indulge a bit and buy a slice of cake from the very European desert menu.

This place is more than worth the price,

Until Next Time,