Abyssinia Café and Restaurant, Bloor at Grace St.
- Darcy Higgins
There’s little to be said about Abyssinia that isn’t positive. Right across from Christie Pits, the three of us (now four, if you’ll recall) met on a chilly April night at a table inside the front door of the place. After arriving and ordering spicy teas (Ethiopian tea is a black tea with some chai-like spices), we were taken upstairs by the extra-friendly owner and staff.
We were pleasantly surprised to see a small but lovely dining space with design and decorations that brought an extra touch of class to the usual style – a bit more upscale or modern feel. It was quiet with no one else around that night, though we were having a later dinner than usual.
A few more things stood out, including local art featured on its walls, and unique and encouraging for us, a blend of music of about every genre, escaping from the usual Ethiopian music which to the ferengi (foreigner) ears, sometimes sounds all about the same, we must admit. We mused that each song was selected individually (folk for Tessa, country blues for me, etc.)
Back downstairs is where the fast food is served. Again, atypical for a Toronto Ethiopian joint, Abyssinia dishes out fast food with a focus on pitas (any styles) with as much topping selection you could think of (the owner claimed 12 vegetarian possibilities, which sounded good to us... we’ll have to try another time). Unfortunately, no pitas wrapped in injera. We think a market is still open on this idea (Toronto fusion injera falafel anyone? Deep fried injera!?)
Opening the menus brought us images of Ethiopia with historical captions and an Amharic alphabet chart in the back. Rather than one big plate for our usual veggie combo, we received two plates for the four of us and with a nice variety.
We were offered a hot sauce wish we took and loved, an optional feta cheese on the salad, which was debatable, to be a little overpowering or maybe just right. Either way, the green salad was a nice change from the usual simple Italian dressing. All of the lentil and vegetable dishes were well liked, and if not the best we’ve had, we agreed they at least approached it.
What stood out in the visit though was the service. Staff was friendly, catering to our needs throughout the dinner and chatting with us to answer questions and banter a little. We always had enough injera and water before running out and were often asked with a friendly smile what else we might need.
A fun election challenge seen in The Sun brought us to this location in our only election season dinner. A dish was selected with each party leader, and our usual vegetarian combo was named for Elizabeth May (co-incidentally, a friend). Veggie May wasn’t getting the most orders however, as Stephen Harper’s meatier dish was taking the contest so far.
A final note gives us another reason to go back. The restaurant can be rented out for parties and apparently it often is. The owner told us they can “cater” to any type of event or group, and cakes and limos were promised as well for fitting occasions (we’ll take it). The restaurant also had a bar and DJ booth, which is said to be active Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
This place is different, in a good way. No hesitations in giving a strong recommendation.
P.S. Sorry for the crooked ratings, but we've never had 5 injeras before! and we have to go run to catch the real election results..
Ratings (out of 5 injeras)
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