In September 2019, 76% of respondents in our poll voted for us to review Ethiopian.
Here's the result. We hope you like it!
Finger Lickin' Good
Pro Authentic to a T, we reckon and a fun eating experience.
Con Atmosphere on this visit was a bit on the strange side.
Pay
€€€
Per Person Degustacíon/tasting menu. Bottle of house wine. €27. Gratis: Tasty pastries!
Find
Website http://www.restauranteetiopehanan.es/
ℹ️ Dietary Info Menu is labelled.
Access Steps up and down to eating areas.
In Short
Hopes. It's our first Ethiopian in a few years. Does the memory cheat?
Reality. The good news is it's a little bit of history repeating.
First Impressions. It's quiet and noisy at the same time. That's odd, but possible.
USP? How many cuisines let you eat the plate?
The offer in three words. Spicy, spongy, sweet.
Service! Kind, helpful but overworked.
Friend friendly? Vegetarian options all around.
Rating for dating. Hmmm. Yes, ish. The eating/etiquette niceties might need pre-thought.
Tip? 10%
Change one thing? Water bowl and lemon would be better, in so many ways, than a sealed wipe.
Revisitability. Good to very good.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
We liked Ethiopian a lot, back in the olden days. The days before the dark time. The days before electric scooters, manchild political leaders and overpriced chai lattes. So, the question. Is it a constant point in a fast-changing world?
Good news. Yes. Hanan's not going to disappoint if you're after classic Ethiopian flavours. We kicked off with Enqulal be siga, which looks simple but tastes smart.
It's Ethiopian-style revuelto/hash. A proper, tasty savoury combination which is more than the sum of its egg, meat and peppery parts. There's a bit of sweetness in there, thanks Dr Red Pepper. Was Dr Pepper a real doctor? I doubt it deeply, but you can wiki it and tell me how wrong I probably am. And, just in case you're new to things Ethiopian, the modus operandi is - use the spongy falling-to-bits injera, which is served rolled as well as underneath your grub. Rip off a bit, use it as a pincher and gobble away, mouthful by mouthful. Cutlery's on offer if you prefer.
Here's the main event in the degustación for two. There's about eight things to mix and match. Highlights include an excellent spiced chicken leg best dealt with using your knife to start with. There's Yebeg Alitcha, braised lamb in a mild chilli sauce, and, yes, there's a spiced egg. Never tried a spiced egg? It's eggciting stuff if it's your first time. And as Hanan's tasting menu is such good value, you don't have to shell out for it.
There's nice spoonfuls of spiced vegetables, creamy ayeb - cottage cheese - and some amusingly Iberianesque salad, which works well as the palate cleanser. There's other pleasures too, but we're going to leave them for you to discover. Here's the important point: everything's well-cooked, feels right and there's proper spice in there, although nothing to frighten sensitive palettes. The really good thing, and we don't get to say this as often as we'd like, is that you can have a lot of fun mixing and matching flavours, textures and even temperatures.Why is food not simply fun more often in this town? Anyway authentic or not, it's worth using your fork from time to time to create those combinations. Either way, you'll need a bit of finger-cleaning by the time you finish.
You're not likely to manage all your injera. We didn't, but we were very happy to accept a fresh, tasty honey and nutty pastry for dessert. Service is helpful and ready to explain as required, although on our evening was overworked cooking and serving, and, understandably, letting everyone know, very apologetically, that things were taking a bit longer than they ideally would - hence the complementary dessert. Drinks? We have to give points for house wine at a very nice price. €13 for a bottle of Ribera? We'll take that, thanks. Good.
The downstairs space should be cosy, with enough artwork to add to the sense of authenticity, but we can't ignore that there was an odd atmosphere on our visit; a noisy family (well, no noisier than any other, but things were quiet); a silent couple, their dinner and, by the looks of it, future finished. Ice-cold stares across a stone-cold serving dish. Without talking or speaking, listening or hearing, they left, accompanied by the sound of silence. So, no argument: a whisper of background music would smooth over cracks in the ambience, if not all the relationships.
But look, important stuff: the food feels authentic, is delicious, filling and good value. The wine's cheap. The staff work very hard, but, and this isn't something you can say as often as you'd like, they stay friendly, cheerful and thoughtful throughout.
The same owners have another restaurant in Malasaña, so there are a fair few reasons why it's really time to go try it out.
Here's the result. We hope you like it!
Finger Lickin' Good
Pro Authentic to a T, we reckon and a fun eating experience.
Con Atmosphere on this visit was a bit on the strange side.
Pay
€€€
Per Person Degustacíon/tasting menu. Bottle of house wine. €27. Gratis: Tasty pastries!
Find
Website http://www.restauranteetiopehanan.es/
ℹ️ Dietary Info Menu is labelled.
Access Steps up and down to eating areas.
In Short
Hopes. It's our first Ethiopian in a few years. Does the memory cheat?
Reality. The good news is it's a little bit of history repeating.
First Impressions. It's quiet and noisy at the same time. That's odd, but possible.
USP? How many cuisines let you eat the plate?
The offer in three words. Spicy, spongy, sweet.
Service! Kind, helpful but overworked.
Friend friendly? Vegetarian options all around.
Rating for dating. Hmmm. Yes, ish. The eating/etiquette niceties might need pre-thought.
Tip? 10%
Change one thing? Water bowl and lemon would be better, in so many ways, than a sealed wipe.
Revisitability. Good to very good.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
We liked Ethiopian a lot, back in the olden days. The days before the dark time. The days before electric scooters, manchild political leaders and overpriced chai lattes. So, the question. Is it a constant point in a fast-changing world?
Good news. Yes. Hanan's not going to disappoint if you're after classic Ethiopian flavours. We kicked off with Enqulal be siga, which looks simple but tastes smart.
There's nice spoonfuls of spiced vegetables, creamy ayeb - cottage cheese - and some amusingly Iberianesque salad, which works well as the palate cleanser. There's other pleasures too, but we're going to leave them for you to discover. Here's the important point: everything's well-cooked, feels right and there's proper spice in there, although nothing to frighten sensitive palettes. The really good thing, and we don't get to say this as often as we'd like, is that you can have a lot of fun mixing and matching flavours, textures and even temperatures.Why is food not simply fun more often in this town? Anyway authentic or not, it's worth using your fork from time to time to create those combinations. Either way, you'll need a bit of finger-cleaning by the time you finish.
The downstairs space should be cosy, with enough artwork to add to the sense of authenticity, but we can't ignore that there was an odd atmosphere on our visit; a noisy family (well, no noisier than any other, but things were quiet); a silent couple, their dinner and, by the looks of it, future finished. Ice-cold stares across a stone-cold serving dish. Without talking or speaking, listening or hearing, they left, accompanied by the sound of silence. So, no argument: a whisper of background music would smooth over cracks in the ambience, if not all the relationships.
But look, important stuff: the food feels authentic, is delicious, filling and good value. The wine's cheap. The staff work very hard, but, and this isn't something you can say as often as you'd like, they stay friendly, cheerful and thoughtful throughout.
The same owners have another restaurant in Malasaña, so there are a fair few reasons why it's really time to go try it out.