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Abissinia
Click here to view map There are undoubtedly some tasteless school boy jokes concerning Ehtiopian cuisine but I don’t know any and Abyssinia, up on an innocuous road in Gracia, would surely contradict them. So maybe it wouldn’t be the first type of cuisine that springs to mind - the term going out for an Ethiopian is unlikely to find itself on many peoples lips anytime soon - but perhaps it should be. In a town filled with bad imports, Abysinnia has found the right balance of quality, price, novelty and deliciousness. First things first: at Ethiopian restaurants, you eat with your hands. If this puts you off then run away, wimp! I saw someone using a fork but perhaps they smuggled it in. The food comes on large slightly pancake-ish bread which you tear off and use to scoop up the various meat and vegetable dishes. As every child knows, eating with your hands is a lot of fun, especially when it comes to fighting with your companions over the last scraps. It’s a good idea to start off with one of the sampling dishes (platos combinados) which has a little of each dish on it and comes in either a vegetarian or... carnivore format - both at €12.50. Being huge fans of animal flesh we went for the meat option and had two between the four of us, enabling us to try both the beef curry - segawot - and tasty chicken curry - dorowot. This was quite a lot of food, included also were a mince meat dish a very nice potato side and a cool salad with avocado, but as we could still eat a little more we opted for a second helping of the segawot. These individual dishes come in much larger portions and are priced at €6-7.50 and though this was possibly my favourite dish it would have been nice to have something to balance the flavour, like more of the salad or potato dishes. The one thing we tried that I was less keen on was the mince dish - menchet - which did not come in a sauce so was really little more than dry mince meat. Deserts were fruit and yogurt based, cheap, healthy and tasty. The interior of the restaurant is fantastic. You sit at low wicker tables like giant sombreros and the walls are covered with carvings and masks, including a huge Tatooine-esque creature behind the bar. Food comes almost instantly and the service is excellent - possibly the best I’ve experienced in Barcelona. It took us two attempts to eat at Abyssinia as the first night we went it was fully booked for the whole night so making a reservation is a probably a good idea. If you feel like trying something a little different, Abyssinia’s the perfect option.

Address:

Carrer del Torrent de les Flors, 55
08024

Area:

Gracia

Nearest Metro:

Joanic

Opening times:

Daily:12-2
Closed Tues

Price range:

€10-€15 pp

Food types:

African / Mid. East
Vegetarian