Nunu Ethiopian Fusion

From the décor to the fantastic smell that always fills the room, Nunu is an excellent little restaurant. Everyone is very friendly, always willing to tell you about their food and drinks. Chris (the owner/​bartender) is always making incredible cocktails and experimenting in new concoctions. I cannot recommend this place enough!
The spices are always extremely rich, and is always evidently made with care. I’ve had the Misto meat numerous times, as i really like the variety. Their beef tartar (I can’t quite remember the proper name of the dish) was incredible as well. And if you love coffee, theirs is a must. They walk through the restaurant with their coffee freshly roasted, filling the room with its strong scent. And the coffee itself deserves a review of its own. To add to the great experience, you’ll always hear some Ethiopian jazz playing, giving all my senses a great experience.
If you’re ever looking for something new to drink, the Tej Cocktail is a must! As is the Sazerac if you haven’t had one. A traditional cocktail, and the best I’ve had — the only place I’ve found that has one to match is way down in New Orleans.

I went last night with my friend and when we got our bill, every item we had ordered was a higher price than what had been listed on the menu (e.g. what was supposed to be an $ 8 glass of wine showed up as $ 12). We just happened to notice this, and thought it was odd that it wasn’t just one but every item that was different, so we asked our waitress to fix it. After a lot of confusion, they did change the prices to what it had said on the menu, but there was no apology or explanation. The food was good, but we both left with an uneasy feeling that we had been scammed, so overall the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

The food is just amazing. Can’t get any better than this. Although sometimes the wait can be kind of long, it is very good there.

Great food and service. Modern Ethiopian cuisine. Staff was friendly and food came pretty quickly. Loved the «tribal» music. Would definitely go back.

3.5÷5
*Ethiopian cuisine is something that I have never tried before, so coming to Nunu, I honestly did not know what to expect!
*Service was quite slow as there didn’t seem to be a any servers around. There was only one lady who was both the chef and server throughout the restaurant, hence the food took some time to arrive.
*I thought the tasting menu gave us a fair idea of how Ethiopian food tasted like.
*For $ 18 per person, I think the price is quite expensive compared to other Ethiopian restaurants in the city.
*Would I come back? Yes, if I’m in the area, however I wouldn’t make a trip all the way to Nunu to have Ethiopian food.
–Misto meat tasting menu — $ 18/​person:
Everything was beautifully placed on top of two injeras, which were also used as «utensil» to scoop up the ingredients.
Initially I didn’t like the injera which are Ethiopian flat-​bread that had a slight sour taste and a spongy-​like texture, however the more I ate, the more it grew on me. In addition, there weren’t much lentils which I think some people might appreciate.
It was a bit hard to pin point exactly where each dishes were on the plate unless you have eaten Ethiopian food before, and in general the food was well cooked. While it was tasty, I found the doro wat (chicken drumsticks) to be a tad too spicy and I wished they would have shredded the meat for us, as it got a little messy while trying to disassemble a drumstick by hand. I found the flavors in the doro alicha (chicken marinated in garlic, ginger, turmeric) to be underwhelming as the spices in the other meat dishes were stronger. Likewise, the Tibs — sirlion beef marinated in garlic, ginger, and rosemary — were quite flavorful but did not stand out as much as the doro wat.
I can only identify some of the vegetables which were beets, carrots, sweet potatoes and some pickled cabbages? In my opinion some of the vegetables dishes were leaning towards being quite bland, at the same time I appreciated the pickled cabbages and sweet potato as another means of toning down the heat from the meat dishes.
Towards the end, I realized there wasn’t enough injera for us and after some online researching, it seems authentic Ethiopian food is usually served with extra injera folded on the side, but at Nunu it costed extra.

I’ve been here a few times, and it’s always a great place to be! I love the atmosphere and décor, and I love the music — it’s the best part aside from the food!
The food is really good, quite flavourful, and well plated. And the service is pretty good. Although there’s a bit of a wait, it’s worth it since the food is great, and it let’s you enjoy the atmosphere.
Can’t wait for my next time!

Okay service but over priced for half decent Ethiopian food. There is far better in the city. Would not recommend it. By over priced I mean unreasonably so for what was given.

food was good, service sucked. I mean, really.
place was freezing, door didn’t close properly.
we ordered couple of teas, & a beer, which they completely forgot about.
then they didn’t want to give us any actual bread to scoop the food up. wtf…
when I asked, she said oh cuz people don’t eat it all & waste it.
just the bread that its served on, which is NOT enough. plus, once the food is sitting on it, it gets soggy & I’m not eating the centre of it. you need some bread to fill you up, considering portions are considerably smaller than average.
we had to get up ¾ times & go over to the other end of the restaurant, cuz the woman was busy on her computer, we couldn’t get her attention until we walked over & asked for things. then the guy comes over to chit chat, instead of bringing our drinks.
I wanted to bring my friends to a good ethiopian place for their first taste of ethiopian cuisine, & ended up feeling like an ass for them not getting half way decent service. for them to not get their drinks, then anything else they asked for. sigh.
just tried this place called Lalibela, it was best ethiopian place I’ve tried (I’ve tried many, from toronto to hamilton, its been a favourite for me this year)
wouldn’t come back, food was tasty, but prices or portion sizes weren’t the greatest. was not quite enough food for the price, considering I had vegetarian platter, & lentils & beans & bread are very cheap to cook, they could have been more generous with portions, not skimp so much.
I would have eaten a bit more & I’m very little, don’t eat a lot.
they did

Here’s 5 stars for ya, Chris and Nunu:) nice ambiance, tasty spicy misto; and that Vesper was nicely balanced and cold. Will come again

I’m new to Ethiopian but I am originally from Sudan so I’m familiar with that type of food. I usually go to African Palace on Bloor which is AMAZING! But they were closed so we decided to try this place which we have heard about… Positively. Needless to say we were disappointed! People were nice. Place could have potentially been nice but they were renovating. The food however which is really the only thing that matters (next to cleanliness which was good too) was NOT even satisfactory! MUCH smaller portions than what we would get at AP and much more expensive. Not really as good. Really beautifully and deliciously made salad and the rest cold and ok at best. They have a different menu and we only tried a few things so maybe we just got unlucky.

Thanks to my parents — who drive up from Mississauga at least once or twice a week to dine here — I frequent Nunu quite often.
It really is best described as Ethiopian fusion. You get the essence of the traditional Ethiopian you would find at places like Nazareth and Lalibela but with some twists and turns to spice things up. Portions run a bit smaller than some other places which makes for a great light meal instead of that heavy «why did I eat so many lentils» feeling you can sometimes get with Ethiopian cuisine.
Some must-​try favourites include:
*Onion soup made with delicious, rich caramelized onions and safron
*Veggie platter with a wonderful assortment of lentils, beets, greens, root vegetables and a TERRIFIC salad (they refuse to give their secret vinegarette up to me, but it’s the best I’ve ever had)
*Kitfo (steak tar-​tar) made with fresh, locally raised mennonite beef, spiced butter and housemade cheese
*Coffee coffee coffee! Their coffee ceremony is both beautiful and DELICIOUS!
I feel like the staff at Nunu have become an extended part of my family and the service is always great. Ocassionally it takes the food a bit longer than you would like to make it out of the kitchen, but it’s always worth the wait and prepared with love.

Ethiopian restaurants in Toronto have difficulty competing with the high quality and ridiculously low prices of Nazareth on Bloor. Nunu offers a more elegant and airy ambience, a better selection of wine, beer and cocktails, albeit for about three times the price of Nazareth. The food at Nunu is very good — we had the vegetarian platter which offered a range of flavours and a generous portion.
Where Nunu disappointed was in the service, particularly as the place was near empty on our visit. We waited a long time to place drink orders; we had to flag down the waitress & remind her of said drink order; our mention of a food allergy was miscommunicated to the kitchen, requiring that the meal be prepared a second time.

Oh Nunu, I had such high hopes for you. Having been to a number of various Ethiopian establishments in the city, I was looking forward to this slightly more ‘upscale’ version, and although I didn’t leave hungry, I did have some quips.
— Atmosphere: high ceiling, airy, definitely not your typical Ethiopian place, but then again — I’m starting to realize part of the allure of the cuisine is being immersed in the appropriate surroundings. Just personal preference, but I prefer the hole-​in-​the-​wall style of décor, but I do understand this place is going for more of an upscale appeal.
— Service: typical for these restaurants. Food came in decent time but bill/​payment had to be flagged for, and there wasn’t the usual checking on us for more injera or beverages (though they provide a pitcher of water at least so that’s covered)
— Drink: a quick note — no carbonated drinks/​pop of any kind are served. So it’s beer or water. Ok I understand you’re trying to stick to a more authentic menu but c’mon — no pop? Every restaurant serves that, and plus it’s a cash cow for them — it’s a no brainer. Serve it.
— Food: ok the real purpose. For $ 18(or was it $ 19) you get a meat platter on injera — typical menu item. But, for this price I expected more. The portions were tiny — there was a doro wat drumstick (how are you supposed to share that exactly? It gets a little caveman-​ish trying to disassemble a drumstick by hand), a small pile of dry ground meat, and a few strips of beef. Not a good value, and overall much drier than other places. I’m used to the sides being dripping in sauce, so much so that extra injera is needed to sop up the excess. In this case, no extra injera was needed but the sides missed that certain goodness that comes with a more moist version. The injera they admit is not pure teff, and authentic imported injera is available though for $ 5 a person. Call me crazy — but shouldn’t restaurants be making injera themselves? Maybe I expect too much.
The veggie version of the platter was a bit better — definitely more quantity, and price was lower ($ 14). I like my meats, but if you’re indifferent, this is definitely a better value (though still not as good as some other places in terms of the tastiness of the sides)
Overall, I realize what this place is trying to do — a more upscale/​trendy version of standard Ethiopian fare. Unfortunately, it comes across as underwhelming and overpriced. Next stop: Nazareth.

I’d come back. The place had a great atmosphere. Food was great. Drinks were great. And the owner was so nice.

Amazing food and services we go there ecery week
Thank you thank you thank you
Blessings

This is a Toronto Gem. Hidden away, intimate in the evenings and good wine selection. Not to mention the décor is chic.
The owner is a beautiful hospitable person.
Make sure you visit this place whenever you get the chance you will love it.

More like NONO, re: prices.
The decision on a late Friday night was between M&B and Nunu. And since M&B was papered up for «obstructing an inspection», we were left with Nunu. Looking back, we could’ve gone to Addis Ababa, but the reviews weren’t as favourable.
Anyway, prior to Nunu, I’ve been to Nazareth, so I assumed it would be the similar pricing… although their contemporary lighting/​décor said otherwise. Nazareth is a dark hole in the wall type place, but I remember paying ~$ 10 to SHARE with another person. They had cheap beers too! Whereas the veg platter at Nunu was $ 14/​pp. $ 5 vs. $ 14 is a HUGE difference!
(I don’t think any real Ethiopian person would pay this much for food, especially veg food!)
Atmosphere: Friday seemed like date night at this place. So that is the vibe. Interesting ethnic music. Ethiopian lady server was sorta in her own world (tipsy), but pleasant, not intrusive. White man (owner?) seemed very nice, greeted people, and thanked them for their patronage.
Food: Solid, nicely presented. The different stews were either cold or lukewarm. At Nazareth, I remember them being hot, so not sure about the temperature. There were definitely some vegs that I preferred more than others, the red one (lentils) that was the spiciest was really good! The salad in the middle was also very nice, everyone was trying to figure out what was in the dressing. We left satisfied, but not super full WITH leftovers, re: Nazareth.
Wine, beer ($ 7 for Stella), $ 10 cocktails (I guess this is pretty standard), desserts (~$ 9/​ea), Ethiopian coffee ($ 5/​cup, 2 cup min.) were also on the pricey side.
Verdict: White man’s pricing of Ethiopian food. The food is good, for the modest amount that you get, but you pay for the ambiance! If you’re trying out Ethiopian for the first time and don’t mind a dingier atmosphere, I suggest somewhere you’ll get better bang for your buck!

Sometimes I wish I could give a different star review for «food» versus «dining experience».
For food, I would give this restaurant 4 stars. It was my first time having Ethiopian food, and I quite enjoyed it. Especially the spicy red lentil dish that came on my vegan sample platter. Very nice kick to it! The bread they served it with is very unique too, a little sour but really complimented the food well. The house wine I had was meh, the sambusa (sp?) appetizer was very good, I thought the onion soup my boyfriend ordered didn’t really taste like anything, and the roasted banana dessert was delicious (the trifle dessert, not so much). Also, the coffee ceremony was very interesting, I definitely recommend ordering it (more about the experience than the coffee itself). The drinks and desserts were a bit pricey but the sample platters were very good value.
Now with respect to the service/​experience, I would give it 1 star. There may have been a bit of a language barrier (my friend asked a question about what salad the main comes with and the waitress had trouble deciphering what she was asking), but our server was cold and of few words. She didn’t write anything down when she took our order, which I think turned out to be a big mistake. She forgot all of our drinks, one of the appetizers, brought out 2 of our mains (for a group of 5) when we weren’t even done our appetizers and then took a good 20 minutes to bring out the other mains. Good thing the vegan dish was cold so I could wait for everyone else to get their meals (the other main that came out had some hot dishes on it and those had to be eaten alone before everybody else though). We had to ask the server twice for the bill after waiting a very long time for her to come back, and she never apologized for anything or even said thank you. So that took a lot away from our experience and is not making me want to rush out to go back.

We ate there tonight and it was awesome.
It wasn’t too busy, but the ambience was inviting. We shared the mixed vegetarian and meat platter, which was delicious and beautifully laid out on the injera though was a bit on the expensive side ($ 19/​person). The total with two drinks and tip was $ 67. That’s good for eating in the area, but you could go up to Nazareth on Bloor, west of Christie, and have essentially the same meal for $ 35 (your plate won’t as colourful though).
Overall the food is quite good and you’ll leave feeling satisfied. One of the more interesting restaurants on this stretch of Queen West.

My coworkers were talking about the joy of eating without utensils and although I’ve tried Indian food, I realized that I’ve never actually tried Ethiopian! I spontaneously suggested to Francis P. (who is a fellow Unilocaler) that we must give Ethiopian cuisine a try and used the Unilocal app, where this restaurant turned up as the top result. So my fellow Unilocalers, I would like to say thank you for being the reliable source that you are.
I was expecting a hole in the wall place that may have already been closed, but at 9pm on a weekday this restaurant was still open. It’s small but it has a nice dimly lit, but clean atmosphere. We shared a half meat half veggie (misto misto) dish. It was delicious, the flavours were very different and it was a little bit spicy. Eating with my hands was a really engaging experience and I would say that it made me enjoy the meal a lot more. The server was very nice and took the time to explain to us the different components of the dish. And at 9pm, she said that they had fresh crème caramel (caramel flan), which we had for dessert.
I highly recommend this place!