E’Njoni Cafe

Still a good place to go. I enjoy the food, service, and atmosphere. I order the veggie sampler with a green salad on the side.

Found this place on a Saturday evening when I suddenly wanted to try Ethiopian and also because it offered a lot of vegetarian options. Their Veggie Combo for which you can choose 5 veggies out of a list was a stomach-​full! I liked the red lentils the most. 4 stars because the injera could have been better. The ambience and the service was good. Their menu of teas is extensive! I tasted a bit from friend’s cup and I wish I had ordered a tea instead of a coffee which was very good too! But try out a tea, it comes in exotic and unusual flavors. Recommend it!

Good place. Chose this out of the other options in North Portland because of the reviews, and because it was open on Sunday. The waitress was helpful with menu selections, and we all ended up getting the buffet. The dishes were good, the selection was ok. The place is clean and the ambiance is comfortable, with a diverse clientele.
Overall: good service, tasty food, seems to be a good value. We will be back.

I have come here for a great meal before and was excited to have another! I ordered a soup and was delivered the wrong one. This was a new server so I remained unphased. I had also ordered a falafel sandwhich, which the server had repeated to ensure she got the order correct, and waited 45 minutes before being told «YOU didn’t order that so we just put in the order for you». Then, my partner ordered a soup, which also got delivered incorrectly. When this happened and the order was corrected we still felt to blame as though somehow the way we placed our order was not clear. What ever happened to the «customer is always right?»
This is the worst service I have received in a very long time and I am regretful that it should come from a place of delicious and authentic cuisine.

This is one of our favorite places to eat in North Portland. Every time we go in the staff take great care of us. They check to make sure everything turned out how we had hoped, and take out orders are given just as much care.
The «Veggie Feast» is our all time favorite dish. We love that the biggest problem we (me & the husband) have is we can’t pick just 5 (this is called the «Veggie Combo») of the 10 dishes offered in the feast. No problem, we order all 10 amazing dishes & have the rest for leftovers the next day for lunch! Heaven twice!
We’ve taken all of our friends & family here. There’s something perfect for meat eaters & vegans! If you haven’t been to E’Njoni go! Go quickly!!!
We’ll be probably see you there!

Finally, somewhere in Portland where I don’t have to wait 1 hour+ to enjoy a decent meal. After trying to go to Toro Bravo and being told I would have to wait 2.5 hours for a table, I gave this place a call. The hostess actually answered the phone and confirmed no wait time! We were seated immediately and had our veggie deluxe just a few minutes after entering the restaurant. No hipsters to be found anywhere. Enjoyed a flavorful, authentic meal with great service and no wait time. Definitely coming back here. I hope the hipsters don’t discover it.

Good stuff and quick service! I wouldn’t say anything is spectacularly special, which is why I didn’t give 5 stars, but pretty darn good nonetheless.

I love Ethiopian food! This café was good but not great. their portion size was pretty small but delicious. I just wanted there to be a little bit more on the platter. we like it saucy! Also it was freezing in here. it’s cold outside and when you dine out you wanna be comfortable and feel cozy. not keep your coat on the whole time. So, turn up the heat and pour on the sauce to make this a 5 star experience for me.

The veggie feast is delicious and is more than enough to fuel two or three hungry cyclists. Great spot for lunch or dinner!

Felt like absolute royalty dining at E’Njoni on a stormy Sunday afternoon.
My girlfriend and I had inadvertently found ourselves listening to more Mulatu Astatqe than usual recentl. We’re deadly obsessed with Ethiopian food at the best of times, but we just had to go out in search of Ethiopian in our neighborhood.
So glad we found E’Njoni! Even the ice water dunking we received when we stepped out our front door was not enough to dampen our spirits. Within five minutes of sitting down, we were blissfully steaming — one with a glass of House Red, one with a pot of sweet Chahi.
Had the place to ourselves for a moment, due to the insane weather. Had a chance to chit-​chat with the wonderful hostess, who gave us the lowdown on some of the dishes, and the history of the restaurant.
H. settled on Sira Zigni and I went for Alitcha Dorho, all of which is served on one family-​style platter. If you haven’t had the pleasure, Ethiopian food is traditionally served on a pillowy flatbread, called Injera. The food is eaten with your hands, using rolls of Injera on the side, which you use to scoop up the meats and salads. The Injera was the perfect texture, and we had just enough for our meal. While it was all perfect, I died a little when we tucked into the Injera the meats had been served in. My eyes are crossing, 24 hours later, thinking of pillowy flatbread, like the most heavenly savory hotcakes you didn’t realize your life was missing, basted in tangy, rich, hearty Zigni sauce.
Everything was absolutely perfect for our first visit at E’Njoni! We’d been having a little bit of a rough morning — turned it around 100%. We felt like Kings and Queens as we ran the rest of our errands, and felt super loving and creative for the rest of the day.
HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!

It’s a horrible place for vegetarians. None of the two veg dishes we ordered were any good. We were party of 7 and the guys who ordered veg got served very late and food was so bad…:(… the non veg dishes were okay though and the honey wine as well…:)

Pretty amazing food and tea! We found this place on Unilocal while looking for a dinner spot on our way from Central Oregon to Olympia. Great ambience and service.

The food was very good but it was over a. Hour for us to get our food. I have never been to an Ethiopian restaurant that gave forks and charged you for injera and workers were not super friendly. If judged on food alone four stars.

Happened to be in Portland on a Sunday nigh and decided on Ethiopian food for dinner.
Walked in, on a windy and cool day to a restaurant that was 80% full. Being alone, the waitress could have say me anywhere but chose to seat me further in away from the door.
I am never too sure what I am looking at on the menu so I had the waitress choose for me. «Anything good and spiced to your taste,» I said.
Received a lentil soup for an appetizer followed by a spicy beef dish, red lentils, a spinach dish (?), and another spicy salad. It was delicious!
I’ll be back!!!

It’s a four and a half actually! This is my first Ethiopian place I try in Portland and I liked it a lot. I got the veggie combo and it was tasty. The lime salad was missing and the yellow lentils needed more condimenting. But other than that it was really good! The red lentils were actually spicy too
Atmosphere is casual but lovely with nice lighting. The service is also good, friendly and attentive. Overall good experience and I will be returning

Oh my… what can I say!
Husband saw Anthony Bourdain do a show on Ethiopian food and decided we had to try this place.
I am sometimes reluctant to try new spots, but this time I was so glad I put those reservations aside.
Alex, our host/​waiter/​everything, was soft spoken and knew his place well. He was open to helping us figure out what we would love… come to find out, we love all things food.
We had a vegi-​plate of everything and added in the mushroom special just for good measure.
There wasn’t a thing on the plate that we left un-​devoured.
As we like to share food off one plate, it is a husband/​wife thing, it was perfect that it came out family style. Of course the husband dove in fingers first, while I chose the fork option.
I can’t wait to go back again and try something new!
It was a bit out of our way, but well worth the drive. It was clean and quiet, and very enjoyable!
Thanks for being a new ‘fav’ in our food habit!

We came here one evening. Cool, interesting atmosphere. The server was friendly. There was two of us and we shared the veggie feast. There was a TON of food. We enjoyed the different flavors and we both had enough for lunch the next day. I also ordered the kerker (iced hibiscus tea with pineapple juice) Yum!

They have both white and brown Injera!!!
Food is delicious, delicious, delicious, 3 times for importance

I shared the 5 veggie combo ($ 13) with an added a la carte veggie ($ 4) — we needed one extra injera ($ 1.50). So… here’s the thing — I’m very loyal to another ethiopian food truck — so that still has my vote for flavor and it is more affordable.
But what I can say for this is that it is a lovely restaurant with very nice Ethiopian food in a style that I’m not used to. For example, they have a beets side that is really yummy and I’ve never seen beets at another Ethiopian restaurant. They also had Okra (which has an odd slimy texture that is something that you can either handle or you can’t… I’m glad I had it even though I think Okra is weird). Loved the spinach, loved the beets, lots of different flavors and textures. Excellent cooking. Also, walked out feeling surprisingly light compared to how I sometimes feel after eating ethiopian food. But I think I usually over order — which we didn’t do. I definitely wasn’t still hungry.
These are the nicest/​cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen in an Ethiopian restaurant. I appreciate the painting and the décor choices. I still think it is a little weird that the paper towels never seem to make it in the paper towel dispenser. Why have a paper towel dispenser if no one is ever going to use it? Unclear. I totally get what the girl was saying about the flickering murder lights, but you are definitely safe in their bathroom hallway. And I would appreciate nicer bathrooms with normal locks that aren’t the Green/​vacant & Red/​Occupied signs… But seriously, if this is your biggest problem, consider yourself blessed.

Delicious food, not the best ethiopian I’ve had but I only thought two of the vegetarian dishes were sub-​par. Service was good enough, ambiance was nice, the prices were a little high but they usually are with this type of food. Overall I think I will be back!

Healthy, vegan/​vegetarian friendly, and the tea pots are awesome! The service was warming and relaxed. My fiancé and I stayed for about 2 hours just to talk. The atmosphere is chill for sure. I would definitely recommend this place for a quick lunch buffet or a nice intimate dinner. Thanks guys!

If you are a vegetarian or vegan, and you love Ethiopian – this is your spot.
I’m not, but I still loved the smörgåsbord of colors and flavors. The okra and chickpeas exploded in my mouth, like fiber-​filled rocks. The beets were also excellent. The only veggie dish I was not that in to was the spinach. Oh well.
I am however, a meat lover, and I was not impressed with the two lamb and one beef offering we ordered. The lamb was flavorful, but dried out.
Unfortunately, mediocre meat dishes are a deal breaker for me. It’s half the equation for greatness.
The bathroom I sampled was spotless. It had a «protected by security» sticker on the inside. I pondered this. Was it to warn restroomers about their theft of toilet paper? Was it to deter would-​be robbers and highwaymen from pulling a stick up… after taking a piss?
Clever, clever…

My second favorite Ethiopian in the city! While a bit pricier to my favorite — I assume because of the brick and mortar location — their vegan sampler tray is amazingly delicious and flavorful. For $ 13 you are awarded 5 different options of veggies, beans, etc and plenty of injera to go around. Call ahead for take-​out or dine-​in.

The reason for my low rating is the service/​wait and the cleanliness.
The food was decent, good as any other place on that strip. But going to the bathroom made me feel like I was in a 3^rd world country or a totally nasty ghetto restaurant. So dirty! The hallway with the bathroom had missing and broken ceiling tiles that were stained with water damage, mold, and you could see rusty corroded pipes above them. There was trash, empty boxes, mop bucket all dirty, burnt out lights, just a mess of nastyness in the hall way to observe while waiting for my turn in the absolutely discusting restroom. I felt like I needed a tetnus shot when I was done.
I was quite worried about eating there after that. But I was with a group and didn’t want to be rude so I made a mental note to take some pennicillin when I got home.
We also had to wait about 40 minutes for food to come out. So needless to say, I would never go back!

Nice cosy Ethipian place on Killingsworth, I’m a fan of the cuisine, and the nice family style way of eating it. We started off with a humus platter which was very well done. Got the African Spice Chai, which was very refreshing too.
For mains, I got the Lamb Tibs with two veggie options: the okra and the spinach. The lamb was excellent. so was the Okra, the spinach and the lentils were so-​so. They had other veggie options which my fellow diners had got, the yams were particularly delicious.
Definitely amongst the upper cream of Ethiopian places in PDX.

Been coming to this place for a while now. Really good food. The lamb is succulent and juicy, cooked to perfection. Had the fish tibs (tilapia) this time. Spicy, not too much though, goes very well with the injera. The chicken was on the lighter side, spinach based curry.
They also have a couple of Ethiopian beers on the menu. Prefer the Amber ale myself.
Good, cosy ambience and good service. Ideal place for a quiet good meal.