Bristol's East African food scene is small but genuine, built around two kitchens worth seeking out: Zara Restaurant, an Eritrean and Ethiopian spot in St Jude's, and Ababo's Cuisine, a vegetarian-leaning Ethiopian cafe in Easton. Both serve injera-based stews rather than anything pan-Asian or westernised, and both are easy to reach from the city centre.
Zara Restaurant, St Jude's
Zara (full name Zara Habesha) sits at 14 Lawfords Gate, just off the top of Old Market, serving Eritrean and Ethiopian dishes in the Habesha tradition shared by both countries: injera, the spongy sourdough flatbread, scooped up with spiced lentil, meat and vegetable stews called wot. It's open seven days: Monday to Thursday 12pm to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 11pm, and Sunday 12pm to 9pm, which is longer and later than most Bristol restaurants of any cuisine, useful if you want dinner after a late shift or an evening out nearby.
The venue does both sit-down meals and injera-queen style combination platters for sharing, which is the better way to go with a group so you can try several stews at once. Call ahead to check current table availability, especially at weekends when the longer evening hours tend to get busy with a mix of the local Horn of Africa community and curious first-timers.
Ababo's Cuisine, Easton
Ababo's Cuisine runs as a cafe inside Easton Community Centre on Kilburn Street, and leans heavily vegetarian and vegan, built around spiced lentil and chickpea stews, injera and good coffee, which also makes it one of the better options in Bristol if you're after plant-based East African food specifically rather than a meat-forward menu. It holds a 5-star Google rating from well over 100 reviews, with guests consistently calling out the vegetarian curries, the coffee and the welcome from staff.
One thing worth knowing before a special trip: Easton Community Centre, and Ababo's Cuisine cafe inside it, closed for building renovations from 14 September, reopening to the public on Monday 26 October. If you're reading this before then, call ahead or check the centre's own listings before you go; after that date it should be back to normal hours.
A note on a third name you might see listed
Real Habesha, an Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant with a history on Stapleton Road and a second site that opened on Gloucester Road in Bishopston, gets a positive write-up in a 2023 Bristol247 review and still turns up on some booking and review sites. However, at least one directory now lists it as closed, and its listing no longer appears in current Food Standards Agency data for its Easton-area address, so its current trading status is genuinely unclear. If you see it recommended elsewhere, call ahead before making a trip, since the signals are mixed.
Comparison
| Venue | Area | Style | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zara Restaurant | St Jude's (14 Lawfords Gate) | Eritrean and Ethiopian, meat and vegan stews, injera | Mon-Thu 12-10pm, Fri-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 12-9pm |
| Ababo's Cuisine | Easton Community Centre, Kilburn St | Ethiopian, vegetarian/vegan-leaning cafe, coffee | Closed for renovations until 26 Oct 2026, normal hours resume after |
What to expect if you haven't had Ethiopian or Eritrean food before
Both kitchens serve food on or with injera, a slightly sour, spongy flatbread made from fermented teff flour that doubles as your plate and your cutlery: you tear off pieces and use them to scoop up the stews. Shiro, a spiced chickpea or split-pea stew, and various wot (meat or vegetable stews cooked in berbere spice blend) are the dishes to start with if you're new to the cuisine, and both venues are used to explaining the menu to first-timers rather than assuming you already know it. Sharing a combination platter between two or more people is the normal way to eat, so it's a good cuisine to try as a group rather than solo.
Getting there
Both venues sit a short taxi, bus or cycle ride from the city centre: Zara is just off Old Market near the top of the M32, and Ababo's is in Easton, a few minutes further out along the same corridor. Neither has dedicated customer parking, so check our Bristol parking guide if you're driving, or see getting around Bristol for bus options. If you want a wider spread of Bristol's international food scene to pair with a visit, our guides to Bristol's best Middle Eastern restaurants and best halal restaurants cover other parts of the city's food map, and best vegan restaurants in Bristol is a useful companion if Ababo's vegetarian focus is what you're after.