Abyssinia - Lausanne

I really like Ethiopian food and was looking forward to this visit as I had recently visited another Ethiopian/ Eritrean restaurant close by called the Red Sea. My first impression of Abyssinia from the outside was not really great. I think the entrance signboard and façade looked outdated and could definitely improve apparently the restaurant has been around for a decade). looks a bit like a Kebab take away shop. But this was ok and could be overlooked as the interiors were a different story altogether. As in really really great! Rustic, authentic decor from the ceiling to the seating to the menu card right up to the toilet entrance! Really loved it! I love authenticity and this place oozed of it! the servers were also nice and courteous. We ordered the menu dégustation which has a bit of everything and it even looked great when it was brought. Not too long a wait. So all great so far but that’s where the plot was lost. The food was cold !!!And of course the flavours don’t really come out with cold food. This was a real let down and up until this point we were really enjoying. I guess we should have sent the food back, but the damage had been done. So from then on the shine rubbed off and we finished and left with the same take- away feeling one would get from a mediocre dining experience. So Abyssinia really are close to getting it all right but simple execution mistakes such as cold food are not doing them any favours. As in if I had to make a choice of going for Ethiopian food In Lausanne, I would probably go back to The Red Sea which is just a 100 mts away. The ambience there is not comparable at all but the food was much better.

On our first ever visit to Lausanne, we looked up restaurants on Maps and this one popped up so we said why not, since we absolutely love Ethiopian food. The atmosphere was absolutely depressing. Dim lights (not in a good way) and dusty corners. We chose a Menu Dégustation for 2 people, the price in front of it was 38 CHF which seemed quite OK. We've been to better restaurants in Geneva which had similar prices. After our food arrived, we were disappointed in the mediocre quality and quantity of it. It was meh. Not bad, just meh. We didn't finish our plate, and after a more mediocre dessert, we asked for the check and to our surprise, it was 86-ish francs! Apparently, 38 CHF was the price per person (which was written in small font in the menu, we could not see it) We were in absolute shock. We'd only ordered the menu and 2 non-alcoholic drinks. In Geneva, we could get a four-people menu, absolutely huge and absolutely delicious for 90 something francs.. The waiter was very unpleasant and so we just paid and got the hell out of there. Never ever ever again. Believe me, it's not worth your money. Total ripoff.

The vegan tasting / sample dish is really good! My only recommendation is to bring a vegetarian friend (or Din alone) because they serve meat dishes on the same Injera plate as your vegan meal. The meat was on the other side of the plate, but close enough to the half mark that I had to avoid something from the food I had ordered.

The Vegan menu consists of 8 different dishes served on crepe. Once you're done, you'll be kindly more served, free food is delicious and staff very friendly. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are selected on the menu.

Not much vegetarian or vegan choice. Nice experience. Central location.