I first discovered Demera restaurant after moving into a flat practically next door to it. Even after moving away, I kept on going back again and again.
If you decide to visit the Demera, you should be aware that the style of this restaurant is a little different to normal. I got the feeling that there must be a reasonably large Eritraen community near the Goldhawk road as a lot of customers seemed to be from that part of the world and also seemed to know each other and the staff. There was a lot of friendly banter going on and a relaxed homely atmosphere. Not much formality but plenty of hospitality.
If you are not yet familiar with Ethiopian and Eritraen food, I urge you to try it. Their staple food is injera, a flat bread with a pancake like texture. Demera makes my favourite injera -its more “lemony†than others I have tasted.
The meat and vegetables are cooked as in a way that one might compare to South Indian or Sri Lankan curries but with different spices. A large piece of injera is rolled out like a plate with the meat and vegetables served on top of it. You eat with your hands, using other bits of injera to scoop up the stews.
Ok, that isn’t the greatest photo - it actually looked better than that.
At the end you eat the injera the food was served on, which by then is soaked with a delicious mixture of gravies. Eating like this is a lot of fun and quite nice for couples as you share from the same plate of food.
On this visit we had a green lentil dish, fish awaze tibs and a lamb dish, the name of which I have unfortunately forgotten. Goon was a pain and wouldn’t let me order the tripe and liver dish. 
The lamb dish was hot and the fish even more so. This was great from my point of view but it meant that Goon was eating very slowly, to the great amusement of the manageress, who even came over to try to show him how to eat at one point! I thought the two dishes were delicious! .
At the end of the meal you will be served a complementary pot of traditional tea. This is heavily infused with cloves and some other spice I couldn’t identify. I enjoyed it a lot, although by this point I was so full of food there was barely any room for it!
The meal came to just £27, including a £12 bottle of wine. For the amount of food you get, this is fantastic value.
So, in summary, if you’re expecting formal service and intricately presented food, this is not the place to go. But if you want a tasty, fun meal with friendly service for a good price, Demera is a great place to go.
I first discovered Demera restaurant after moving into a flat practically next door to it. Even after moving away, I kept on going back again and again.
If you decide to visit the Demera, you should be aware that the style of this restaurant is a little different to normal. I got the feeling that there must be a reasonably large Eritraen community near the Goldhawk road as a lot of customers seemed to be from that part of the world and also seemed to know each other and the staff. There was a lot of friendly banter going on and a relaxed homely atmosphere. Not much formality but plenty of hospitality.
If you are not yet familiar with Ethiopian and Eritraen food, I urge you to try it. Their staple food is injera, a flat bread with a pancake like texture. Demera makes my favourite injera -its more “lemony†than others I have tasted.
The meat and vegetables are cooked as in a way that one might compare to South Indian or Sri Lankan curries but with different spices. A large piece of injera is rolled out like a plate with the meat and vegetables served on top of it. You eat with your hands, using other bits of injera to scoop up the stews.
Ok, that isn’t the greatest photo - it actually looked better than that.
At the end you eat the injera the food was served on, which by then is soaked with a delicious mixture of gravies. Eating like this is a lot of fun and quite nice for couples as you share from the same plate of food.
On this visit we had a green lentil dish, fish awaze tibs and a lamb dish, the name of which I have unfortunately forgotten. Goon was a pain and wouldn’t let me order the tripe and liver dish.
The lamb dish was hot and the fish even more so. This was great from my point of view but it meant that Goon was eating very slowly, to the great amusement of the manageress, who even came over to try to show him how to eat at one point! I thought the two dishes were delicious! .
At the end of the meal you will be served a complementary pot of traditional tea. This is heavily infused with cloves and some other spice I couldn’t identify. I enjoyed it a lot, although by this point I was so full of food there was barely any room for it!
The meal came to just £27, including a £12 bottle of wine. For the amount of food you get, this is fantastic value.
So, in summary, if you’re expecting formal service and intricately presented food, this is not the place to go. But if you want a tasty, fun meal with friendly service for a good price, Demera is a great place to go.
Hiya: was searching for Ethiopian restaurants in London and encountered this post, so then I read your various other posts too. Superb stuff you’ve got going here! Hope Upper Street is keeping you well-supplied and on top of your cooking regimen. All the best!
Comment by Fëanor — April 5, 2008 @ 9:17 am