Zoma
“Very few things compel me to leave the comfort of my apartment in Midtown East and make the trek all the way up to west Harlem.”
“The generous portions of injera were also wonderful – spongy, tangy and the perfect complement to all the dishes.”
“doro wett – "traditionally served during special occasion" but sadly not to my liking compared to the tib wett.”
Zoma
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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good typical Ethiopian in the upper east side. doro tibs was super yummy! modern ambiance. we got take out and ate this in the park although I would not recommend this since eating Ethiopian with your hands in the park with no utensils can be quite a challenge especially in a big group. Nonetheless, the food is fresh and the injera is yummy. Have been here already twice and love their food!
After trying Ethiopian food for the first time in D.C., I thought, "I must seek a place in NYC!" So after some time of searching and reading reviews, I decided to come here. They don't take reservations, but I was assured I would have no problem getting a table for 2 at 6pm on a Saturday night. We arrived at around 6:20pm and, as told, we had no problem getting a table, probably because the service is VERY quick so table turnover is higher than most other places.
Ambiance:
It is a very small place holding no more than ~50 people. The lighting is dim enough for a romantic date but also bright enough for a friend's catch-up dinner. Upon entering, on the right side is a bar, the left tables/booths, and in the middle, normal tables.
Service:
As stated, we were seated upon arrival and given menus to peruse. The staff was all very kind but VERY soft spoken. My water glass was ALWAYS full. The only mishap we had the entire night was we ordered a bottle of the famous honey wine and were given glassses instead, but it ended up being better anyway (so maybe they know me better than I do).
Food/Drink:
We got the combo B (chicken, lamb, beef) which was enough food for the two of us. The food is very difficult to explain, but it is VERY flavorful and not spicy.
As for drinks, we got the honey wine which was, as always, amazing!
Restroom:
I only saw one, but there was surprisingly never a line. It was very clean (although it has a very weak hand drier)
I would definitely come back here as it's VERY easy to get to (about a 20 minute subway ride from tsq via 2/3 or C line)
Is it good for date night? Yes, BUT you really need to be comfortable with the person you're going with because you eat everything with your hands, and could get a bit messy.
Came here on a busy Friday night with 3 friends. One of them arrived at 8pm to put our names down and we were seated by 8:30pm. The service is a bit slow but all the waitresses were knowledgable. The restaurant has really nice decor and is a nice budding gem of culture; the bar seemed well stocked too. (We did not try the famed honey wine, though). The ambiance is dim and it seemed like lots of people were on dates, though they can accommodate larger parties too).
The main event here is the FOOD. It's seriously the best Ethiopian I've had in the city- better than of the divey places in West Village. This Ethopian is full of flavor and the injera is GREAT. I had the spicy chicken curry (came with an egg), the split peas (super flavorful) and collards. Yum! Came with plentiful yummy injera. The portion size was good too and I thought a good deal for a lot of food at $20.
I started off with the two lentil sambusa, or samosa as I know it…. this was alright. A bit greasy. A bit pricey at $7 too.
My friends had: the fried tilapia (looked yummy and light, comes with tomato salad), carrot and two veggie platters, and lamb. I did not try these others but everyone enjoyed it.
We did not stay for drinks or dessert but I think it's a worthwhile visit if you love Ethiopian or live nearby.
I am a Breaking Bad crackwhore when it comes to Ethiopian food. I need a hit of the stuff several times a month or mama starts throwing things.
Zoma re-upped me nice and good, especially considering it was the first NY Ethiopian spot I hit. The plentiful Vegetarian Combo (Gomen, Atakilt Wett, Fassolia, Misir Wett, Kik Aletcha, Shiro Wett) imbued me with the best of nature's bounty–in terms of both produce and spices. The Gomen was a particular standout. And the meat? Tibs, tibs, tibs, far as the pipe can see. Get the Zoma Tibs if you can only choose one.
Add in the friendly service and modern decor, and you've got the perfect spot to shoot up….er, I mean, eat (either way, your hands will be occupied).
Now this was first time I've had Ethiopian food so I can't comment on its authenticity, but I enjoyed the cuisine.
Interior is ubiquitously modern to the point of it being banal. Nothing remotely ethnic about the design other than some beads on the wall or sandals nailed up in the bathroom. You would never have guessed Zoma to be Ethiopian unless you read their menu. Started as a nice quiet night with mellow lighting but it got loud in a blink around 9pm.
Started with honey wine and sambusa. It was a great start. Sambusa was crisp and flaky on the outside with the beef filling moist on the inside. I didn't really care for the dipping sauce garnish; I ate the sambusa as is and enjoyed it better "dry".
In terms of portion size, ordered a combination platter which is more than enough for two people. There were three of us, so we were required to order another entree on top of the combo which was more than ok with us.
As for the main course, we customized our combination dinner into the following: Doro Wett and Doro Tibbs for the chicken, bozena shira for the beef and a misir wett for the vegetarian. The combinations will come with some side vegetable dishes as well that I can't name.
As an unapologetic carnivore, I enjoyed the vegetarian dishes the most. The injera was inherently sour, so the vegetarian dishes provided the best contrast.
The misir wett was one of my favorites. I'm new to berbere, but it has become a new fond spice as mine which you can really taste pure with this lentil dish.
Both chicken dishes are perfect for injera scoops (which took some getting used to). They both had either a sweet or tangy quality that countered the sourness of the spongy bread. The doro wett's simmered onion and ginger in particular were just sweet and zesty enough to balance everything out. The meat was so soft that it fell off the bone.
Most of the dishes above are listed as either spicy or mildly spicy. Minus a single chest-burning bite where I probably got a rogue pepper, the spices aren't really anything to worry about. I wouldn't even consider those labeled as "mildly spicy" as spicy at all.
Two waitresses were nice considering we were naive, and took some time to get our whacky order in.
I am a big fan of Ethiopian food and have tried almost every place in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but this was my first time at Zoma. I had the veggie combo which you can customize. Everything was super good! This is definitely now in my top 2 in NYC!
Ok so I'm from Atlanta where Ethiopian food can be found almost everywhere & my BFF is also Ethiopian so I can honestly say I know a thing or 2 about good Ethiopian food. I've now been in NY for 3 years and have yet to find a really good Ethiopian restaurant. I thought this was gonna be the one but sadly it wasn't. On a good note the restaurant itself is really nice and the staff was also very accommodating. I wanted to order a veggie combo but their veggie combo is for 2 only "odd" so I didn't order it. I ordered awaze tibs with cabbage, split peas, and a additional side of lentils. My injera was super hard and dry so clearly I was given old injera. I love injera so that kinda annoyed me on so many levels. My food also wasn't that tasty. I wanted to ask the staff which was all Ethiopian do you guys eat this stuff?? Like you can't be cooking this at home! I'll probably never come back here again. Maybe NY just isn't the place for Ethiopian cuisine.
Good Ethiopian food is hard to find. 3 stars is actually very good – as I would give Bati in Fort Greene, BK 1 star.
We were here on a Friday night after a party at Bier Int'l across the street. We were hungry and wanted GOOD food. We ordered the Veggie Combo and it was a solid 3 stars.
The Misir Wett and Shiro Wett were very good and spicy. 4-5 stars. However, the Gomen and Atakilt Wett were a bit bland, more so than various other Ethiopian restaurants I've dined at. Also the Injera (bread) was off. I'm not sure if it was just that night or if it's always like that. In my experience, fresh injera is light, spongy, warm and a bit fluffy. This was like limp, lukewarm dead bread.
Freshly made, hot injera is usually one of my favorite parts of Ethiopian food… reminds me of Desi food where the joy and *taste* comes from eating with your hands via fresh roti, poori or chapati to scoop up spicy dhaals, achaars, etc…
Having said this. I would still come back to give it another try if I were in this area and needed to grab a bite. This is one of those places that you go to for a craving of a specific cuisine. However, I am pretty sure my Ethiopian friends who are SO UBER picky about what is and is not good in the City (wrt Ethiopian food) would pass…