Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant in East London

Every vegans dream! This platter of vegan dishes was so so tasty and comforting. Such individual tastes to each dish and all three of us sharing this were so satisfiedThe staff were so lovely and this place has such a homely and relaxing feel. Absolutely recommend

Went in here because the outside looked nice. They didnt have any samosas, which was disappointing. Sadly, the food wasnt very nice, but maybe thats just me. The decor was nice but thats about it. To see the menu, you have to scan a QR code on your phone. You dont get a very good signal in there and they dont provide any WiFI. This is a bad customer experience. The font on the menu is extremely difficult to read. When we asked to pay the bill, the lady said: "cash only". She should have told us that at the start. It seems very shady. I wouldnt go here again or recommend it.

Brilliant Ethiopian restaurant. Expect eating with your hands. Quality food and affordable.

Brilliant, authentic, and friendly. Great value too, which doesnt hurt!

Really fantastic homecooked Ethiopian food, staff very friendly and helpful. The restaurant itself is very cool and wherever you sit you fell like you have youre own private space

Great tasting warm food and big portions

This spot has been on our list for a longtime and we were super excited to try some Ethiopian food for the first time - and what a disappointing experience.Firstly, there was no water offered. No cutlery was laid and neither was any form of hand sanitiser/ towels given. The lack of hand hygiene made us pretty uncomfortable as the food needed to be eaten by hand.The food was average - but extremely oily. (Again no hand towels after the meal - just a paper napkin)The worst was yet to come. THEY ONLY ACCEPT CASH!!! They don’t even inform guests before offering food that this is a cash only place. Very surprising as almost every place I’ve been to accepts contactless/ bank transfers or informs BEFOREHAND that it’s cash only.The waitress refused to accept a bank transfer as her manager was on a holiday. My partner was forced to back home to get a card, withdraw cash and pay the bill.We live around 20 mins away and no regard was given to this - I was made to wait for 40 mins while my partner returned - this could have been avoided if the waitress accepted the bank transfer.Oh did I mention - I was not even offered water during the 40 min wait.The cash operation seems very shady. Will not be coming back here. The worst dining experience in London so far. Pathetic. Extremely low regard for customer experience.The ups - good music and average food.

Some of the best food Ive had in London. The food here tastes exquisite and they take the time to make it taste so, which very few restaurants still do. The service is wholesome, the kind you can only find at a family run restaurant and they also put a lot of effort into the atmosphere of the place. Highly recommend, specially for vegetarians and vegans! 🇪🇹 💜

A neighbourhood institution. Been going back here for years as I live locally. On a recent visit, in early May 2022, the food at Lalibela was just as good as it’s always been, which means very tasty and fresh. There are many options for vegetarians. For gluten free, they can supply gluten free injera if you ask (their regular injera wasn’t gluten free, they said). My party loved the frankincense and roasted coffee beans aroma. They also enjoyed the traditional decor.

Food was tasty but the service was very slow. The portions were also not quite as expected as they put 2 meals on 1 plate for sharing so we got less of everything. Staff was very lovely though, and overall positive experience.

First time having Ethiopian food and wow ... just incredible. We picked a great place for it. Very vegan friendly as we had the veggie platter and a side of okra between the two of us alongside the coffee ceremony. Service was great and pricing totally fine. Definitely recommend to anyone in London.

Brilliant family ran restaurant, lovely service and wholesome food. Definitely recommend!

I have been Lalibela over 5 times for over 12 years for Ethiopian food.It was nice to come back after a decade. I was even happier to see they still sell the Chicken cream tibbets the best stew have ever tasted! Staff are so welcoming and patient they even opened 30 minutes early to serve us. Decor is dated but authentic and homely!Main meal and drink with injera is £25-27. Ill be back

My favorite Ethiopian restaurant in London – delicious food, friendly service and very reasonable prices. Definitely worth a visit, especially if youre avoiding gluten, as their injera is made exclusively with tef.

Excellent food at very reasonable price. Photo is the Shiro Beyaynetu platter

Delicious food! Me and my friend got the shared combo plate. Service was ok. Dessert was ok as it was very doughy and we thought we were getting chocolate with it as it’s what we were told. Maybe some confusion!

I have eaten here many times over the years, it is one of my favorite Ethiopian restaurants. I mostly order the Awaze Tibs, which is nice and spicy. There is a dark ambiance here, which I personally like. This is a two story building, so plenty of room for dinning.

The best ... The flavours, textures and aroma were so well balanced in our meal . Fantastic value for money . Very satisfying , unfortunately . I didnt leave room for dessert, as the food , as well being scrumptious , was deceptively filling ... Not to mention friendly and welcoming staff... The plain fabric floor to ceiling screens between tables added an intimate ambience ... I shall pay a return visit as soon as....

The most slow service in London! We waited 30 mins for tap water. We ordered lamb dishes and we got beef instead without letting us know. They dont seem to have a lot of the dishes available and ingredients and you get what you get! They only take cash! And you eat with your hands without given a sanitary wipes to clean your hands before or after you eat. Very unhygienic! The portions are extremely small and very oily. Very rude people too. They treat you as they are doing u a favour having you there.

We loved the food and the service. Very tasty food which was great for sharing. Relaxed atmosphere, reasonably priced wine. Brilliant!

Were sat downstairs. Decor I suppose Ethiopian. Upstairs is bright n roomy.Food was delicious. Service was good.Sunday evening, became busy from half seven. Recommend to book a table in advance.

Fabulous food! Wonderful flavours. Friendly, kind service. Decor so good you felt you were in Ethiopia. Going again soon!

Did not know what to expect with this Ethiopian restaurant as it is one of few cuisines i have had not tried yet, well i can tell you i was most pleasantly surprised! Really tasty food. We had the flat bread pancake thing with the chicken and lamb. The bread made the plate pretty much and you just tear it up and pick up the different varieties of toppings they give you with it. Really yum, that and a small starter for me and the mrs had us stuffed! Very fairly priced as well!

Great food, and beautiful restaurant. There was a lot to choose from even as a vegetarian.The spices used, in particular the berbere spice mix, is quite different to the sort of spices used in other cuisines I have tried.The portions are generous and theres a lot of injera provided with every meal. We had to take a good proportion of our meal home with us.Used some of the leftover injera the next day for breakfast, filled with chocolate pieces and blueberries heated in a pan. The Ethiopian version of crepe I guess.

Visiting Lalibela is truly an amazing experience. Food is great and staff is super welcoming and helpful. Would strongly recommend.

Absolutely delicious. Its been months since weve been here and we were dying to come back. Really good portion sizes (and thats saying something as a 63" Americanand incredible food. Also as a Vegan, its about as good as it gets. Well be back soon!

I love Ethiopian very much and this place has given me good Ethiopian. However after coming here for more than a year or two every few weeks I just can’t go again and it’s mostly because the staff are so unpleasant. You are not allowed to sit at the nicer, larger tables (the small tables are far too small when they serve everything in giant plattersunless you are in a group (which I have never seen eat there once but apparently they need all of them free just in case). The food itself is actually quite variable, one day is delicious and another watery and not much taste. The serving sizes are different based on the mood of your particular server (I always ordered the same mixed platter for too and a chickpea stew but this sometimes was not enough for myself and my dinning partner and other times far more than enough). And they are just very uninterested in how your food or experience was.I think it may just be a case of a small family operation pretending to be a professional restaurant but it’s sadly not near the standards of Ethiopian restaurants nearby.

Lovely friendly atmosphere with beautiful staff and amazing tasty food.

WOW!!!! I never try before Ethiopian food , but i try last night. Amazing is a non sens word, I am at my friends house for visiting for all ready few days, and i found really amazing food in this area, for moment this restaurant is the top. Thank you very much for your service last night , really good and the food was amazing!

Friendly, accomodating staff and interesting food. I did find the portions a little small though, which they compensate by serving the traditional Ethiopian bread, which is an acquired taste, so maybe order an extra dish if you dont want to leave still feeling slightly hungry.

Loved the Vegan Ethiopian food here, perfect for a cozy intimate dinner for two. Great service. Would recommend booking in advance as it is a small restaurant.

One of the key features of a great restaurant is whether the food tastes homely - at least for us. The meal delicious and homely, where we could taste the vegetables rather than have them smothered with spices. The atmosphere is relaxed and charming. The gentleman who runs the place was very friendly, chatty and knew his food well. The chef, his mum, is a lovely lady who clearly loves cooking. Finally, a good test on a restaurant is how you feel after the meal - heavy and depleted versus light and refreshed. Lalibela passed this test for us with flying colours. Look forward to being there soon.

They have a good variety of vegetarian, vegan and Jain options available. They were very cooperative.We had booked in advance, but our table wasnt ready upon arrival.Food was OK. It was served in traditional way as we requested for it.Desserts were disappointing.Ambience is OK.Place was fairly busy for a Saturday night.

Wonderful plating and delicious foods presented traditionally with a clearly busy staff who managed well and were able to accommodate requests easily.We truly enjoyed eating here and will return. Be sure to book in advance at this very popular restaurant.The food is spicy and well-but not too strongly-flavoured. An excellent introduction to Ethiopian cuisine if you have never tried it before.

Wonderful, friendly Ethiopian family-run restaurant serving very tasty food. Such a great range of dishes for vegetarians too. Lovely coffee. Warn, cosy, wafting of frankincense. You will love it!

Really good Ethiopian food, we had a sharing meat platter and I personally added the shiro wat and it was a perfect meal for a group of three. The injera was full of flavour not too bland not too sour so you could just keep eating more and more. Lovely decor with local Ethiopian arts and crafts, really liked the vibe. Cant really say anything bad about this place, Im craving to go back again.

What a find! Gorgeous, quirky place, a visual delight! Great food, lots of gluten free options, delicious and plenty of it. Service was excellent, two of us with bad backs were brought cushions by a charming, attentive waiter. Loved it, will go back again and again.

Delicious food, but the wait was unbearable. I waited almost 1h and by the time it arrived I only had ten minutes to wolf it down before my meeting. I would have liked to enjoy my first Ethiopian experience properly.

Fantastic food and atmosphere, kind servers, and the best coffee I have ever had! Anywhere. At any time. This was my first time experiencing Ethiopian food and the staff were very helpful and patient. They explained dishes and made helpful recommendations as well. We will be back for the coffee ceremony if nothing else!

Great decor and the food was amazing... might need to just brush up on their level of customer service but this was a great experience and would recommend anyone that is looking for Ethiopian food to go there...

This is a very nice restaurant, the food is great but you have to like this sour bread which is a bit strange

Authentic & delicious food. A small but tastly decorated place. I loved my Ethiopian spicy tea and the ceremony coffee is an absolute must. Lovely staff too. Well be back!

It used to be the best Ethiopian restaurant in north london but its changed now, under new management. Some dishes are no longer available and the lovely honey dew wine is not there. The food is not as good and we waited for almost an hour to be served. Very disappointing!!

Food was good. Service was a tad slow as only one person serving and taking orders. Nice vegetarian options here. The food is tasty. Only downside was that they didnt have any Ethiopian beer or wine on the day.

First time Ive had Ethiopian food and I was pleasantly surprised and happy to have tried it. Its a small place with African decor. The staff are friendly and if youre not sure of what to eat, just ask the staff what to recommend. They are more than willing to offer their advice. A great birthday surprise!

Fabulous experience of ethiopian cuisine.Fantastic food, very nice people, not so expensive.

been there a few times and liked the food.. sure, its not the tidiest, or the best service but that, in my humble opinion, adds to the flavor. its similar to how it goes in the Middle East in that you can find good quality food in hidden but not the nicest looking or best service restaurants. i think prices are okay for the portions - food is special, definitely better value than an overpriced pizza, pasta or English breakfast that you can easily prepare home.

Really authentic Ethiopian restaurant in a charming old building. The interior is very cozy. Its a little on the pricey side but the food is fantastic. Heavier flavor than i remember when i had Ethiopian food in San Francisco.

They served the best Ethiopian food I have had in London after the new management took over. The staff are friendly and the decor is very authentic. Definitely going back again and would insist others to check it out!

Ive only ever been to two Ethiopian restaurants so dont have much basis for comparison, but this was definitely the better of the two. Decent selection of vegetarian options, very friendly and attentive service and a nice family run vibe (the mother of the family did the cooking while her son was front of house). Also has an interesting exotic decor.