An eatery specializing in the food of Ethiopia and Eritrea is now cooking in Oakland.
Nardi Restaurant opened this February at 3415 Telegraph Ave. in the Pill Hill neighborhood, next to the old Taste of Denmark bakery. The chef and owner is Nardos Alemu, who used to run a restaurant living back in Ethiopia.
The interior is warm and inviting, with tables along the wall and a small setup for coffee preparation. There’s a bar toward the back with counter seating and TV viewing, where patrons can sip iced tea or Ethiopian beers like Meta and Habesha.
Right now, there are two pages devoted to food on the menu: breakfast on one, lunch and dinner on the other. With its early hours, the restaurant caters to a breakfast crowd with dishes like enkulal firfir (scrambled egg mixed with injera and spiced sauce) and ful, a vegan preparation of slow-cooked fava beans with garlic and spiced oil.
Adventurous diners might try the dulet for breakfast — minced liver and beef sauteed with onions and spice powder. There’s also genfo, a warm wheat porridge with spiced butter, and bula, a vegetarian mash made from the stem of the false-banana tree. (That plant is reportedly only domesticated in Ethiopia, and serves as a staple food for millions.)
A popular item on the lunch/dinner menu is the Nardi Special, a heaping sampler of meat and vegetable dishes with injera. Vegetarians will find several options here, including a Veggie Agelgil combo with lentils and collard greens — it can be made vegan without clarified butter. There are lamb and beef tibs, gored gored and kitfo (minced lean beef and butter, traditionally served raw).
In a reminder that Northern Africa was once occupied by Italy, there is spaghetti made with a rich Ethiopian-style tomato sauce and a fusion entree called “Ethio-Italian” that blends injera and pasta. Perhaps one can enjoy it at the bar, with a glass of red wine.
Details: Open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily at 3415 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; 510-607-8743
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