African Palace

Friendly, delicious, and inexpensive. I have had so many delicious meals and generally wonderful experiences here. If you love Ethiopian, you shouldn’t miss this place. Last night, my friend inquired about one of the spices used in a lentil dish. Our amazing server actually went and got her a little container of it to take home!

This place rules. Much better than the super-​overrated Nazareth a couple of doors down.
Our standard order is the veggie platter plus a sizzling plate of tibs, shared amongst two people. The samosas are yummy too.
The lady who runs this place is motherly and sweet; you kind of wish you could give her a hug.

Randomly bumped into this place. Had never tried Ethiopian food before. The veggie platter is really good. We ordered the platter for 2 and just couldn’t finish it.

Wohoo ! my second ethiopian food was just as satisfying as the first! since I’ve only been to one other Ethiopian restaurant I can only compare this experience than the last’s.
It’s great to bring someone along as a date if you want to be adventurous! There’s a gigantic platter of different mixed vegs and meat you dip your sour dough bread. Kind of like eating several different kinds of hummus. I love how you can have some fun by feeding each other. and the waitress showed us how to eat it by demonstrating how they wrap it and feed it to you first. It’s fun and engaging by i just hope her hands are clean.

Amazing food. Amazing service. I feel more like I’m at an Ethiopian home than a restaurant.

Great food and good service at reasonable prices. Go here instead of Nazareth — because you won’t have to wait hours to eat dinner. The lighting is also better, and you can feed three people for thirty bucks. Not bad.

Im here on business a lot, so i eat out everyday. This is my favorite place in Toronto. The food is perfect, and the staff are friendly. I just can not get enough of this place.

Love this place. Good service even when it’s busy. The owner is so sweet. Food is fantastic, great portions at great prices. Will be going again and again.

My boyfriend and I initially wanted to visit Nazareth but because it was closed we chose this place. The menu is not very extensive. We ordered the 2 person meat and vegetable platter (2 meats, 6 vegetables). We have been to another Ethiopian restaurant and this one was was a lot better in terms of flavour for the lentils (I’m a vegetarian!). The spinach was good but i found it way too salty. My boyfriend liked the meats that were given (lamb and chicken), however he found the chicken to also be quite salty.
I would recommend but I probably wouldn’t come here again, I would like to try other Ethiopian restaurants!

**3.5**
Mr. H and I wanted to introduce our friends to Ethiopian cuisine and picked Nazareth. We got there and realized that its closed on a Sunday! Their Unilocal page doesn’t have the open-​close timings, but luckily for us there are ²⁄₃ other options in the same location. That’s how we all ended up at African Palace.
Our orders were taken pretty quickly and we were served quickly too. The food by itself was very good, we ordered the meat and veggie platter for four and the quantity was perfect. It was the service that was lacking, there was just one server and one other person (chef) in the kitchen.
It took extremely long for us to get refills and although we really wanted to try the coffee ceremony we were told that it would be a 40 minute wait! Needless to say we left a little disappointed due to the lack of service.

really love the lady working here. She’s so warm & friendly :)
I like the way the menu is setup (although I was a bit confused at first). You can order a veg + meat platter which automatically comes with all the veg menu items #1 through #6 (e. g. red/​green lentils, cabbage, salad) as well as meat items #9 beef & #10 lamb. We added #11 chicken.
The food came promptly & everything was cooked well. The only setback is the lamb (bone-​in) was cold but it wasn’t a big enough issue for us to send the platter back. The beef was my absolute favorite — so savoury and juicy! I really enjoyed the platter and you can request extra Injera, no problem! :)
Full bar on site. My Jack & coke was generously mixed & the glass of house red wine was fairly decent.
FYI — Merlot & Cabernet available by the bottle.
Bathroom is tiny… certainly not the loveliest but clean.
Would like to experience the traditional coffee ceremony one of these days.
In general, I appreciate the very reasonable pricing. I would definitely go back again., and soon! Strongly recommend dining here if Nazareth is too full.

We ended up here as Nazareth was packed out the door. I was happy we ended up here as we had a beautiful warm authentic African meal which comprised of: Beef Tibs, Spinach, Injera and Rice. All tasty, delicious for a –10degree night in Toronto. The service was a little slow and we order Samosa’s that never arrived but other than that, I was impressed! Thanks African Place!

This is a great Ethiopian place in a little section near Ossington and Bloor which has a surprising number of Ethiopian places. Ive come here several times and always been impressed with the quality and the quantity of the food. We usually get the beef and veg platter with comes with a variety of chicken, lamb, chickpea and other dishes, all of which have to be soaked up with spongy Injera bread, which we inevitably run out of!
Always a delicious meal and a good value as well
Recommended

First time I’ve had Ethiopian food so can’t compare it to other places. But really enjoyed the experience. We had the meat/​vegetarian platter. The taste was a little different but enjoyable. We ate everything with our fingers and used the bread that the platter sat on.
I think I preferred the experience over the taste. Also the price was really low especially for all the food you get in your platter.

Opted for African Palace because Nazareth was good. Great little spot. Service was a little on the slow side but rightfully so as there was only a single waitress for an otherwise full house.
Admittedly, I haven’t had too much Ethiopian food. I had the meat platter and the flavours were great, particularly the goat. I could eat a whole plate of the goat, actually. Great for a vegetarian. The spreads aren’t overly saucy so they won’t completely sog the already spongy injera. It’s also relatively cheap. $ 20 for 2? Why not.
I’d return when the craving strikes again.

I had dinner there tonight, great place, great food, and great service. Our order was fulfilled quickly: the meat and vegetable combo platter is definitively to try!
As an extra, if you want to experience something different, order the coffee: delicious and totally worth it.

Outstanding flavours that we’ve all enjoyed before in good Ethiopian food. The major difference here was that it’s not oily at all.
For those who have been to other Ethiopian restaurants, you’ll find that at African Palace, the food tastes amazing without all of the oily soggy injera afterwards.
We got the $ 21 beef tip and 4 assorted vegetables dish and it did an amazing job filling the both of us up.
Must: try the Ethiopian coffee served with insence, and popcorn (which surprisingly works very well with the flavours of the coffee).

In terms of Ethiopian places, I have eaten at Nazareth (down the street), Nunu, and now African Palace. And this is how they compared…
Nazareth — dim, more bar-​like atmosphere. Lotsa ppl just came in to have a beer. Small restaurant is crammed and decorated with fake vines. Service was alright, but not super friendly, food was GOOD & cheap! I think it was like $ 8pp (or even less) when sharing a platter.
Nunu — contemporary décor, bright ‘n colourful lighting, I believe the owner is Caucasian. Interior of restaurant is nice ‘n new, saw quite a few couples on a date while I was there! Server pushed alcoholic drinks. Service was alright, aside from owner, not super friendly. Food was good, not as good as Nazareth, but prices are quite expensive. I remember paying ~$ 20pp even after sharing a platter.
And now African Palace — like Nazareth, the restaurant itself is quite small, but not as cramped, brighter, not as cluttery. They don’t try to fit as many bums as possible. I believe African Palace would also get quite a few of Nazareth’s overflow customers.
Server was nice and even hand-​fed us! She noticed that we finished our injera and automatically brought us more. She then showed us that we can grab more than 1
«stew» with the bread and then put it in our mouths. (I thought it was quaint, but some germos may think it weird.) Food-​wise, I don’t think it was as good as Nazareth. However, female server was definitely more personable.
Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony was $ 10 for a serving of 2−4ppl. It took approx. 30mins for the coffee to arrive to the table, after we finished our food. I believe that the beans are freshly roasted. Coffee was served black with a cinnamony taste. No milk, but you can add sugar. Server also brought popcorn and burnt frankincense at the table. It was an interesting experience.
If budget is a concern and you like to drink, check out Nazareth. However, if you prefer a quieter, more comfy atmosphere with warmer service, definitely choose African Palace!

African Palace was my first experience with Ethiopian food, and boy, was it good!
We ordered the meat and veggie platter, and it was filled with such flavourful, saucy goodness. It was spicy, but tolerable (this coming from a person who is absolutely terrible with handling spice). It was also quite interesting eating with our hands and using the Injera as the food scooper. However, in the end when we all ran out of Injera and had some of the meat and veggies left, we asked for forks to finish everything up. I don’t know if we committed some sort of cultural taboo, but what is one to do when there is no Injera left to scoop the meat and veggies? (Serious question.)
The service was friendly. The restaurant was beautifully decorated with a serene atmosphere. I will be returning!

I would rather eat here any day of the week vs. Nazareth’s!
Great quality and quanity of food! The owner is such a lovely lady! Nice and clean atmosphere.

Première expérience de restaurant éthiopien très satisfaisante. L’accueil est nickel et la serveuse vous montrera même comment utiliser les galettes afin de saisir la nourriture dans les assiettes (et nourrira de force l’un des convives).
On nous a conseillé les assiettes à partager pour 3 qui consiste en une multitude de viandes différentes et de légumes de toute sorte (tomates, oignons, salade).
Attention aux palais sensibles, il y a pas mal d’épices dans l’assiette donc demandez bien une carafe d’eau.
Petit bémol: certaines tables brûlent des batons d’encens qui peuvent déranger certains clients.
A conseiller définitivement!