Sheba Dining – Ethiopian Fusion

This place is really much better than you’d expect for delivery food. Nice quality, everything was super fresh. I’m ordering it again tonight!

Restaurant is a hotel basement. Food was overly spiced and too salty. I didn’t even bother to keep the leftovers. Restaurant was pretty empty but service still slow. Skip it.

freshest gomen i have ever had. foods are too oily. yellow lentil surprisingly not bland, i wish they added the detail on the online menu, that the starter salad was not a traditional Ethiopian salad :(

Great food! I love places like this tucked away. It’s what gives the City character. Food was amazing; full of flavors. Highly recommended.

This was my first experience with Ethiopian food, and it was amazing! Sheba’s came as a recommendation from a friend, who is from Ethiopia. I loved everything about the restaraunt. It’s a small family owned place, the owner greeted us warmly and sat is right away. We went over the menu with her and ended up ordering the ahi tuna starter, the vegetable combo, zeel zeel nibs (beef dish). It was all very delicious and the food tasted very fresh. I will defiantly be going back!!!

So this is a small basement restaurant that you have to go through a hotel to get to. The first time we went, the people were amazing and the food was great– far better than expected (but expectations were low). The second time was OK, but the third was pretty bad. Because the kitchen is only separated by a curtain, the eating area is noisy, and we could hear (and slightly see) Jeopardy playing on the TV.
The food here is meh, and the ambiance is bad. The people are sweet, but their service is slow. The only plus this restaurant really has is that that there is a Groupon.

Firstly, I HATE all of you who clearly A.) Lied in your review B.) Don’t know what this food is REALLY supposed to taste like.
Sam (the one who wrote about this being the best Ethiopian in America) owes me almost $ 30 for this nonsense. Disregard his opinion. He must be part-​owner.
1.) I am of this ethnicity and grew up on this food. I have enjoyed many of the other Ethiopian restaurants in the bay. This one? Not so much.
2.) Good gawd, can they use anymore oil? This was the oiliest rendition of the food I’ve ever experienced.
3.) The meat chunks were huge. They’re generally bite-​sized morsels; these were full-​size (kid serving) bites! Where is the garlic? I didn’t taste much, if any at all. The caramelized onions were more burnt than anything. Dang, guys!
4.) The veggies were more Italian-​influenced than Ethiopian. What happened to the collard greens?
5.) The portions were McDonald’s happy meal sized and I was not a happy camper.
6.) There were spices used that aren’t traditional. This was the most Martha Stewart, no-​Habesha-​soul tasting Ethiopian I’ve had. Super bland with a dash of traditional spices, no salt.
Perhaps I missed the Ethiopian «fusion» line, but please call it «Ethiopian inspired» or something. I thought I’d taste something wonderfully familiar.
The food arrived cold, and I still tipped the driver 20% on top of their $ 3 delivery fee.
Come on, Sheba! Stop trying to cater to the people who don’t know better – get back to the tradition please!

Sheba Dining is a quality Ethiopian establishment that’s hidden deep inside the basement of the Clarion Hotel in downtown Oakland. You’d never know that there was a proper sit-​down restaurant down there if you didn’t make the effort to fumble your way around the basement corridors.
In fact, the ambience is so quiet that it’s a perfect spot for a date. While the staff is super sweet and helpful, they’re also discreet, and they’re also taking time behind a series of curtains to fulfill delivery and catering orders, which seem to comprise the bulk of their business.
Of course, it’s the food that’s the strong point, especially the beef (zeel zeel) tibs with peppers and onions, or a platter full of fish filet cubes. Plus endless injera. There was more than enough food for us to spare, and even when stored in takeout boxes, it lasted well into the next day even though it hadn’t been in the fridge for several hours. Highly recommended whether for dine-​in or delivery.

Best thing we had was the ahi tuna kitfo appetizer — which is ahi tuna with ethiopian spices wrapped in toasted injera that was soaked in chili oil. Only complaint was there was a lot of oil, but it was still awesome (and quite spicy too). We also got the sambusa appetizer which was OK. I like the sambusas better when they are done with a regular crust, but these used a filo dough.
For dinner we tried the vegetarian combo which was OK, and the doro wat which I also thought was just OK. I like when the doro wat has a noticeable flavor of allspice and their version didn’t (and it also wasn’t that spicy either). Last complaint is the location is in the basement of a hotel, not really much ambiance.

My company catered a lunch from Sheba recently and it was tasty!!!
I’ve never had Ethiopian food and I think the items I had lean more towards the fusion side of the menu. That being said, the vegan lasagna, vegan samosa, and herbed potatoes were all packed with so much flavor! I eat lots of vegan food so I’m familiar with how delicious it can be, but I quietly laughed to myself as one by one I heard my co-​workers commenting in a surprised tone about how good the vegan items were.
Wish it were closer to home, I would definitely go here and try more of their dishes! Pretty much everyone at my company requested Sheba again for another lunch!

I have a new colleague who is Ethiopian and I asked her where she enjoys eating Ethiopian food and she brought me here and it did not disappoint! I tried everything on their vegetarian buffet menu and it was all delicious and perfectly seasoned. She told me it was most like «home cooking» and it seemed like it to me!

Oh my! Deee-lic-ious.…the sambusas were excellent. Didnt even miss them not being fried. Hummus was on point. One of the best in Oakland. A must try!

So disappointed. Ordered delivery and it took an hour and forty five minutes. They were not truthful about the driver leaving, stopped answering the phone after awhile and the food arrived cold. They did not even comp the meal.
Thankfully I ordered through Eat24, and they have good customer service. I will never eat here again.

Been here a couple of times. First time I was blown away. Good food, attentive service. Second time was meh food, good service. Third time, food was into the relm of awesome. And service, while kind and gracious, not good.
I understand being a small business in the basement of a hotel. I give them major points for even trying that. But it is the little things. The table behind us that wasnt bussed in the 90 minutes we were there. The TV in the kitchen that you cant help but hear. The curtain seperating the kitchen which keeps opening, with various people coming and going.
With all that, the experience over my handful of visits is probably 3.5 stars. While there are elements of greatness that sometimes blow me away, it isnt the whole package. Worth trying for sure. But overall, I am not finding myself in a hurry to return… though I am glad I went.

total garbage, low quality food. Not a good idea, not sure how there were good reviews. Overspiced, mmasking industrial grade meat.

In our quest to satisfy our new obsession, we had the best Ethiopian dinner ever last week at Sheba Dining. If there is such a thing as Ethiopian fine dining, this is it. The chef visited the table and we raved to her about the food.
We started with the kitfo appetizer, and unlike other places we have had it, here they serve it stuffed into a sliced roll of injera. It was delicate and tasty and a good indication of things to come. We enjoyed it along with some bread served with edamame garlic lime sauce, which ended being a terrific flavor accent with the kitfo. Then came a small serving of mango sorbet intermezzo to cleanse the pallet.
For our main meal I chose the Lamb Tibs served with caramelized onions and seasoned potatoes, and it was served perfectly medium rare and juicy. My wife had the Ahi Kitfo, which was sushi grade Ahi tuna (similar to Hawaian Poke) but spicy with garlic-​infused olive oil. It was amazing, and apparently a personal creation by Ayu the chef. Both dinners were generous portions and were totally delicious. We loved the intimate atmosphere and will definitely return.

The location of this restaurant isn’t the easiest to find because it’s under the Clarion Hotel so it’s kind of confusing. I walked into the Indian/​Pakistani restaurant next door lol I sat down then realized I was in the wrong place.
Anyway, the setting is romantic. Classy.
I loved our server! Such wonderful & warm customer service!!!
Water was fresh with lemon slices.
Very attentive and treated us very good.
The food tasted heavenly!
I ordered the Hummus, Meat Combo (Fish & Beef), Doro Wot (Organic Chicken) and it came with injeri bread and vegetables.
Complimentary bread & dip… Nice.
Complimentary house salad was divine. Loved the baby tomatoes, nuts and vinegrette dressing over lettuce!
Complimentary mango sherbet also!
All that food just for two people all
We were too full!
Definitely going back soon!
Well recommended.

Nice service. Unpalatable food. Overpriced for the qualify of food served and the ambiance.
We found this restaurant through the Amazon Local Living web site. I usually treat restaurants featured on this site with suspicion, but I looked at the Unilocal reviews and this one seemed to be a safe bet.
Going in, I wanted to like this restaurant. We were greeted by a friendly host who appeared to be the proprietor. She served us throughout our stay and was very nice. I tried the raw meat dish that was recommended to us. My girlfriend got a chicken «wot». We also got a side order of lentils.
Unfortunately, none of the dishes we ordered tasted good to us. Despite arriving to the restaurant very hungry, we ended up having to leave without being able to finish any of the dishes.
There seemed to be an unsavory undertone to each of the dishes we tried. I was able to tolerate it for the first few bites but eventually reached a point where I could not take it any more. My girlfriend had a similar experience. We looked at each other and decided to ask for the check… Perhaps it is our unfamiliarity with Ethiopian cooking. However, we are both foodies and have found something to enjoy in every other cuisine we have tried (some of them equally exotic.)

Very impressed.
Home style cooking.
Friendly service.
Very intimate atmosphere. (It is in the basement, so yeah.)
It’s a gem in Oakland! (Yes, go through the Clarion and go downstairs!
Food = delicious. It’s fusion but fresh flavors!
Prices = moderate.

Somewhat hidden, yet surprisingly tasty Ethiopian food.
Guided only by hope and bare-​bones signs, to find Sheba you have to go past a hotel lobby, past service closets, and down some stairs. At the end of this journey you reach an unlikely and relaxing basement oasis.
The restaurant was empty when we arrived around 6pm on a Tuesday, but by the end of our dinner a few other parties had joined in. Service was very friendly and accommodating. Food came out perfectly timed.
I don’t know what was fusion and what was authentic Ethiopian, but it was all generally very good. We started with the Ethiopian fresh cheese rolls. These where probably the weakest dish, but they were still fine. A bit sour, and bit spicy injera bread filled with ricotta-​like fresh cheese. We then tried the Ethiopian-​style which was great. Eating hummus with warm injera was surprisingly delicious.
To my surprise, we were served a complimentary mango sorbet intermezzo. Props to the restaurant. We ended the meal with a beef main course. I forget the name of the dish, but it arrived fresh from the kitchen in a sizzling platter and was served for us on a bed of injera. Again to my surprise, the dish was accompanied by a serving of vegetables and quinoa. The meat was good quality and very delicious. The dish was definitely good value.
I had a great experience at Sheba. I felt the staff is doing a great job when it comes to putting out good quality food and offering great customer service.
Definitely check it out.