Lilu Cafe

No longer a restaurant but a sheesha or hookah bar.
Cheap prices, courteous service. Infinitely more authentic and cheaper than Looka Hookah

Went to the Saturday buffet as my gateway to Ethiopian food. My date and I were the only guests there so we had pretty much the entire buffet to ourselves, though the silence made things a bit awkward. The owner (?) introduced each dish to us which was nice, but besides that everything was self-​serve.
The options were rather limited – a beef dish, a chicken dish, and a few vegetarian dishes as well as soup and injera. The beef tibs were the highlight, very lean and juicy albeit a bit oily. The other dishes (a spinach mix, a fava bean dish, a blend of potatoes and carrots) were just decent, and the only bad dish was a soy-​based selection shaped like small discs. The injera was a unique experience but might have been tastier if the dishes were more sauce or spice based.

Lilu was my second experience with Ethiopian food and I officially am a fan of this tasty cuisine.
The Tibs were amazing and the Timatim fitfit was also delicious.
I also just read that they now have a lunch buffet on Friday and Saturday from 12 – 3 to which I am looking forward.
Lilu café seems to be family run and our server really seemed to care about our experience.
Give Lilu a try.

Lilu Café is a tiny Ethiopian restaurant in the south wedge area of Rochester. It opened in May of 2010, and is one of the very few Ethiopian restaurants in Rochester.
Lilu was my second experience with Ethiopian cuisine and I was not disappointed. I went with 4 friends so I was able to try a lot of items. We ordered the Tibs, Gore Gore, Timatim fitfit, lentils and golden tibs. Our meal came with two side dishes, one of them another type of green lentil.
The tibs were the highlight of the meal, and a dish that will keep me coming back. Bits of beef, highly seasoned and served with sauteed onions. The gore gore was second best, and had a pleasant heat. We also enjoyed the timatim fitfit, which was injera served in a tomato purée.
The restaurant is very small, and I’m pretty sure had only one employee. One woman handled the serving, hosting and cooking responsibilities. Our service was slow but friendly and attentive. They had run out of napkins, which is problematic when your only utensil is pieces of spongy flat bread. She provided us with a box of tissues to wipe our hands.
The tables are covered with a plastic table cloth, and it is very dimly lit. They do have air conditioning now, which I understand was a recent addition. Atmosphere was not one of this establishment’s strong points. They could benefit from playing some type of music.
The food was all very tasty and our host/​cook/​server was very pleasant. Our lunch came to very reasonable $ 10 per person and it felt good to support this family owned local restaurant.