Cafe Nema

Don’t go! I used to like this place, but I think it’s gone supremely downhill, and the management has issues to boot.
The last time we were there, they were out of a lot of the menu items or certain ingredients like goat or scallops. They didn’t have any of their dessert items.
We ordered the vegetable sambousas first — and they were dry and overcooked. Not really that great. We ordered the seafood kabob and were told they were out of scallops, so instead we got a kabob that had all the seafood minus the scallops, but we were charged the same price.
Also, we had a
certificate for $ 25 off the meal if we ordered $ 35 worth of food (which was difficult given now many things they were out of), but then when the check came and we presented our gift certificate, we were informed that they no longer accept them, and claimed that they had told
this many times.
I called
, and apparently the company has called them 11 times to confirm that they are no longer accepting certificates, and it just was never finalized. I don’t know who to believe, but the fact that our waiter didn’t cut us any kind of break, even though we were clearly going out of our way to meet the minimum cost was really upsetting. I think that they are allowing themselves to remain on
to get customers to come in and spend more money than they would on a menu that isn’t all that great in the first place.
I will never go here again.

Walking around Sunday night looking for a place to hang out — we were lured by their live music and my wrong impression that the place served African food. Also, I have had bought some
coupons, and even though didnt have them with me — decided to preview the place without them.
Well, once inside — the bartender/​waiter was really eager to serve us and make us feel comfortable. However, the fact that he was the ONLY one serving on this so-​so busy night made it that we had to WAIT a lot for his comfort.
We had the hummus for appetizer that didnt impress at all, and then we shared their Beef Kalankal — that was nothing really special. The drink was liquid. but no alcohol could be tasted.
And at the moment to pay, I found out that they are not accepting any
coupons anymore. Let’s just say… I would have come back to use these coupons. But now — I wont be coming back anytime soon.

Sigh, I had super high hopes for this place. I stopped with my boyfriend and a friend for some late night eats and its was a total bummer. I could only see myself going back for the live music if I was already drunk and wasn’t hungry.
My boyfriend ordered a cranberry juice, easy enough right? Wrong. The first red liquid that he was served was cloudy and tasted like ‘red drink’ they serve kids in summer camp. When we said something they actually brought him water with cranberry juice mixed in. I ordered a whiskey sour and I am not sure what I recieved but it wasn’t what I ordered and I did not drink it.
I ordered the seafood pasta and didn’t eat that either because it really didn’t taste like anything and the seafood looked… um, well, it looked old. Like dried out. The whole restaurant smelled like the Port Authority bathroom (according to the bf) and they seemed to have only one waiter on staff.
Sigh.

Completely new to this area, I just wanted some Mediterranean food somewhat near Dupont Circle. The place is so small, but love the artwork on the walls. There was a nice ambiance, and a jazz band set up right by our table. My husband got really into it and the musicians were so friendly.
I ordered hummus, tabouleh, and falafel. They came out and said they were out of tabouleh. I said then I want something completely different, it was supposed to all go together, and asked for a menu. They gave me a menu, and instead of coming back to retake my order, came out with the hummus and falafel as well as my husbands food. I tell them I was waiting to reorder, but being Deaf and it was so loud they could barely hear me, my husband being a MAN starts sighing and getting annoyed with me for being «difficult.» I order a wrap and we just start eating. The falafel was fab, very moist and tasty. Hummus was hummus, I mean its pretty hard to screw up hummus. My wrap finally came out and was a bit dry but still good. That hummus came in handy here!
My husband wants to come back on our next trip to DC, but only for the jazz, the food was good but nothing I couldn’t find somewhere else and WITH my friggin tabouleh.

Café Nema is a suprisingly good watering hole. If you bring a crowd, they might just play the radiohead CD you had in your pocket for some reason.
I’ve never eaten here but they will party it up on weekends.

My parents were having severe doubts about my restaurant-​picking skills with this one, despite all my past successes. Walk in, kind of an off-​putting smell, not much staff attentiveness…
All changed once food was on the table. And woah, was it a lot of food. Falafel were a huge hit, and the hummus was excellent. Fattoush salad was very tasty, though sweeter than a traditional fattoush, and no sumac.
Our entrees were ²⁄₃ outta the park hits: lamb kalankal (basically lamb cubes in a tasty, not spicy sauce) and lamb biryani were both fabulous. They came on a huge tray with jasmine rice and steamed spinach, and the chicken kabob we ordered (unnecessary, and a little dry — better once kalankal sauce was added). And, in the «Mediterranean style,» they also served a dish of angel hair pasta with an absolutely stellar marinara-​type sauce.
Live jazz started at 9:30, which made it loud to the point of almost non-​conversationable, but the vibe was fun. Will be back!

My understanding is that this place serves Somalian food.
Pros: The kalankal (I had the chicken) and Sambousa is delicious — and great to share.
Con: The service was slow.
I would recommend it for some delicious food — when you have some time to spare.

Saw great jazz here last night. Great «vibe» in this place. Some people talking, some people listening, some people eating. Just very cool. No cover charge, which makes is casual. It was packed last night, though people sort of drifted in and out.
Food was pretty good – not great. Don’t expect «steak-​house» cocktails. The wine selected isn’t very good. Had some good beer.
Really like this place.

Good food, great live jazz! Underground location, not a great place for conversation because it gets very loud when the band is going. Bar in the back with a few TVs. Server was attentive and helpful with menu selections.
The menu has quite a selection of dishes for different palates: African Fares, Italian Fares (pasta bolognese), chicken sandwiches, and even spicy buffalo wings.
Our table had:
— Baba ghanoush (creamy and full of flavor. you can request for extra pita bread),
–4 orders of Biryani (3 w/​lamb, 1 w/beef.the lamb was very tender and seasoned nicely, would have liked my rice spicier. the beef was not cooked through.),
— Kalankal with lamb (lamb was chewy and the dish overall lacked flavor), and
— Stuffed lamb (by far the best dish of the night; meat was tender and full of flavors from the mushrooms, peppers, and spinach inside-​served with a heaping portion of bismati rice.)

Café Nema is the spot when you’re in the mood for really good food. The menu mixes influences of French, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Italian (maybe more). My faves include: Nema Burger, hummus, rice, chicken shwarma, salad w/​the special house dressing, and pasta.
The atmosphere changes as does the music (DJ some nights, live jazz on others), but is always cool and enjoyable. Great place to chill, nibble, and sip be with a romantic interest, co-​workers, or good friends. The clientele is an eclectic mix of locals, DC transplants, white, black, American, International, professionals, and so forth which makes it all the more enjoyable.
It’s been a part of the U Street scene for years and does a wonderful job of staying current given the influx of newer establishments in the area.

Café Nema is a great DC experience; where else can you get a chicken shwarma, a Spaten draft, and listen to live jazz at a bar run by a Somali? It’s in a basement, and not very big, but is one of my favorite places on U Street. There are actually four taps, but I stick to the Spaten. The African art that adorns the walls adds to the overall funky feel of the place. The customers are a very diverse lot. My only complaint is that when they remodeled in February, they shortened the bar, which from a business perspective makes sense, since there is now more space for tables, but I always liked sitting at the long bar and watching the performances.

The combination of great food, great service, great atmosphere, and live music makes Café Nema U Street’s best kept secret. The restaurant is relatively small and a perfect place for a date or hanging out with friends, away from the hustle and bustle of Gallery Place, Adams Morgan, and Dupont.
The food is one of the highlights of this Somalian restaurant. We started off with the spiced chicken for our appetizer, which was 10 chicken wings drenched in a sweet bbq sauce. Recommended by our server, the biryani with lamb for $ 14 was mouth-​watering, but if you’re not into Middle Eastern cuisine, there’s several americanized options including the NY strip steak and buffalo wings available for the not so daring stomach. Additionally, the service was phenomenal and exemplified Middle Eastern hospitality. My friend’s shawarma arrived really late and our server dismissed the charge on the final check.
The live jazz music, which consist of two guys playing the bango drums and guitar, was a great touch to our evening dinner along with the independent artwork lined across the walls.

I stopped in with four friends on a Saturday night for drinks, and we enjoyed the atmosphere of Café Nema. The place is tiny and it was relatively busy, so we couldn’t grab seats, but we didn’t mind. The bartender was super friendly and got our drinks quickly. Luckily, it was my turn to buy us a round — five drinks (both beers and mixed drinks) only cost me around $ 25 (including tip).
The interior is warm (and rather dimly lit, especially the later it gets) with exposed brick, a fireplace, and lots of interesting art on the walls. Really cozy and could be a nice spot for a dinner date. A DJ was spinning, so my friends and I got some folks dancing in the middle of the room. The bartenders later thanked us for that.
We didn’t stay too long, but I plan on coming back to Café Nema — perhaps a little earlier in the evening to try some of the Middle Eastern cuisine, too.

My only other visit to the U street corridor was a miserable date that I went on a few years ago. The incessant bellicose political discussion made me feel like I was on a date with my sister (Not that I know what being on a date with my sister is actually like, but she’s a social conservative too, so I can guess what it would be like.) Anyway, I’m off on a tangent, sorry… :)
I’m getting too accustomed to Suburbia, where the restaurants have enough space to lounge around a bit. For a small intimate venue, this place is able to fit quite a large number of people.
The drinks were a bit overpriced, but in DC I expect it to a certain extent. The meal was reasonably priced though, so it all evened out in the end. The service was a bit slow, but quite attentive. Our waitress was gorgeous! (Certainly a bit out of my league, but attractive nonetheless) The food was quite tasty. I had the chicken kabob. mmmmmmmm. Also, the place had a nice smooth laid-​back jazz vibe to it. Certainly a welcoming environment. I felt like putting on sunglasses and a beret and pretending to be cool… (Notice, I said pretending… as I’m a certified member of the dork squadron)
I enjoyed my experience, and would certainly consider coming back!

Great place to drop in with friends for a relaxed atmosphere and some good drinks. It’s not very big downstairs, but everyone’s really friendly and even on busy nights tables seem to open up as people move in and out. The new décor is warmer and more open-​feeling than before, with a smaller bar but more room for tables (and maybe dancing??!). I haven’t actually eaten here yet, but everyone I’ve talked to who has says the food is good too. Since they got their face-​lift, Nema has also returned to bringing in live music several nights a week — I haven’t been able to check it out yet, but I’m looking forward to going back soon.
If I lived closer, I’d be here every weekend — but alas, I don’t get up here as much as I should. Wish I had a Nema close to me!

Came here for dinner on a Friday night. There was no wait around 7:30, so we just grabbed a table. We decided to get about 4 appetizers and then share an entrée.
We got the hummus, which was good, though the pita it came with was dry. We also got the falafel, kibbeh, and sambusa. All of them were good, though all in all it was all very heavy. But that’s what happens when you order 3 fried appetizers. The falafel was probably my favorite. The kibbeh was nice as well, though really huge and kind of heavy.
As for our entrée, we split the lamb shank. It came with rice, and some spinach on the side. The lamb itself was nicely cooked, but sadly it was a little too salty. The spinach, interestingly enough, was highly lacking in salt. Maybe the chef missed when he was aiming at the plate…
It definitely was decent enough to come back for another go round. There were other interesting looking options on the menu and the staff was very friendly. At the beginning our waitress checked in on us about 10 different times, but by the end it was much harder to get her attention. Of course, the place was packed by then, so I guess it makes sense. I still liked her — and not just because she complimented my hair. Though that didn’t hurt!

Well, I couldn’t add more stars to my last review, but I’d like to.
Nema got a facelift! OK it also got breast augmentation, a tummy tuck and a chemical peel. I loved this place before, but it was sort of shabby. It had that lovable dumpy, pseudo-​dive-​bar type feel that for whatever reason makes me feel comfortable. I was a little nervous when I heard the owners were remodeling — I didn’t want to lose that homey vibe, right?!?
Pretty much every inch of Nema has been redone, but somehow they managed to retain the relaxed, broken-​in feel. New floors, painted walls, wood paneled some walls (not like your grandma’s rec room — nice paneling, I swear), new layout (better for dancing — and being able to move in general), new furniture, new bar, new bathrooms, new lighting. .. you get the picture. Thankfully, the same awesome bar tenders are still in effect and the kitchen should be reopening again soon to serve up the same delicious fare.
If you loved Nema before, you’ll still love it. If you thought it was sort of grimy before, you’ll love it more now. If you still don’t love it. .. then maybe just stick to Georgetown. Everybody wins!

3.75 stars. I went in here last night for a drink and a quick bit after seeing a board outside boasting drink specials (which were actually for Momo upstairs).
The bartender was cool. The beer was good. The food was good. The veggie sambousas were absolutely delicious (accompanied by a great spicy sauce). The hummus was also good. The falafel was a bit burnt, but still acceptable. My dining companion got the wings, which he raved about. He also picked up the check, so I’m not sure how well the we fared price-​wise, but it seemed about average.
I’m likely to return.

Great bar with a laid back dive atmosphere. Good drinks, friendly staff, (Victor and Chris are super nice) and great tunes Saturday nights when my friend Brody dj’s. only bad thing is it can get really crowded really fast, but definitely give this place a shot next time you are in the area.

The set up of the building is odd (narrow and long) but that is part of the charm. Nema only has room for seating about 50 peeps. And yeah, I recommend trying out the food here because it is really good.
Based on a rec from a friend, we stuck to the Middle Eastern dishes. Starting off with an appetizer of hummus, we moved onto chicken and beef kabobs. I gotta say, the rice that came with the kabobs was the high point of the meal for me — –curried basmati with a nice addition of garlic and raisins.
There’s music downstairs– mainly jazz and Neosoul. Check out the art on the walls: the owners are constantly changing it, and the artists featured are from artists from Africa, India and some are local, too.