Asmara Menu – Cambridge, MA

Type : Eritrean restaurant

Location : Cambridge, MA

Eritrean & Ethiopian meals are shared & scooped up with injera bread at this homey, family-run spot. Based on 541 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.5 stars. Price $$

✔️ Dine-in ✔️ Takeout ✔️ No-contact delivery

Asmara 02139

Address:
739 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Phone: (617) 864-7447

Website:

Hours

Monday

(Labor Day)
5–9 PM

Hours might differ
Tuesday 5–9 PM
Wednesday 5–9 PM
Thursday 5–9 PM
Friday 5–9 PM
Saturday 5–9 PM
Sunday Closed

Menu

Appetizers
Spicy Chicken Wings $12.95
Stuffed Tomato
Whole tomato stuffed with spiced rice.
$12.95
Spinach With Ricotta $10.95
Stuffed Green Peppers
Whole green pepper stuffed with spiced ground beef.
$12.95
Ajibo Berebere
Cottage cheese with a slightly fermented pepper sauce.
$10.95
Salata Fitfit
Chopped tomato, onions, and green chilies seasoned in a house dressing and soaked with pieces of injera.
$10.95
Eritrean / Ethiopian Dishes
Boneless Chicken
Boneless chicken marinated in garlic and different herbs and curried in fresh tomato and red pepper sauce stew.
$18.95
Boneless Chicken
Boneless chicken marinated in garlic and different herbs and curried in fresh tomato and mild yellow sauce stew.
$18.95
Begeeh Mloukhiya
Tender lamb mixed with high fiber jute plant and curried with red pepper sauce.
$19.95
Alitcha Begeeh – Yebeg Alitcha
Lamb curried in a mild yellow sauce.
$19.95
Fluy Tibsy – Liyu Tibs
Cubes of tenderloin tips gently sautéed in our chef’s special sauce (spicy).
$19.95
Minchet Abish
Choice lean ground beef curried in red pepper sauce.
$19.95
Gored Gored
Cubes of tenderloin beef tips served raw (or very rare) with spiced and lightly fermented pepper paste.
$22.00
Kitfo
Kitfo is traditionally served raw, like steak tartar or lebleb (very rare). The butter has special spicy herbs that give kitfo its distinct flavor.
$22.00
Asmara Tibsy
Tender beef cubes sautéed in spiced butter, onions, green peppers, and chilies.
$19.95
Jumbo Shrimp Spicy $22.00
Salmon Filet Spicy
Salmon filets curried in pepper sauce.
$22.00
Scallop Spicy
Scallops curried in pepper sauce.
$22.00
Zighny Fitfit
Pieces of injera soaked in a spicy or mild beef stew.
$19.95
Derho Fitfit
Pieces of injera soaked in a mild or spicy chicken sauce.
$19.95
Sega Bebaynetu
(per person) Meat combination- boneless chicken, spicy lamb, sautéed beef, and mild vegetable stew, mild lentils and a house special salad.
$22.95
Ahimilti Bebaynetu
(per person) Vegetable Combination – Cabbage, yellow split peas, spinach, chick peas, lentils, and tomtato salad.
$20.95
Alitcha Ahmilti
Vegetable stew made from a mixture of cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, green peppers, string beans, and potato curried in yellow sauce.
$18.95
Timtimo
Yellow split peas curried in red pepper sauce or mild yellow sauce.
$15.95
Tikil Gomen
Cabbage, carrots, and potatoes stewed in red pepper sauce or mild yellow sauce.
$15.95
Shuro
Powdered and highly seasoned chick peas stewed in a pepper sauce.
$15.95
Tomato Salad
Chopped tomato, onions, and green chilies seasoned in fresh lemon, olive oil, pepper, and fresh lemon dressing.
$10.95
Asmara Potato Salad
Chopped potato mixed with chopped parsley, and seasoned in olive oil, fresh lemons, pepper, and garlic.
$10.95
House Salad
Feta cheese, tomato, and chopped onions in virgin olive oil house dressing.
$10.95
Asmara Beer and Wine List
Traditional Mes Honey Wine
(Homemade)
$8.75
Columbia Crest Chardonnay
(WA)
$10.95
Chateau Ste. Michelle Gewurtztraminer
(WA)
$10.95
Columbia Crest Johnnisberg Riesling
(WA)
$10.95
Luna Di Luna Pino Grigio
(Italy)
$10.95
Oxford Landing Chardonnay
(Australia)
$10.95
Cape Indaba Chardonnay
(S. Africa)
$10.95
Gabbiano Chianti
(Italy)
$10.95
Cousino Maeul Merlot
(Chile)
$10.95
Oxford Landing Merlot
(Australia)
$10.95
Trapiche Malbec
(Argentina)
$10.95
Alamos Pinot Noir
(Argentina)
$10.95
Cape Indaba Merlot
(S. Africa)
$10.95
Cape Indaba Shiraz
(S. Africa)
$10.95
Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon
(S. Africa)
$10.95
Kanonkop Pinotage
(S. Africa) a bottle
$70.00
Beck’s $6.50
Heineken $6.50
Amstel Light $6.50
Corona $6.50
Corona Light $6.50

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Photo Gallery

Reviews

Jimena Romero
You can’t miss this place! We had a wonderful diner, our waitress was super friendly and the food was top! Good portions and amazing quality! Hard to find. The best food I had from Eritrea or Ethiopia, and I have tried many. Will be back any time we are in town.

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Erin Karpich
I loved this place. The server was knowledgeable and friendly. We each got the vegetarian combo. There was a good amount of each type for two people. The inside atmosphere was fun!! I would come back and order my favorite item from the vegetarian combo.

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Annabella Gong
Asmara is unequivocally one of the best restaurants in the entire Boston area. The meat and veggie combo (see photo) is our go-to dish — you sample a little bit of everything, and every bite is just nirvana in your mouth. Perfect dish to share and enjoy for any sized group, whether it’s a pair or a crowd of 6. Also the great thing about the food is that even if you overeat (which you inevitably will b/c it’s so dang tasty), the food is so healthy and nutritionally dense that you don’t feel “gross” afterwards. We order the meat and veggie combo every time we come here (and it’s been like 50x and counting). Last but not least, Sarah is THE BEST — she is hospitality at its finest.

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Suvam Mukherjee
The restaurant is conveniently located near Central Square and has an interesting decor. We took the chicken wings as starters, which was pretty good. There was a honey + beer which was really good. That’s pretty much all the positive experience we had.

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Saran Ouk
Cute little Ethiopian restaurant. I got the meat combo with beef, chicken and lamb. We also got a couple apps, spinach with ricotta and the stuff tomato.

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Pantea Karimi
The restaurant has chicken, beef, lamb, vegetarian, and vegan options. The staff are cool and the fermented bread has a unique and interesting flavor.

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James Zabik
The ambiance is pretty casual, and you come in and wait in line until your part can be seated. My party and I ordered the meat combo and the veggie combo so we could try a bunch of things. It was totally the best move because we got to try so many amazing things. Eating with your hands and the injera bread was a little weird at first but after a minute I was loving the experience!

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Brian Twitchell
Shared two combination entrees and found it a bit too generous portions for two people with small appetites. Nonetheless the server was patient and worked hard despite a busy dinner crowd. Food was delicious. Spicy items were spicy but not too much for someone with mild tolerance. Bathroom was clean. Meat and vegetable dishes available.

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Sarah Wang
Such a fun vibe and great flavors! Loved the huge plates and eating with my hands. I don’t think I am the biggest fan of Eritrean food, but everything tasted great. I especially loved the sponginess of the bread 🙂 Very friendly waitress too! I recommend getting the trials of the meat and veggie, so you can taste everything! Surprisingly, I liked the bean dishes the best.

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Lydia Chew
I walk by this restaurant constantly, and something about it had been calling to me for *months* before I got the chance to go. Perhaps it’s the difficulty of actually getting seated at a table to eat here – I had planned multiple excursions here, only to be turned away, before I was actually successful. They had a month-long closure earlier this year, then they were closed on a Friday evening that I came out (so note that the listed hours might not always be correct), and on top of that there are often long lines. Because it’s so busy, don’t expect service to be quick, but everyone we interacted with was extremely nice!

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