Profile
$$ - average
Ethiopian/Eritrean
Low-key Ethiopian in the South Wedge
Dashen is a simple Ethiopian restaurant on South Ave. Except for a few tourism posters and African knick-knacks, it has a diner feel. The food is cheaper than Abyssinia, and includes the usual vegan Ethiopian favorites, and offers a vegetarian combo platter to give you a little taste of everything.
The restaurant includes a full bar, patronized by a regular crowd of mostly Ethiopians, and has free foosball in the basement.
Dashen is on South Ave, just south of the intersection with Mount Hope.
The South Ave exit off 490 is 2 blocks north.
- Quiet
Added by phavardel on Jan 2 07 (updated Apr 17)
Reviews
Dashen is my favorite Ethiopian place in Rochester, because the food is cheap, but filling and very good. I also see more Ethiopian immigrants here than any other place, so I take that as a good sign.
The Misir Wat is the best I've found anywhere, although the Shiro Wat has a strange aftertaste.
Also, free foosball in the basement!
I've only eaten at Dashen three times, mainly because I prefer Abyssinia for Ethiopian food in Rochester. The food at Dashen was pretty good though (I ordered combo platters each time I ate there, and can't remember the individual dishes that well). I find the stews a little bit runny and the injera (flatbread) has more teff flour in it than the injera at Abyssinia. Dashen is a very simple place, so the atmosphere is kind of low-key, but the owner is very friendly. The first time we ate there the waitress was inattentive and took a long time to get to us, but the other two times the service was good. Prices are quite reasonable.