Muzita Abyssinian Bistro, San Diego

Abyssinia is an old name for the area that is now Ethiopia and Eritrea.  The family who owns Muzita are Eritrean, so the food is familiar, but the names of the dishes are a bit different.  

The restaurant is in University Heights and is in a small house converted into a restaurant.  Because of COVID restrictions, diners eat on the ample patio and in a space divided from the street.  

We started with some nice mojitos.  Each entree comes with side dish and injera, a spongy, crepe-like bread that is used in place of a fork.  There are many vegetarian options, including shiro, a ground chick pea stew, which is very hearty.  We had siga kilwa (cubed beef with a spicy seasoning), beggie kilwa (lamb), tsebhi doro (chicken leg) and shiro.  The food was full of flavor!  It was really great!  The food is spicy, but the injera helps moderate the spice level.  (You can also request the food with less heat.)  I love injera and end up stuffed!  They served all our food on one large plate, so it was easy to share and get a taste of everything.  

I'm a big fan of Ethiopian food and this is one of the best I've tried.