Demera Ethiopian - Saint Paul

We loved the meat and veggie platters! We were pleased to be the only guests there at 630pm on a Friday night, but also want their business to do well, as the service is great, atmosphere cozy and food amazing! We will be back!Vegetarian options: They have a vegetarian part of their menu.Kid-friendliness: They were warm and welcoming to our children.Parking: Parking lot next to the restaurant!

The food was decent, but nothing special. Obviously this isn 't the same standard as the Cedar-Riverside area. Less competition means less need for quality. $1 for spicy, and it wasn 't at all. I don 't know how the spicy version was anything different than normal. When the server asked if it was spicy enough, and then I said no, his response was to add pepper. Table pepper isn 't spicy.Also, the bathrooms are filthy. There is a urinal in the Men 's bathroom with urine in the bowl. Tape says 'Out of Order, ' but it clearly had been used. It smelled awful. I used the women 's bathroom instead and it wasn 't much better.

On the hunt for some tasty East African fare in the cities? If so, this is definitely a place to try! This is an unassuming little place that offers spectacular food. I was in for dinner with a group of business associates, including one who is a little older than me and had spent something north of a quarter of his life living in Ethiopia. He spoke a couple of dialects and did a great job explaining the whole experience to everyone at the table. I've been eating Ethiopian food for for a couple of decades but have nowhere near the knowledge of their food, country, culture, etc. Certainly a learning experience that went well beyond the food. We had a couple of platters for the 5 of us: one vegetarian and the other a meat-lover's paradise. I consider Ethiopian to be a cuisine so packed with flavor that I generally eat vegetarian. That said, the lamb, chicken and beef dishes all were incredibly delicious. There are 5 vegetarian dishes that come with that platter. All were delicious but my favorite had to be the misir kay wot: red lentils with berebere and a bunch of other good stuff. There were at least as many meat dishes and all were wonderful. The standout was probably the doro wat. I'm not sure I've had this one before but the flavors absolutely filled my mouth while I was eating the dish. Super tasty!

I am working my way through the Ethiopian restaurants of Saint Paul and Demera is well with a stop. I picked up a veggie combo for lunch, which included several lentil/pulse dishes along with collard greens, carrots and beans and a side salad. I was really pleased with the spice level- just a hint of heat. The serving of Injera was generous and the whole meal was big enough for another lunch Tomorrow. The restaurant itself is well appointed inside and I hope to dine there in person when I can get a few friends out.

Overall, the food was worth the visit. The Key Wot was delicious, bit the other dishes were a little lackluster.The place felt just a little bit better than almost clean, whereas the bathroom felt like it needed some work.It was completely empty when I went to lunch on a Tuesday, which I felt was odd, but maybe Tuesday is just their slow day.I would probably go back again and try other dishes, given I have enough time.