5 great African restaurants in Glasgow
Glasgow’s vibrant African food scene is fuelled by comfort meals and community
Family Café
213 Gallowgate
Community is strong at this casual Ethiopian/Eritrean spot where expats gather. Lamb stews shine with tender meat and fruity sauce, lentils are cooked lovingly and the gigantic, thin injera mops everything up with malty satisfaction. A lovely exponent of one of the world’s oldest cuisines.
Goat In The Tree
16 Park Road
This Kelvinbridge Moroccan diner is a real rarity these days: generous portions of great food at bargain prices. Punters leave sated and smiling thanks to top-quality snacks and dips, tagines and mountainous couscous options. Add in BYOB and personable staff, and this place is almost as extraordinary as a herd of goats up a tree.
Massawa
53 Byres Road
A great spot for enjoying Eritrean and Ethiopian food, with wooden and terracotta décor that’s as warming as the service. Take enough folk to justify a big sharing option of regional wats spiced with berbere and served on spongy sourdough injera, all revealed beneath a traditional basket covering. BYOB if you want alcohol.
Mosob Bar & Restaurant
56 Dundas Street
Climb the industrial stairs to pop up in one of Glasgow’s top Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurants. It’s a big comfy space, dotted with the decorative baskets for which the place is named. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians traditionally abstain from meat for much of the year, which means you’ll find delicious, complex vegan dishes here.
Qasaba
21 Allison Street
Compact café-diner with an ebullient owner-chef, top African soundtrack and great Algerian and Levantine food. The daily-changing menu does sandwiches and brunchy daytime dishes evolving to evening numbers. Expect big punchy flavours and endless interest from the tiny kitchen. BYOB at the moment.
Picture: Jay Thundercliffe.
This article is written in partnership with Glenfiddich.