Injera flatbreads are at the heart of Eritrean cuisine… and therefore Bisha

A BUS ride from Angel to Archway trundles past almost every cuisine on the planet. Upper Street is a constant churn of new restaurants and food trends. Half-way down Holloway Road is Bisha, serving the little-known food of Eritrea.

This restaurant has been in business for a decade. Their Instagram celebrates a visit by Jeremy Corbyn back in 2020.

I’ll leave it to the experts to decipher the subtle differences between Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisines.

I know that Eritrea has access to the Red Sea coast and tomatoes are more of a thing. This may be because Italians colonised the territory for nearly 60 years and the fertile farmland is at a lower altitude, so the crop is easier to grow.

In Eritrea, I read somewhere, oil is preferred to butter for cooking and it’s less common to find meat mixed into their vegetable dishes.

One definite fact is that the sharing of injera flatbreads is at the heart of traditional mealtimes in both countries.

These gently fermented, spongey breads are made with Tef flour and act like a plate – piled with stews, pulses and fried meats and vegetables.

Meals like this are a highly communal experience. You tear off a piece of the injera with your hands and use this to scoop up the food.

The dining room at Bisha is large and simply decorated. The comfortable chairs are either sky blue or a mustard yellow.

There is a tray laid with all the gadgets needed for the coffee ceremony, where beans are roasted and ground to order.

Plain white walls are hung with photos of Eritrea, depicting rural stone houses or steam trains chugging through the landscape. One shows a dramatic view at sunset of Enda Mariam Cathedral in Asmara, the architecturally diverse capital city.

I chose a vegetarian option called Naytasom Bebiaynetu: an injera topped with seven different dishes, each interspersed with a pile of crunchy salad.

In general, the spicing of Eritrean food is subtle – only one pulse dish was hot with chilli.

There was a dish of green beans called Fosolia, whose texture was intriguing: almost semi-dried then rehydrated.

I enjoyed slow-cooked beetroot and a moreish, slippery cabbage dish with shreds of carrot.

Pulses are a feature. Alisa is yellow split-peas cooked in turmeric; Azifa consists of green lentils tumbled with onion, chilli, mustard and a squeeze of lemon juice.

My meal was £13.95 – an absolute bargain for a rainbow of colours, textures and flavours.

The vegan platter for two costs £27.90; a meatier version is – strangely – a few quid less and includes classic dishes such as Awaze tibs: nuggets of lamb marinated in a complex spice blend then stir-fried with peppers, onion and garlic.

Bisha is a great choice for larger groups as this is food designed for sharing.

The bottled beers are excellent, too. A high quality brewing scene is a well-known highlight of both Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Bisha
544 Holloway Rd, N7
020 7263 8219
@bishaeritreanrestaurant