North Oakland has seen an influx of immigrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea in recent years. Along with these new residents come new Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants that offer non-Africans good food.
Red Sea is located at the corner of 52nd Street and Claremont Avenue in North Oakland. It offers friendly, but often slow, service.
The atmosphere of Red Sea is frankly bland. However that can be expected from any African restaurant. Red Sea has a few posters on the wall, plays some East African music and thats about it as far as the atmosphere department.
You can expect spicy food from an Ethiopian restaurant. Meals are served on plates with a spongy bread. Diners are supposed to use this bread to wrap up the meat or vegetables with their hands, and then proceed to eat it.
There is a large selection of both vegetarian and meat dishes. You probably won't recognize anything, since Ethiopian food is so new to this country.
I also had an Ethiopian beer in a bottle it was called Hakim Lager. It's imported by an Oakland-based importer. I enjoyed it. The restaurant also offers some fruity non-alcoholic drinks but I did not have any.
In conclusion, I'd recommend Red Sea to anyone wanting to try Ethiopian food.
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