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Somali cuisine · Ottawa

Come hungry. Stay a while.

Slow-cooked goat, cardamom rice and spiced tea, served the way we serve family.

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Overhead view of a Somali spread: spiced rice with fish, green beans and salad, surrounded by plates of goat, chicken and sweets
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Find us1644 Bank St, Ottawa
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Soo dhawoow

Somali hospitality starts with tea and does not end until you have eaten twice. Our kitchen cooks with the spice of the Indian Ocean and the welcome of a family table.

Cooked dailyRice, stews and bread made fresh each morning.
Halal kitchenAll meat sourced and prepared halal.
Family recipesHanded down, never shortcut.

Signature plates

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  • 01
    Goat shoulder on the bone over spiced rice with salad and green chili sauce

    Bariis iyo hilib

    $26

    Goat shoulder over rice perfumed with cardamom and clove.

    Halal
  • 02
    Chicken suqaar with onion and potato beside salad, pickled red onion and spiced rice

    Suqaar digaag

    $22

    Cubed chicken sautéed with onion, potato and xawaash, over spiced rice.

    Halal
  • 03
    Charred chicken drumsticks over pasta with sauce, salad and green chili sauce

    Digaag iyo basto

    $20

    Charred, spiced chicken drumsticks over pasta with our house sauce.

    Halal
  • 04
    Canjeero, a spongy pancake swirled with ghee and sugar, on a white plate

    Canjeero

    $9

    Spongy fermented pancake with ghee and sugar, or stew.

    Vegetarian
  • 05
    Plate of golden fried sambusa with green chili sauce

    Sambusa

    $8

    Crisp triangles filled with spiced beef or lentil.

    HalalSpicy
  • 06
    Xalwo with butter cookies on a white plate

    Xalwo

    $7

    Sweet halwa scented with cardamom and nutmeg.

    Vegetarian
  • 07
    Shaah, spiced milk tea in a glass cup, seen from above

    Shaah

    $4

    Milk tea simmered with cardamom, cinnamon and ginger.

    Vegetarian
Overhead view of a shared Somali meal: spiced beef over pasta, goat with salad and a glass of orange juice

Our story

Cooked by the family, served like family.

Every plate here is cooked slowly, with the spices and patience of a Somali family kitchen.

Follow the spice route

The spice route

Four stops, one pot.

  1. Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Cinnamon

    True cinnamon grows in Sri Lanka. Traders shipped the bark across the Indian Ocean to the Horn of Africa.

  2. Kochi, India

    Cardamom

    Kerala's hills grow the green pods that now scent Somali tea, rice and sweets.

  3. Zanzibar, Tanzania

    Cloves

    Zanzibar became one of the world's great clove growers in the 1800s, and its cloves sailed north.

  4. Mogadishu, Somalia

    The pot

    Ports on the Somali coast received spice and rice by sea. Today they meet in one pot.

INDIASOMALIAKENYATANZANIASRI LANKA Arabian SeaIndian Ocean Colombo Kochi Zanzibar Mogadishu

Coastlines are real. The sea route is illustrative, not a historical record.

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Book your table

Tell us when you are coming. We reply on WhatsApp to confirm, usually within the hour.

Parties of 11 or more, please ask about private dining below.

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Overhead view of shared plates of spiced rice with chicken, sambusa and sweets

Experience

Feeding a crowd?

Private dining, office lunches, Eid and Ramadan tables, cooked fresh and delivered hot.

Private dining Catering Holiday menus

Find us

1644 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K1V 7Y6
Opening hours
Monday12:30 pm – 8 pm
Tuesday12:30 pm – 8 pm
Wednesday12:30 pm – 8 pm
Thursday12:30 pm – 8 pm
Friday12:30 pm – 8 pm
Saturday12:30 pm – 8 pm
Sunday12:30 pm – 8 pm

Call us on +1 (613) 731-6000

Questions about parking or accessibility? Call us and we will help.

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