Eritrea is big on Italian food, due to having been an Italian colony between 1890 and 1940. There is a huge range of restaurants in Asmara serving Italian food with Albergo Italia being the best in quality, closely followed by the outdoor setting of Casa Degli Italiani, Alba Bistro opposite the post office also offers a quality, wide range, of food not forgetting Castello behind the Nyala Hotel. The Spagetti and Pizza House on Harnet Av. offers a great choice of pizza and pasta dishes as well as its signature Chilli red snapper.
Most traditional Eritrean food is quite spicy, and consists generally of very hot meat and/or vegetable stews, eaten over the staple called "injera" a kind of sour-dough pancake or flatbread. Blue Bird and Milano are generally considered the best places for traditional food.
On the up-side, there are many restaurants which make hamburgers using quality organic beef or lamb, such as The Mask Restaurant.
For Indian and Far East cuisine you can visit the Rooftop Garden or The China Star
For a taste of home and a fantastic steak visit the weekend only restaurant at the Asmara Palace Hotel although avoid their buffets.
Drink a lot because Asmara will dry you out. Mineral water is there in abundance and that is really the only water you can drink. Don't drink the tapwater if you value your health. Similarly, there are also a lot of bottled fruit juices, 'Fresh' juices are typically safe to drink in the cleaner bars and restaurants.
Eritreans, especially Asmarinos, love their coffee. Like so much else it is imbibed Italian-style and the city's favorite coffee drink is the macchiato makyato ie. 'stained' that is coffee stained with a touch of steamed milk-froth which is definitely worth a try if you like strong, sweet coffee.
