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    Restaurant Abyssinia

    4.0 (1 review)
    Open 9:30 am - 2:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 1:00 AM (Next day)

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    Marathon Ethiopian

    Marathon Ethiopian

    4.5(10 reviews)
    72.6 kmKreis 3
    $$

    I am reading the previous reviews for this typical ethiopian restaurant and I see that they are…read morevery good. The main idea behind this is that the place is super traditional, it's the real thing. Which I completely agree with. However, for my personal taste, it was a bit too much of a traditional atmosphere, which I didn't expect here in Switzerland. Let me start with the beginning: it was the birthday of a friend and we wanted to celebrate it by having dinner in a nice place. One of the girls suggested Marathon, about which she had read a full one page great review in one of the Zurich gastro tips magazines. None of us had ever tried Ethiopian food before. First, it was not straightforward finding the place, as it looks like anything but a restaurant from the outside... Maybe more like a super old laden or countryside bar? Ok. Then, when you go inside.. You are basically not in Switzerland anymore. A small room with (I would estimate) 6 tables is the restaurant, next to which on one side is a bar where an ethiopian lady is frying all the food and on the other side another room (it was probably initially a 2 rooms apartment) in which at least 20 ethiopian men were playing pool and watching a super loud TV. Even in the restaurant itself, most of the tables were occupied by men from the other room grabbing snacks during their pool games break. Everybody was speaking only Ethiopian (I assume) and the people from the neighbouring room were constantly going in and out of the restaurant. At some point, they started verbally arguing.. Seemed pretty serious by the tones of their voices, but yeah... Who knows... So, as you might get the point, it was like a small house with 30 people inside. The waiter was super friendly, smiling all the time. He spoke no English and very little German, but it was no much need of communication: we chose these 'a little bit of all' things, where on a huge thin layer of their specific bread you have all sorts of vegetables, cheese, tofu and some traditional sauces. We got the vegi version (which had soy meat if I remember well) and the meat version (which had chicken). Oh, and there were plenty of boiled eggs as well. The food was nice, incomparable to any type of food I had before. I have to admit I felt a little sick after eating it, but none of my friends had any problem, so it might have been just my lack of familiarity with african food that caused the problem. We were 5 people and the food was plenty. I found it to be too expensive though for the actual conditions in which it was served. We payed around 30 CHF/ person excluding drinks. In conclusion, it's a great place for an authentic experience (not only food). But me, personally, to be honest, I won't go back. And definitely it is not the place to celebrate a birthday. Maybe I'm being too picky about stuff.. Just go and judge by yourself!

    I lived in Ethiopia for a year, and occasionally (often) get a craving for traditional Ethiopian…read morefood. Marathon lives up. We shared the small dining room with mostly Swiss patrons, but the restaurant clearly caters to the Ethiopian community in Zurich as well. The food was authentic and well prepared, and served in the traditional Ethiopian style (shared plate of injera with your order poured on top). If you've had Ethiopian food in Ethiopia, the only difference to point out is that the injera is less sour and not as course as you would often find there - probably a concession to palates not accustomed to the flavor. If you want to try some food that ventures beyond the typical Zurich fare, I'd highly recommend Marathon. The staff was friendly and helpful, and threw in free appetizers and coffee (but I don't know if that's standard or not). Prices are typical for Zurich meals, if not slightly less than you might find elsewhere. Portions are 20-25 chf each. Note to vegetarians: we only ordered meat dishes, but there were 4-5 vegetarian options on the menu.

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    Marathon Ethiopian
    Marathon Ethiopian - Little bit of all - Ethiopian style

    Little bit of all - Ethiopian style

    Marathon Ethiopian

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    Restaurant Abyssinia - ethiopian - Updated May 2026

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