At its heart, Gojo is an expression of cultural pride, made through the language of food. Nestled down a quiet street adjacent to the New Lynn train station, Gojo was founded in 2022 by business partners Fetehalow Zomo and chef Fantaye Aga. Aga spent most of her life in Ethiopia before moving to Aotearoa more than a decade ago, while Zomo’s family fled the country during the 1974–91 civil war, finding refuge in Sudan, where he was born. While the pair’s relationship to their motherland differs, their shared love for Ethiopia is crystallised by the restaurant, which honours their heritage in the most delicious of ways.

On any night you’ll spot Aga in the kitchen at the back end of the restaurant, meticulously preparing traditional dishes infused with an intermingling of hard-to-find spices and herbs and other specialty ingredients. Just as would ordinarily be the case in Ethiopia, there’s no dessert or alcohol served here — instead, a list of tasty savoury dishes, and to drink, Ethiopian coffee. 

The thin, faintly sour flatbread injera is central to the menu — and the perfect vehicle to mop up sauces with. The spongy fermented bread is used to line large platters, which are then topped with an array of stews and saucy fare, like doro wat — a fragrantly spicy chicken stew, or kitfo — a dish of cooked or tartare beef mince marinated with clarified butter and a hot spice mix called mitmita. Injera is also central to their shared-platter meals, of which there are three to choose from: the Gojo platter (all meat), the Beyanetu (all vegan) and, for omnivorous eaters, the Mesob platter (a mix of both). Each dish at Gojo is a delight, and even better when eaten with a group — gathered around a shared plate, and tearing into injera.