Mu’ooz - Eritrean restaurant

A woman sitting on a small stool roasting coffee beans on an open flame is the last thing you expect when you walk into a restaurant in sub-urban Brisbane.

The small Eritrean restaurant run by a group of former refugees feels like a glimpse into everyday life in the East-African state. As the scent of roasting coffee and the perfume amber waft through the room to a gentle murmur of Tigrinya and English conversations, coffee is served in long-necked traditional clay flasks.

Eritrea is a former Italian colony ravaged by two armed conflicts since independence, with Yeman and Ethiopia. The country has experience a fragile peace over the past few years but two thirds of its population still receive food aid.