The most reliable Italian restaurant in Asmara, in a converted villa just off Liberation Avenue. Castello does the things you would hope a 70-year-old Italian dining room in a former colonial capital would do well: house-made pasta, simple grilled fish from the Red Sea, a short list of red wines from northern Italy, and tiramisu that has not changed in decades.
The dining room is small and quiet, with white tablecloths and dark wood. Reservations are sensible at weekends. Mains are inexpensive by international standards but expensive by local ones; this is a treat-yourself stop rather than an everyday meal.