Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHERE TO EAT & DRINK
Outside Addis Ababa and major towns, there isn't a plethora of eating options. You're usu-
ally constrained to small local restaurants (which in Ethiopia, as in much of East Africa, are
often known as hotels or some variation of the word) that serve one pasta dish and a limited
selection of Ethiopian food. In larger towns, local restaurants and hotels both offer numer-
ous Ethiopian meals. The hotels' menus also throw some, normally very forgettable,
Western meals into the mix.
Kitfo bets
are specialist restaurants in larger
towns that primarily serve
kitfo
. Similarly
tej
bets
are bars that focus on serving
tej
.
Unlike Addis Ababa, where restaurant hours
vary widely, most restaurants elsewhere are
open daily from around 7.30am to 10pm.
Tej
bets
tend to open later (around 10am), but also
Kevin Rushby's brilliant book
Eating the Flowers
of Paradise
is an entertaining and adventurous
story of his journey through Ethiopia, Djibouti and
Yemen in search of the perfect
chat
session.
close about 10pm.
