Ethiopia Entertainment

Menus in the best hotels offer international food and Addis Ababa also has a number of good Chinese, Italian and Indian restaurants. Traditional restaurants in larger cities serve food in a grand manner around a brightly coloured basket-weave table called a masob.

Things to know: Traditional Ethiopian food does not use pork because most Ethiopians are Muslim or Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Before beginning the meal, guests will be given soap, water and a clean towel, and the right hand is used to break off pieces of bread with which the rest of the meal is gathered up. Cutlery is not used.

National specialities:
• Ethiopian food is based on dishes called we't (meat, chicken or vegetables, cooked in a hot pepper sauce) and served with or on injera (a flat spongy bread).
• Shivro and misir (chickpeas and lentils, Ethiopian-style).
• Tibs (crispy fried steak). 
• Kitfo (raw or very rare ground beef marinated in a very hot chilli powder).
• There is a wide choice of fish including sole, Red Sea snapper, lake fish, trout and prawns.

National drinks:
• Ethiopian coffee from the province of Kaffa, with a little rue (a sweet herb) added for extra aroma, is called ‘health of Adam'.
• Local red and dry white wines are worth trying.
• Tej (an alcoholic drink based on fermented honey).
• Talla (Ethiopian beer).
• Kaitaka (a pure grain alcohol).

Tipping: In most hotels and restaurants, a 10% service charge is added to the bill. Tipping is usual, but amounts are small.

There are numerous local bars or pubs in the larger centres as well as more international style venues in hotels. In Addis, ‘cultural' restaurants are good places to eat traditional food and take in Ethiopian music and dance.

Special purchases include local jewellery (sold by the weight of gold or silver), woodcarvings, illuminated manuscripts and prayer scrolls, wood and metal crosses, leather shields, spears, drums and carpets. In marketplaces, bargaining is expected, but prices at shops in towns are fixed.

Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1300, 1400-2000; Sat 0900-1300, 1500-1900 (with local variations).