Where To Eat & What To See In Addis

I've received several emails and FB messages about our time in Addis - I will write all about it in bits and pieces over the next few weeks. (I've meant to before now but anyways.....) Right now we're working on getting back into a schedule, a new normal, and most importantly we're busy loving on our girl and helping her figure out life in our family. She's doing really well all things considered. Obviously these things take time and we have lots of that. :)

I do have some fun restaurants and places to see whenever you are in Addis. We did visit Awassa as well and I can share those places later but these listed below are all in Addis.

Restaurants

Yod Abyssinia - Yummy Ethiopian Food - great traditional dancing - I recommend the fasting platter - yummy vegetarian dishes - all my personal favorites. If you're really adventurous try the Teg! (honey wine) I've had the Doro Wat here too and it's good, my husband prefers the Beef Tibs. The vegetarian platter is 80 birr and it's huge! Teg is 120 birr a bottle.

Island Breeze - Where do I even start. This restaurant is owned by an Ethiopian American and his American wife. The food is fabulous, there was not a meal eaten here that wasn't good. We were regulars. The chicken quesadillas were by far my favorite, they come with fresh guacamole which is fantastic! The chips and salsa is awesome, and the bean dip was something we tried towards the end and absolutely loved! The Chicken strips are fabulous, the honey mustard dipping sauce seriously YUMMY! The fajitas are good as is the pizza, not the best pizza in Addis but still good. They came out with a deep fried chocolate bar the last week we were there and we tried that with our buddies the Mullins. Its crazy sweet but really good! We usually shared all of our meals because our appetites weren't huge. If you aren't sharing the average meal runs about 60-80 birr.

Sangum - Serving the best Indian Food we've ever eaten. The Butter Tikka Masala was amazing. We ordered that, the vegetable rice and shared it. Total cost was about 130 birr with an order of plain naan. I also tried the lunch special one time which was the dal of the day and another choice of vegetarian dish. It also includes a fabulous tomato chutney plus another veggie side. I was starving that day but we still couldn't finish the two meals and Zahra ate as much as I did. It was Delish!

Sishu - According to my husband all of the burgers are awesome, I can only vouch for the AMAZING grilled vegetable sandwich and the YUMMY desserts. Oh and the Mango juice is TO DIE FOR! This restaurant is a bit more spendy on Ethiopian terms - a burger with fries is about 75 birr while my veggie sandwich is only 45 birr. :) Drinks are also a bit more, typically we paid about 10-12 birr for mango juice and here it's 24 birr. TOTALLY worth it!

Garden Paradise - I don't think I've had anything here that I haven't liked. By far our favorites are the Chicken Kabobs. David had a hamburger this last time and I usually get the Ratatouille. Its fantastic. Their French Fries are awesome, David said the Hamburger was just okay. Other have had the Lasagne and said it was good. I have also gotten the Pasta Primavera which was pretty good as well. They serve yummy rolls and we usually eat in the bar because it seems quicker and its a bit less prim and proper then the main dining room.

Kaldi's - There aren't enough words for how much I miss Kaldi's. We went almost daily the entire month we were there. The macchiato's are amazing, the mango juice fantastic, the strawberry juice refreshing. David loves their esprice drinks too. Kaldi's is definitely our breakfast place of choice. We usually had a macchiato each, a mango juice to share, and we'd split an omelette. It comes with two pieces of toast and jam as well. We liked the french toast and so did Zahra. :) The oatmeal is not good. Trust me. They have vegetable sambusa's that are really good, their french fries are fab as well. The beignet's are yummy, as is the chocolate crunch type cake. (Come on Steph, help me out, I don't remember the name) David really liked the cinnamon mocha, I'm a girl of habit and stuck with my macchiato. Sometimes I threw a curve ball and ordered a caramel macchiato but not often. :)

Tamoca - I used to say they had the BEST macchiato's but we were really disappointed this trip. They weren't that great at all. We did buy all of our bagged coffee there and it is delicious.

Sheraton - Hello tranquility!! We went to the Sheraton often. I worked the whole time we were in Addis and the Sheraton had the fastest internet around. It was so nice to just go and relax. They too have yummy macchiato's, great french press coffee, and their cobb salad is pretty good too. Their spring rolls aren't bad and neither is their nachos. Other then that the food there isn't that great. In comparison their prices rival typical American hotel prices. A macchiato is 30 birr in comparison to the typical 6-8 birr you'd pay anywhere else. Still not bad by American standards but its high in Ethiopia. My cobb salad was about 175 birr or $11 US.

Bilo's - Macchiato's and Ice Cream, so so good!!!

Makush - Chicken Cutlet with Gorgonzola Pasta, Focaccia Bread, Pepper Steak, and of course amazing art!

Shangri-la - Traditional Ethiopian Cuisine - good prices, food is okay, its very inexpensive and with all of those things considered its pretty good.

Tivoli - Vegetarian Lasagne, Vegetarian Pizza, Stuffed Chicken Breast, Teriyaki Chicken and rice, Spring Rolls, and I hear the meat lasagne is also good. They also have pineapple pizza which is yummy too!

Metro Pizza (the one on Bole Rd) - The name kind of speaks for itself. It's a pizza place. Good pizza, good pasta, cold Fanta. We ordered the margarita pizza essentially but there is another one with meat on it that includes basil. Order that minus the meat and for some reason our buddies Wes and Nina say it tastes better. We didn't argue.

What to see:

Entoto Mountain - Great photo opportunities, scenery, precious kids, and an amazing view of the city.

Sabahar - I'm pretty sure I hold the title for most visited in the shortest period of time. Amazing silk scarves, they have weavers there, silk worms, and just amazing items for purchase.

NGO Bazaar - Held on the last Saturday of every month at IEC Church - all proceeds go to local NGO's. Unique items all in one place. Items are sometimes higher priced but go to a good cause and many of the items there are one of a kind. Plus if you're in country for awhile they sell chips there as well as yummy yummy peanut brittle.

Alert Hospital - This is the leper hospital, the people LOVE visitors and the weavers really need glasses so if you have any extras there are a few there with prescriptions but no glasses. :( Great woven items, beautiful traditional crosses, and more. All proceeds goes to support the workers and their families.

Misrach Center - All proceeds go to help the blind and disabled in their program, great wooden items including puzzles and toys. Woven items and bags.

I'll add more as I think of them - we had an incredible time in Addis and miss it very much!