Eating Out In Addis Ababa

Eating out in Ethiopia is always a special experience. Not for the great organic food or the music or the variety, but the service. In the nicer "Injera places" the things that always gets you is the hand washing. Two maybe three people come over with hot water, soap, towels and you end up feeling like royalty and a little guilty.

But there is a funnier sometimes frustrating side to the service that you get in Ethiopia. My theory is that the wait staff in some restaurants see their customers like guests in their homes, so if you ask for one thing and they happen to bring another you are not supposed to complain. For example, we went to eat in my favorite breakfast spot Tic Tac and my friend ordered some scrambled eggs. A few minutes later the waiter returned with two eggs over easy. Even before my friend could say anything, the waiter said that he knew the order was scrambled eggs but here are two eggs over easy and tried to walk away. In his mind it was a simple mistake but their intentions were good, so eat the eggs as they are, as you would do in your aunt's or friend's house.

Another time I was having lunch at Meda, the best sports bar in Addis Ababa, and I ordered the steak and cheese sandwich from the menu. The waiter brought over a cheesburger and when I tried to complain he pointed to the contents of the cheeseburger and said, with a sincere look on his face, "there is the steak and there is the cheese. What's the problem?" I found that to be so funny that I just ate the Cheeseburger, and tipped him for the good laugh.

Here is a joke that illustrates how frustrated you may get eating out in Ethiopia:

A man walks into a restaurant and quickly signals
the waiter to come to his table. Once at the table,
>
> the waiter asks, "abet getaye, min litazez.."
>
> man: "betam erbognal ena fetan kitfo tolo
> betametalign des yilegnal."
>
> waiter: "eshi getaye. leb-leb? weynis tire?"
>
> man: "yaw yemifetnewin...tire."
>
> waiter: "eyshi. be-taba weyis be-sehan?"
>
> man: "ye-tegegnew lay."
>
> waiter: "eshi. mankias? ye-qend weynis ye-biret?"
>
> man: "ende nefsu. betam erbognal eyalkuh? mankiaw
> yekir."
>
> waiter: "eshi. be-dabo weynis be-kotcho?"
>
> man: "ante? bel asalifegn, mehede new."
>
> waiter: "be-taxi weynis be-egir?"
>
> man: "ende. ante? afinchahin endalilih?"
>
> waiter: "be-chama weynis be-tifi?"