Meta Beer

The Ethiopia is an old government-owned hotel on the northwest side of town. Walking through its lobby, you can tell its heyday is behind it. However, the place maintains a certain elegance, if only through the silver-haired gentlemen in tuxedos milling around in the nearly empty dining area. We sit at a table covered in a gleaming white cloth on the far side of the room and glanced at the menu; it was the kind of menu that encouraged one to order a soup and a salad along with your entrée, so we did. It was still early in the afternoon, but we ordered a beer called Meta Beer that I hadn't seen anywhere else. Apparently it's brewed just 20 kilometers outside of Addis and a favorite around town despite its rarity. Later, I was told that they also have a premium label, but its been increasingly hard to get your hands on even the regular brew lately. Although our food--a french onion soup, green salad, and beef medallions with steamed carrot and zucchini--at the Ethiopia Hotel was excellent, the beer highlighted all the flavors. We could probably have polished off a few bottles each, but I savored that one glass.