Habesha

Tonight a group of us went to Habesha, widely recognized as the best Ethiopian restaurant in Addis Ababa. I expected something a bit high-class, but the atmosphere was more comfy than classy, lit mostly by candles and dim lights. We sat around two low, round pedestal-footed tables and ordered a round of taj, or Ethiopian honey wine, and two dishes of injera (flatbread) and various types of wat (stew) and kitfo (meat). Since you are supposed to eat with your hands in Ethiopia, the waitresses brought out a porous metal dish with a bowl underneath to wash our hands. There was a bar of soap on the dish and they poured water from a jug over our hands as we washed them at the table.
During dinner there were various performers singing traditional Ethiopian love songs along with a keyboard player, and at one point and man and woman dancing duo showing the customers some traditional, but lively dance steps. The taj wine supposedly packs a pretty strong punch, and although I felt fine, one of my colleagues jumped up and did a jig along with the restaurant dancers. It was rather unexpected, and will probably be talked about for months to come, but no harm done and fun nonetheless. We ended the meal with a round of buna (Ethiopian coffee) and a few slaps on the back. Four of our colleagues will be going back to Japan this Friday so we bid them farewell and wished them a safe trip, then headed home.