Even more incredible Ethiopian cuisine – enter Kategna Restaurant in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Kategna was another great food recommendation by Mark and was the first thing that popped out of the mouth of the Radisson Addis Ababa concierge when I asked about restaurant recommendations.

So what could go wrong?



Kategna has 3 different locations in the city of Addis Ababa.

I went to the branch on Meskel Flower Street - it's the sole two-storey building in a ramshackle, dusty part of town. This did not look like a dangerous area of town, but I expected a bit different :)

The restaurant is kept in traditional colors and has traditional seating options (it took me a while to get used to the seat).

There are English menus, but they don't give away too much information if you haven't studied up on Ethiopian cuisine beforehand.

Since it was fasting time, the vegetarian appetizer plate that I was looking for wasn't available for lunch. So it was beef firfir for me. This dish is made from dried meat - in this case, it was beef in a spicy tomato sauce. It is mixed with the Ethiopian bread injera and served on another big piece of injera bread.

It also came with a delicious and fresh tomato salad.


After lunch I decided to try out the Ethiopian coffee - it's made in front of you, just outside the dining hall.







The 'coffee maker' is a person who roasts the beans above a small charcoal fireplace. This alone generates a fantastic aroma. After the beans are ground (which does not happen right there, though) they are mixed with hot water in a traditional Ethiopian coffee maker. The brewed coffee is then poured into small cups - it's like a slightly watery espresso.

I'm a coffee aficionado and found that Ethiopian beans really have something going for them - I found the coffee to be excellent - not just here at Kategna, but everywhere I went in Addis Ababa.

The total bill came to about $6, including the coffee, water and a tip - quite a steal!



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