Our friends from Portland stayed with us in Cape Town for two weeks last month, and we had an absolute blast. Despite it being winter, the weather cooperated for most of their visit and we packed our days with touristy adventures. One highlight was posing for a photo at the Cape of Good Hope sign:
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| Awesome friend 1, awesome friend 2, me, Fiance |
We also went on a safari, which might have been the most memorable experience of my life. Alongside big excursions, we enjoyed local spots—one evening we wandered down Long Street, sampled the lively bar scene (including a surprisingly good high school metal band), and ate dinner at Addis in Cape, an Ethiopian restaurant. It was a wonderful culinary experience: we sat on low chairs around a small wicker table and dug into traditional dishes.
Forgive the low-light photos—I only had my iPhone with me and the restaurant was dimly lit. We ordered a three-course meal that began with an appetizer of fried injera. Injera is a spongy, thin flatbread made from teff that soaks up the flavors of stews and sauces; deep-fried injera is a delicious twist.
For our main course we were served a large sheet of injera topped with an array of dishes: doro wat (spicy stewed chicken), kai sega wat (similar to the key wat I recently shared a recipe for), yebeg alicha (slow-cooked lamb), prawns Addis in Dar (prawns in a tomato-based sauce), misir wat (spicy stewed red lentils), kek alicha (stewed yellow chickpeas), gomen (a spinach dish akin to collard greens), and a fresh tomato salad. The variety made for a vibrant, communal meal.
Ethiopian meals are traditionally eaten without utensils: rolls of injera are provided to scoop up the stews and sides, and you also eat the injera that the food sits on. It makes the meal interactive and fun to share.
For dessert we enjoyed baklava—one of my favorite sweets. The restaurant finished the meal with rich Ethiopian coffee and, delightfully, a bowl of popcorn. That unexpected touch made me very happy.
The meal was incredible and a great way to try authentic flavors without a touristy feel. If you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend stopping by Addis in Cape. If you’re not nearby but want to recreate Ethiopian flavors at home, try making Key Wat (spicy Ethiopian stewed beef) for a delicious introduction to these bold, comforting dishes.