Best restaurants in Addis Ababa

Yes, it's touristy, but they sure put on a show at Yod Abyssinia. The large dining area is crammed with low wooden stools that all face a stage; at around 7.30pm, musicians, dancers and singers perform...

This upper-crust French restaurant serving superb and authentic, traditional French dishes is still one of the best restaurants in the capital. Try an excellent salad for starter, a delicious steak with Roquefort...

Very much an Addis institution, this Italian restaurant has fed Swedish royalty, Bob Geldof, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and US presidents. The food is (of course) good, perhaps even the best Italian in Addis....

If you’ve travelled overland to Addis Ababa, and eaten in a succession of cheap local restaurants serving less-than-inspiring injera, then reward yourself with high-quality, delicious Ethiopian fare served up in...

It may have moved locations but Lime Tree remains one of the hippest places to have a light lunch. Lunch specials range from chicken shwarma (Monday and Wednesday) to Asian wok dishes (Tuesday), Mexican...

For both the local Muslim and Christian communities, this busy place is a lunchtime institution – queues for a table can form out the door. The reason they all flock here? Good, honest Yemeni fare, including...

A pleasingly modern take on the traditional Ethiopian restaurant, Kategna feels like a classy urban cafe with its soothing colour scheme, low wooden stools and well-to-do young crowd. The menu covers all corners...

If you’ve developed a craving for a cracking curry, try this atmospheric and upmarket Indian restaurant. There's plenty to choose from but the mughali biryani (fragrant rice), tandoori dishes or butter-chicken...

One of a handful of traditional theatre-restaurants in town, the excellent Habesha 2000 has low-slung wooden seating, a full portfolio of traditional Ethiopian (and, refreshingly, only Ethiopian) dishes to choose...

Recently moved to an unprepossessing suburban back street, Avanti is a quiet and classy place that serves some of the best Italian food in the city. There's much on the menu to turn the head, but we particularly...

If either Nile perch, artichoke, capsicum, olives, white wine sauce, basil polenta and vegetables, or linguine served with mixed seafood, garlic, chili and Pinot Grigio make your stomach quiver with excitement,...

Set within the Sheraton’s confines, Shaheen is Addis Ababa’s most sophisticated Indian restaurant. The decor in the restaurant is grand and the melange of Indian curries and tandooris is vast. The Ajwani Machi...

Feel on top of the world and enjoy the views over the city at this 5th-floor restaurant inside the Boston Day building. The menu, which takes in Ethiopian dishes as well as steaks, Mexican and pastas, spans the...

Best known as Addis' coolest cafe, Galani also serves up fabulous food such as raw cauliflower salad, sweet and savoury crepes, tacos and the city's best brunch (10am to 1pm weekends). The setting is classy and...

Next to the National Museum and a favourite haunt of locals, expats and museum-visiting tourists, this bright and airy restaurant with alfresco garden dining serves pastas (some vegetarian options), curries and...

This simple outdoor restaurant receives high marks from locals, expats and tourists alike for its quality Ethiopian fare. The yetsom beyaynetu (variety of fasting foods) is perfect for vegetarians, while yedoro...

Watch chefs manoeuvre airborne dough while you wait for your thin-crust pizza – we reckon they're Addis' best. There are two-dozen pizzas on the menu – toppings range from anchovies and capers to prosciutto and...

If Addis has a vaguely ‘boutique’ pizza place then this is it. It’s small, warm and welcoming, with thin-crust pizzas popping out of the pizza oven to satisfy a young and cool local crowd. Upstairs is an equally...

Come dinner and lunch, this local option sees few tourists and is alive with action. Tables spill onto a large courtyard topped by flowering vegetation. Buy a big hunk of meat from the butcher out front, then...

Having moved to a tranquil location in the grounds of Addis' Alliance Française complex, this classy Mediterranean eatery does a creative menu of Beirut-meets-Milan dishes – try the ginger-garlic fish or the...