As I’ve mentioned a few times previously, Ethiopian food has been one of my favorite cuisines since childhood.

I actually remember my first taste, it was when I was about 12 years old in Kenya (I think, there have been a lot of meals since), and it was love at first bite.

From that moment I had wanted to visit Ethiopia, so finally 16 years later, I made it.

First meals in a country are always exciting – not only because of the food, but also because you are required to find a suitable restaurant, order (even if you have no idea what your’e doing), and then eat!

So there we were, wandering around southern Addis Ababa, looking for my first meal.

Most restaurants are surrounded by a wall and gate, but peeking inside I could see those yellow plastic tables, beer posters, and hear the tv’s (I think all Ethiopian restaurants have tv’s).

After a few moments of contemplation, I chose a restaurant that looked pretty friendly and in we went.

Outdoors there were the plastic tables, and inside, a dark cavern of men chowing down on plates of injera topped with a variety of meat curries.

Not knowing how or what to order, a man sitting next to the cash register graciously helped me and ordered, what was pretty much the thing everyone was eating: mahaberawi, a combination platter of various meat dishes.

I took my plate outside, and began to dig in ferociously.

The mix came with a number of different meat curries, to be honest I’m not even sure if they were beef or goat, potatoes, and even a small scoop of plain rice, all atop a blanket of injera.

I didn’t stop until I had polished off all the dishes and the injera foundation as well.

From my very first meal in Ethiopia, I knew it was going to be an amazing country!

A stuffed stomach and satisfied taste buds came to just 22 ETB ($1.15).

Many more Ethiopian food stores to come!