A deadly tourist trap.
We know they’re rated really highly on Tripadvisor and in every guidebook, and we are definitely of the opinion that you should try anything once – but you can’t say that you’ve experienced real food or culture after spending a night there.
Yes they’re cool – you get to see singing and dancing and the food is fine. But they’re totally staged, it’s contrived culture.
And yes, the guidebooks tell you that locals are present – and there are Ethiopians there but they aren’t locals. They’re diasporas – that is, Ethiopians who have been outside of Ethiopia for years and are back visiting.
But where does the staff go to eat as soon as the show is over? Well that’s why AddisEats is here – to show you these local places that make authentic food where the locals eat.
I disagree about this one. First of all, as anthropologist, I know for sure :-), culture is a construct and all traditions are invented. So authenticity is something I like to question a lot. Secondly, the food at many of these places is really well prepared and with the dancing that comes with it, all my guests love it. Yes, the dancing is staged, but that is the idea. And people know it. And not all people who come are diaspora. Wealthy Ethiopians come to celebrate ‘mels’ part of the wedding, some come for birthday celebrations. There are evenings when it is super cool and other times, when the room is full of farenjis etc really dull.The dancing is really good, and there is one super cute guy at Habesha 2000, easy on the eyes 🙂
This doesn’t mean that I don’t think that what you propose with your tours is not super cool. It is, I kind of wish I had thought of it first 🙂