The Little Sudanese Restaurant

The word Sudan, if ever, comes up in our day to day conversations, most people think of Darfur, the South Sudan crisis or some new sanction that the United States has imposed on the country. Sudan unlike its more famous neighbour on East doesn’t really get a lot of attention from people I know except for those who work in the UN. I for one was very curious about this country. And what better way to learn about country that to try out some of their national food!

Living in Addis Ababa gives me the chance to try out cuisines from several parts of the world. Being the political and cultural capital of Africa, Addis gets its fair share of foreign visitors and has a sizeable expatriate population. At any point in time, you have the option of eating at least 12 different cuisines. One on my favourite quotations on Addis is, “You’ll never eat alone”. So I put on my adventure hat and off I went to try out some Sudanese food in a local restaurant a few hundred meters from my hotel.

The entrance to the restaurant was quite interesting looking. There was a lady wearing, I am guessing, the traditional Sudanese woman’s dress and was making Sudanese tea. The restaurant was fairly simple looking. Comfortable and spacious but no real art, décor or interior design to talk about. I found myself a table in front of the TV, sat down and asked for the menu.

The waitress handed me the menu. I had no idea what was written in it. Even though it was in English, there was no description of the food in the menu and I was just expected to know what I am to order. So I asked for help. Called the waitress and asked her what each of the items in the menu meant. I realised a few moments later that she did not speak any English!! Using references to words like meat, bread and a lot of hand gestures I finally ordered an Arabic salad and a Sudanese meat dish called Goraso with Sudanese bread called weaka.

As I customary is many restaurants here in Addis, the customers get served some complementary appetizers. So my snack was snack version of Sudanese bread. It looked like a small thick pizza base but was nice and fluffy and tasted more or less like regular bread. As I waited for my dinner, I watched the show that was on TV. It was an Indian soap opera dubbed in Arabic. And all the waiters and waitresses seem to be glued to the TV set. It was hilarious! Some random boy and a random girl were doing the Indian version of courting and couple that with the Arabic dubbing made for some really good laughs.

Soon enough, my food arrived. So the Goraso dish looked something like boneless rogan josh. The weaka bread was like the Sudanese version of naan but slightly thicker. One is supposed to bread a piece of the weaka and scoop the goraso to truly enjoy the meal. The waiters gestured the right hand movement and man did I enjoy my first bite! It was the perfect meat gravy. Not too spicy and just meaty enough. The right amount of oil and with the right consistency. The bread tasted something similar to the Indian Kulcha and was just soft enough to absorb the gravy but yet tough enough so as not to break. The Arabic salad was a lot of vegetables cut and served on a bed of olive oil and a generous dashing of lemon juice. The combination of just spicy enough meat and the tangy salad suited my palate perfectly! On the next table, I couldn’t help but notice some gentlemen drinking a very delicious smelling tea. I am not a regular tea drinker but the aroma was so good that I ordered a cup.

By this time on TV, the girl managed to make a complete ass out of the boy and the boy as expected started to fall for her. The channel was changed to another Indian channel where there was a song sequence going on from an Arabic dubbed Aftab Shivdasani and Amrita Arora movie. So the dance sequence was something like Aftab was singing a lovely romantic song to Amrita full of passion, love and intensity with an US Aircraft Carrier in the background. I think the music director was under the impression nothing says “I Love You” like stealth fighter planes flying at mach 2 capable of carrying a nuclear warhead taking off and landing on a 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier. But who am I to judge. The waiters seemed to really enjoy it J

So my tea finally arrived. It was black tea with a leaf of mint next to it. It was recommended to me that I dip the mint leaf in the tea to get a full flavour. And it was delicious! Quite possibly, the best cup of tea I have had in my life. The warm tea and the cold mint leaf mixed perfectly well and gave a lovely aroma as I sipped the delicious black tea. I asked for the bill and this whole meal that stuffed me to the brink and in the process sent my new year’s resolution down the drain cost all of 7 dollars! Now that is what I call a steal!

So there you have it. My first Sudanese meal was a big hit. For those of you who do manage to get to Addis Ababa, do go to this Little Sudanese Restaurant that is just a stone’s throw away from the European Commission in Bole. Your tummy, your taste buds and your wallet will be pleasantly surprised J