Habesha Classics · Rooftop · Bole
Habesha Classics with a Rooftop View
Most great Habesha restaurants in Addis Ababa lean traditional — low stools, dim light, the room set up around the food. Velvet flips the format: traditional plates, modern rooftop, skyline through the windows. Same flavours, different night out.
The angle
We are not trying to be the most traditional Habesha kitchen in Addis — there are excellent restaurants in the city built for that experience. What Velvet offers is a different setting for the same food: a rooftop, a full cocktail bar, and a kitchen that takes Habesha classics as seriously as the wood-fired Italian on the other side of the menu.
The dishes
Tibs Firfir & Chiqina Tibs
Tibs Firfir is sizzling tibs tossed with injera pieces, spices, and aromatic butter — one of the best ways into Habesha if you're new to it, and a house favourite for everyone else. Chiqina Tibs is the heavier-spice cousin, popular with the regulars.
Bozena Shiro & Shiro Bekebe
Shiro done right is one of the cleanest things on any Habesha menu. Bozena Shiro brings minced meat into the pot; Shiro Bekebe keeps it vegetarian. Either one with fresh injera is a meal.
Tuna Firfir & Fasting Firfir
Firfir lives at the intersection of injera and stew — the vegetarian Fasting Firfir for fasting days or anyone going plant-forward, Tuna Firfir for the protein.
The Rooftop Special
A sharing plate for three — a curated tour of the kitchen across tibs, shiro, and other Habesha staples. The order when the table wants "a bit of everything."
Full Habesha section with prices is on the menu.
Ethiopian coffee
The bar runs Ethiopian coffee through the day — macchiato, latte, cappuccino, and traditional preparations on request. Coffee here isn't an afterthought to dessert; it's part of the meal, ordered alongside the spice and the heat to balance the table.
For first-time visitors
If you've never had Habesha food, the easiest entry is the Rooftop Special (sharing plate, multiple flavours, no commitment to one direction) or Tibs Firfir (spiced sizzling meat with injera, immediately familiar to anyone who eats meat). Injera is both the plate and the utensil — you tear pieces and use them to scoop. The food is meant to be shared from the centre.
Pair with a cold Walia or St. George if you want a local beer, an Ethiopian coffee for after, or a signature cocktail from the bar if you want something for the table.
Reservations & group dining
Open daily from 10 AM to 10 PM. Group dining works well for Habesha — the sharing format scales naturally, and the kitchen can prep larger Rooftop Special plates for tables of six and up. Call +251 11 663 5920 to book.