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Writer's pictureElodie A.

Wedding Anniversary Dinner at O'Paradis Ethiopien in Metz, France

Updated: Apr 10, 2020



Hey, you! I hope you’re having a good week.


For my part, I had a disastrous day yesterday. It started so well though! The husband worked the early morning shift yesterday and did the cutest thing for me. He knows that the first thing I do when I get out of bed is to go to the bathroom. When I was in the bathroom, he stuck a note on the wall « proceed to the dining table ».




Much to my surprise, I found a beautiful bouquet of flowers, chocolate croissants, orange juice, and he even prepared a mug for my morning cup of coffee.Aawww …The husband is not the romantic-type, but this is pretty romantic to me. Only thing missing was him with me.




I was walking on cloud nine. But then after ….



Taken from: https://cdn2.hercampus.com/636127806997733160-1484706841_rainy%20day.jpg

I looked out the window at 7AM, it was bright and shiny. 8AM – the same. I took the bus to the city center, laptop bag in hand. And then, to my greatest surprise, it was raining cats and dogs. Rainstorm and I had no umbrella or raincoat. I finally made it to work, 5 minutes late, and royally soaked from head to toe. The cherry on top – I was spending the day aka 7 straight hours with a client. I was so uncomfortable! I was wet, and cold, and … never mind. I was so afraid I would fall ill that I had about 6 cups of hot tea. Thankfully, it’s been 1 day now and I am fine.


The husband picked me up when I was done and all I wanted to do was go to bed, cover myself, pretend that nothing happened, and fall asleep. Which I did. But then the husband woke me up gently saying, « I reserved a table for us at a restaurant. We can cancel if you want. » No way!!!




We had dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant, the only Ethiopian restaurant in town in fact.



O'Paradis Ethiopien



It’s been a while that I’ve been thinking of coming here, but this is the kind of restaurant where I don’t want to bring baby girl with us.




I’ve heard good comments and not-so-good comments and I’ve also read mixed reviews on the internet. But I definitely wanted to try it out for myself.




We were about 20 minutes late, but the owner was pretty cool about it. That’s probably because it was on a weekday. Only 3 tables were occupied that night.




I especially loved the colorful dining room with the Ethiopian decors. There was also very soft music in the background. The restaurant is owned and managed by a husband and wife. The wife is Ethiopian and is responsible for the kitchen, the husband is French and takes care of the dining room.




The owner explained right away that the dishes were authentic, but were adapted to the French palate. Meaning it isn’t as spicy as it should be, but we were welcome to add Ethiopian spice.




The husband and I ordered the Assiette Decouverte (24.80 Euros), which came with a drink. The husband chose a glass of Kir Mureand I had a glass of Mango Juice. I’m not usually a fan of mango juice, but this one I loved. I suspect it’s because there is passion fruit juice in it too.




We were also served a plate of complimentary amuse-bouche while waiting for our food to be served. These were mini-sandwiches of cream cheese and smoked fish.




Our food didn’t take too long to come.


This was our plate. We had a little of everything. There was Injera (a big crepe or flatbread), Ayib (Ethiopian white cheese), Yesega Wet Key Alitcha (beef stew), Doro Wet Key (chicken and an egg), Tebse Beef (beef strips with vegetables), and Vegetables (coral lentils, spinach, and chick peas).


We were encouraged to use our fingers to eat, which we did and loved! You scoop the food with the crepe. It’s a little tricky at first, but hey we’re Filipinos – we’re used to this!




We loved our food so much that we didn’t leave a single thing on our plate( well, except for the chicken bone). We will definitely come back. I’m thinking that I might try the lamb dish the next time. Too bad, there isn’t any fish or seafood on the menu though.




We didn’t have anymore space for a dessert, so we ended our meal with a cup of Ethiopian coffee, Moka. It had a tiny hint of chocolate and the owner even gave us each a piece of chocolate.


If you live in Metz or are passing through, I definitely recommend this restaurant. Honestly, I have no basis for comparison and travelling to Ethiopia is not in our immediate plans, but this is a pretty good back-up plan. My day might have been crappy for most of it, but at least it ended more than alright.


xoxo Elodie

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