Chef Nebiyu Ermias has quite simply with a lot of perseverance mastered the art and skill of Chinese cooking and his food is simply sizzling in both meanings of the word; both very hot and very exciting! He equally passionate about his cooking as he is about providing customer service to his guests and it is quite usual for him to emerge from his kitchen where he is very much a hands on chef to talk to and mingle with his guests and ensure that everything is right with their order.
Anyone who lived in Addis in the 1960ies and 70ies as I did will recall The China Bar restaurant in Meskel Square – it is still there but not quite the same place as it was in its heyday. Nebiyu grew up in the Meskel Square area and he loved both watching and playing football in the Meskel Square stadium – buying the things necessary to pursue his boyhood football passion meant earning pocket money so from a young age he used to help unload deliveries after school which then moved on to to washing dishes after school at the nearby China Bar. This provided him with the opportunity to watch the chefs; observing carefully and taking mental notes about how the food was prepared and enjoyed and taking a genuine interest as well as sampling the food. After he graduated from high school he took on jobs as a guard and bar tender and waiter. All as part of the China Bar team. This continued until the restaurant was sold but it had prepared him well for his culinary journey ahead! He was so good at being a waiter in fact that the new ownership decided to employ him as a Supervisor and he was still only 23. He soon realised that he had developed a passion for cooking and knew that he definitely wanted to pursue it as a profession. Moving up the ladder, his next professional role was as a Manager at the newly opened Shanghai Restaurant which required setting it up from scratch and deciding on a menu and overseeing the cooking. After it was up and running he had a chance meeting with the GM of the newly opened Sheraton Hotel which provided his next opportunity where he was able to perfect his customer service skills and receive training. Meanwhile in his leisure time he continued perfecting and cooking Chinese food for friends and family. He stayed with the Sheraton for 4 years but by now he had definitely acquired a taste for opening his own restaurant. With a little savings he found a location and named his restaurant Sichuan which is an area in the south west of China renowned for his variety of spices – it was challenging and exhilarating and exhausting because he did practically everything himself. He has had to move location a few times but he is currently settled in Kazanches. Chef Nebiyu dreams of expanding his current restaurant and even opening new branches in Addis as well as in cities outside of Ethiopia. He is truly passionate about cooking and providing customer satisfaction and creating an evening of dining perfection for his customers (he treats them like guests). You will really feel that he has effortlessly prepared a delicious feast just for you!
+251 91 160 3926 nebiyusichuan@gmail.com
Located on the 3rd floor of the ODA building, across from
Zemen Bank in Kazanches