Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: No
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Alcohol: Full Bar
8 Reviews for Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant
Meskerem was a great experience. From the moment I sat down, I felt like I was going to be taken care of. Our server was great - helpful, attentive, but not in the way at all.
I started off with a St. George (ethiopian) beer. I love restaurants that carry their country's brews. I went for the entree of beef tibs, a great dish of beef strips sauteed in a garlicky butter sauce with tomatoes and peppers. It came on a traditional tray of injera, spong bread that you use to sop up your meal. The two sauces that came with it are h-o-t. One was a spicy jalapeno blend, and the other a mysteriously fiery red sauce.
The only thing I would have liked to see was more of a traditional Ethiopian presence as far as cocktails or desserts, but looking around the dining room, I noticed that the other clientele was mostly Ethiopian or Aftrican - and that's always a pretty good sign. Overall, it was a great meal and a great experience.
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This review is for Gretchen O. And that's because.. what?... yes I will refrain from cursing. It will be difficult, but by golly I will manage.
Anyway, headed out to this joint with a few peeps - Broderick S. and Lori S. along with a few others. Now let me start out by saying... food for me was a 3. Maybe 3.5. It just didn't rock my tiddlywinks or anything, but it wasn't as delish as I had hoped.
Basically I had some vegetarian dish, with like some flippin chick pea puree and like some green beans and then there was like a other puree and some cabbage stuff. But the neato part is that they put it all on the injera which is like a head sized crepe sponge monstrosity. This thing sits in a pan and you go to town eating this fun flockin stuff with your hands. They give you extra sponge bread too that you can use to pick up the goods. Needless to say, I was happy we didn't order traditional/family style. I don't think I could deal with 8 people digging in with their hands.
But anywhoo, the food, not bad, not crazy. Might be better if I ate meat, I kind of hate eating vegetables as an entree. Which is funny since I'm pescatarian. But that's my own silly fault.
So anyway, right the 4 stars. The service rocked. They were very nice and attentive to our party of 8. They even split the checks how we wanted which was what I would call awesomeness.
I personally wouldn't come back to eat, BUT I am gosh darn picky. If I was headed out with some folk(s) who wanted to get some Ethiopian food, I wouldn't hesitate to head back here. Worth a shot, in my oh so humble opinion. And there are like two other flippin Ethiopian places in that center, so what the hey!
F*** it I'm out. (I can't curse now! boo)
PS I totally reposted this review. The curse word above kept me off the main page / "new" section. How will I gain internet fame now, I ask you?
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Tonight was my 4th time eating Ethiopian but the 1st time at Meskerem. It's hidden in a shopping center that interestingly has two Ethiopian restaurants (the other one is "Ledet Ethiopian Restaurant" ... no Yelp reviews yet). My friend picked the place, and I naturally read your reviews. Not so recent but all good.
Nice & clean inside. Full bar. A few families ... possibly Ethiopian. Very friendly service.
My friend is vegetarian so we ordered the Vegetarian Combo Platter for 2 which cost $16. The food was plenty. For those who haven't eaten Ethiopian before, the injera is provided with your meal and injera is a gray spongy & sour-tasting bread used as a wrap but also to scoop up some of the fillings since no utensils are provided. Our combo platter included a spicy lentil filling, a non-spicy lentil filling, green beans & corn, collard greens, salad, stewed cabbage & potatoes, & some mysterious greenish VERY SPICY filling. All very tasty & interesting. A great sampler platter, esp. if this is your 1st time. One thing worth noting - you don't realize that the injera has been slowly expanding in your stomach until BOOM, you're full. It's three hours later and I don't think the injera has moved at all.
Dessert selection was not so Ethiopian -- baklava & tiramisu. I was so craving a nice fruit smoothie ...
My friend & I agreed that we liked the food at Queen of Sheba more -- the atmosphere also feels more African there. Still, Meskerem is pretty good and the location is very convenient (right next to I-85). But I'll probably try Ledet next time.
After dinner, due to curiosity, we visited the European grocery store in the same shopping center. They sell some interesting foods -- mostly Russian, Lithuanian, and Ukranian -- incl. beers, liquor, pastries, meats, candies, chocolates, sodas, marinated mushrooms, .. even Russian tea sets. In case you're in the mood to explore another part of the world just around the corner.
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I was definitely feeling the love @ Meskerem. Meskerem sits among other Ethiopian restaurants and has a big open room with a TV above the bar in warm surroundings. The full bar offers an array of Ethiopian specialties including the tequila sunrise, Cosmo, Blue Kamikaze, Irish Coffee.... OK scratch that. The cocktail menu is not Ethiopian at all. The clientele was predominantly Ethiopian, and I saw zero demand for any of those drinks. They did have a nice Ethiopian beer.
The servers were top notch and very helpful with the menu. I had the shrimp tibs with plenty of injera (pancake like bread made out of teff flour). The jalapeno paste on the side was fresh and tasty. The food came out quickly and drink orders and refills came out promptly. My only gripe is that they could've used normal sized shrimp instead of salad shrimp for the entree (the only reason it doesn't get a 5-star from me).
It was an enjoyable meal with fellow yelpers and friends, and the server had no problem splitting checks for our group of 8.
Somehow I've become a very picky eater. Usually I like to stick to what I know and avoid all weird spices and always cringe when my friends talk about going to strange foreign hole in the walls to eat tongue or whatnot. Thus when my girlfriend suggested we go eat Ethiopian for dinner on a day when I'd eaten nothing else by 5 PM, I was a little wary, but interested. I didn't know anything at all about Ethiopian food. I knew nothing about what they served.
Now I do and I am glad.
Basically, you come here to eat with your hands. They bring plates of different meats (ours had lamb and chicken) and vegetables (potatos, yellow stuff, green stuff: I didn't really know what everything I was eating was), which you pick out from a rather varied menu, all of which I knew nothing of. Instead of utensils they bring little rolls of bread that looks like washcloths but tastes really good and has a nice consistency. Then you use the bits of bread to sop up the platter items.
I was really happy to discover that the spices and weird flavors I had expected weren't so weird: the flavors were all very palatable and unique and easy to enjoy. I found myself wanting to gorge. It was very nice to discover that something I assumed was way out there was actually easily lovable and filling. We also tried the lentil soup which was very tasty and easy on the stomach.
The decor was moderate: just a standard building with a animal skin rug when you come in and a big screen TV over the bar playing Ethiopian music movies. Pretty awesome. On Sat and Sun nights they have live DJs which I think would be interesting to come back for.
I'm glad I got to try this place: I'd go again in a heartbeat. It's nice to expand your horizons, even when you're a cereal and sugar-fed white boy like me.
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Oh wow. I don't even know how I can write about how amazing the food and service was here, but dammit! I'll try!
Everything was delicious and the portions are ridiculously huge for the price you pay. Our waitress was so kind and very eager to help us out with anything we needed. And the food..OH GOD. I can't even think about it without shuddering with pleasure a little bit. We got an appetizer that consisted of of heavily spiced (not hot, spiced as in cumin etc) meat dumplings wrapped in a dough similar to the wonton around Thai eggrolls and fried and the meat combo for two and it was LOADED. Tons of food on this platter! There was incredibly tender chicken that was braised and in this smokey spicy sauce, tender shredded lamb, cubed beef with bell peppers and tomatoes, garlicky sweet cabbage with potatoes, and collard greens. I have to say, I freaking hate collard greens, but I love these! I liked them better than the meat! The inerja was soft, spongy, tangy and delicious. For those with a fear of "wet bread", inerja isn't like your typical bread that gets soggy. It's not a yeast bread, it's much more spongy and liquid doesn't penetrate it as easily.
I would come back here over and over again, I really really loved it.
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I have had better Ethiopian food at other places, but this was better than Moya. The food was all pretty good, especially the vegetables. I didn't think the lamb dish had enough lamb in it. Also, the service is slow. Painfully slow.
I don't care if you've never eaten Ethiopian & are scared. Go here!
It's so good I've never eaten at another Ethiopian restaurant in town. They have only one vegetarian entree, which normally I'd whine about. But it's irrelevent, because I'd never eat anything else anyways.
Ethiopian food comes to you on a big platter (the veg option comes in for 1 or for 2 sizes.) The food is served with a basket of a bread called injera. Wash your hands, because you're about to eat with them.
You unroll the bread & use it to scoop up the food. When I'm at this point, I'm completely silent because all I can mumble is "oh my godd" & "mmmmmm."
Meskerem is low-lit & cozy - a perfect date restaurant, especially with the whole hands-on thing. Even if it's busy it stays quiet due to the high ceilings & tables spaced far apart. This makes it a great place for dinner conversation! Service is excellent, & you get all the bread you want. They have a full bar, but don't seem to have bartending finesse. Stick with a beer or wine if you get booze.
The location is next to the Tara theater & Return to Eden. Come before a movie if you're on a date, or before your grocery shop so you'll be nice & full.
I walk out of Meskerem miserable every time, because I cram every morsel I can into my mouth.
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