Messob UPDATE - Los Angeles

Last review of the year to complete my 100, for a restaurant that completes me. I love you Messob! 

There's no equivalent experience to sitting at a table sharing a steaming injera, but the Super Messob Exclusive travels just as well if not better. Where other foods get soggy, the sauces have more time to soak into the bread beneath. 

They divide this meant-for-two combo into two take-home boxes in case you shouldn't share or if you don't want to share with your spouse. Start with a heaping helping of Doro Wot to the left, fall-off-the-bone chicken stewed in an earthy red pepper sauce. Other meats include square of Siga Wot, beef in the same sauce; Yebeg Siga Alicha, cubes of lamb in a yellow, very mild, almost-curry; tender Tibs, a buttery stirfry of beef cubes, and my favorite ground beef with assertive spices. Moving on the veggies, there's Yemisir Wot, that rich red pepper sauce on lentils; Yater Alicha, the only split pea stew I'll ever eat; fresh Collard Greens; Yatakilt Alicha, potato and carrot in a yellow comfort stew; and Tomato Fit-Fit, bits of injera tossed in tomato. 

Grab your injera and dip a little into every dish. Alternate your veggies, rotate your meats. This platter is a playground for the palate, with all sorts of flavors and all sorts of spices. It's a sampling of some of the best of Messob, but don't hesitate to add on some house specials if you're serving and sharing with a party bigger than two. I think I'll try a few new things next time I order, but it really says something that I still love this sampler platter after seven years of going to Messob!

Marveling at Messob – Los Angeles

I love fine dining. I love wearing pretty clothes for proper sit-down meals with carefully crafted plates of artful combinations, and I love the polish and refinement with which we eat. Sometimes. Other times you just want to dig in.

To be honest, I have no idea how to use a fish spoon, and I’d eat my whole dinner with a salad fork if I had the choice. But while foods like hummus and pita are natural finger foods, even on my lowest-maintenance day I find the idea of eating an entire meal with my bare hands repulsive.

And that’s where injera steps in as Ethiopia’s slightly soggy sourdough-flatbread that acts as an edible napkin. Break off a piece and pinch up some Gored Gored, a chopped beef served practically raw even when you ask for it medium. All those primal meat-hunting hormones will kick in when you chow down on these chewy bits of bleeding beef.

The Super Messob Exclusive for two easily feeds four with more left over than we knew what to do with. And why not use this to try the menu instead of making the agonizing decision between chicken and beef?

Far as I can see, the Doro Wot is Ethiopia’s version of barbecue chicken with a less tangy, spice-soaked sauce. The Siga Wot (same thing with beef) is even better, and the Kittfo, grains of ground beef with a dash of chili, is best.

I got called out for doubling down on my share of the Yebeg Siga Alitcha, but who wouldn’t when confronted with lamb stewed in garlic and ginger?

As if you weren’t already full of meat, the Yemisir Wot made a hearty lentil stew, literally the Siga Wot minus the meat, and even the simply steamed veggies of the Yatakilt Alitcha packed plenty of punch.

I’ve had plenty of Ethiopian food before, and suffice it to say it was never my favorite cuisine. The injera was fun, but I often found it a bit bland. I don’t know what happened at Messob, but the food just came alive. Every bite was full of flavor, and every spice stood out. I used to find eating Ethiopian mildly amusing, but after this meal at Messob, consider me obsessed.