Messob Ethiopian Restaurant

This gets three stars because 1. Ethiopian food is always good, even though this was the least impressive place I’ve been to in the Bay Area. and 2. They have a chickpea/​jalepeno dish I’ve never seen before that was interesting.
Service was inattentive but courteous when it happened. We were the only people in the place.

I’m not a fan of their injera, But their food and is delicious. I had beef tibbs with mushrooms. The mushrooms was a separate order and full of oil. I don’t understand, This the second restaurant that is does this extra oil thing. The first restaurant was Indian. It was still delicious. I would have this again even with their weird tasting injera

One of our favorite places to go in the neighborhood. Amazing prices, fantastic food for all types of diets. Super nice lady running the joint. Can’t say enough good stuff about this place.

Nice atmosphere. Immediate service. Tasty dishes that feed your eyes as well as your stomach. Friendly staff. Large portions. Especially liked chicken Doro Tibs.

So delicious! It’s crazy to me that the place was near empty on a Friday night. The food was fantastic. We ordered the Essobs special. A myriad of stewed and flavorful vegetables and meats. The food came promptly. The service was friendly. Couldn’t ask for more.

In Oakland did E. P.
A stately pleasure-​dome decree:
Where Piedmont, the hipster road, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to Messob Ethiopian Restaurant.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round;
And there were foods rich with delicious tastes,
Where blossomed many an incense-​bearing tree;
And here was a cemetery ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
It’s no opium-​addled dream, Messob is freakin’ good food.

Had lunch on Saturday with the hubby.
Doro Tibs: Boneless chicken cubes with onions and peppers. Fairly oily dish but the meat was well marinated and flavorful.
Siga Tibs: Beef squares with lots of oil. Beef was a bit chewy and the dish is very oily but my husband liked it.
Overall, I’ve been to better ethiopian restaurants (in Berkeley) but Messob’s portions are large and they’re conveniently located at the end of Piedmont Ave, so parking is relatively easier.

Great vegan options here. Love love love the vegetarian messob – but my favorite dish of all is the Tofu Dulet! Spicy and super flavorful.

First experience with Ethiopian food. Fantastic flavors and nice staff. Coming back ASAP!

Love the food and service. Especially the Timatim FitFit salad and the vegetarian platter.

Thursday, 6:30 PM.
Quickie:
+ Food quality
+ Friendly staff
— Slow turnaround
* Tight space
And then???
Messob has injera that is not overly sour. Win!
**********
Stuffed my face in:
1. Beef tibs
+ Savory seasoning.
Constructive comments:
*Source ingredients
*Do you compost?

Yum! Had the veg messob for lunch and it’s the best Ethiopian I’ve had. I’m not a vegetarian. Excellent vivid flavors, freshly cooked, and a peaceful sunny place. The veg messob is a taste of everything on veg menu and it’s lined with injera but you also get a side basket of injera (plenty!). The prices are very affordable.

Don’t know what the comments re: serving size and bland is about but it suited us fine — different strokes for different folks, I guess. For once hubby didn’t have indigestion to deal with after having Ethiopian food.
Serving size is good and it wasn’t over-​seasoned. I rather enjoyed having a lighter Ethiopian fare for dinner.

Can’t believe that I have never left a review for Messob. It’s one of my go-​to places for a fast Kitfo-​fix. Always friendly, always fast. They even put some extra spices into my to-​go-​container, yay!
The place itself is not toooooo cozy, so I must admit I never stay here to eat. But I have seen many people come here to have their AYCE lunch buffet, which I wanted to try for ages. Hm, maybe next week…

Ordered the Vegetarian Messob (combo) Pros:
–ultra quick service
–food arrived almost before we asked for it!
–hot spiced tea really hit the spot
–nice injera
–very filling
–room décor is nice
–paper napkins brought with food (yay!)
–after meal, towelettes were brought.
Mehs:
–Spices were good, but not special

Have been here three times and it’s always great — also a fun and unique place to go with a group because of the family-​style dining.
The meat sambussa, beg awaze, kitfo, and doro tibs are all awesome, as are the honey wine and Ethiopian beers. If you’ve never tried Ethiopian food before I highly recommend it! Good service too.

If you love flavorful Ethiopian cuisine, hot and spicy, I don’t care where you live, You OWE it to yourself to have lunch or dinner here. It is bucket list worthy. Here’s why:
Family Owned
Let’s face it: family owned restaurants know how to do it. Family members love each other, and when they work together, they bring a part of their family genius in a dish.
Service
The owner is a very friendly lady. She is also the head chef of the restaurant, and let me tell you, She knows how to cook. Her cousin in marriage is the head waitress. She is very nice with a warm smile.
Food
Amazing, well prepared food you just have to try. Good bets are the kitfo (chopped meat, raw medium our fully cooked) the tibs (cooked chopped beef, different to kitfo) and for the vegetarians out there, the king vegetarian dish of Messob, The Vegetarian Messob, a taste of every vegetarian dish on the menu
Also, The owners of Messob previously owned Addis restaurant. So if your a fan of them, good luck keeping them at number #1.

I was pretty disappointed after reading all the reviews. My partner and I thought of trying a new Ethiopian restaurant even though we love eating at Enssaro. The pictures are Mis-​leading as far as portion size. I agree with the other reviews the price you pay for the portion of food you get is expensive. The flavor is nothing special, a bit bland. The service was not great, server didn’t even offer to re-​fill my water. Mind you it was a slow night, with two other people in the restaurant. To top it off there were 4 flies just flying around just hanging out. Eh I’ll stick to Enssaro next time I want Ethiopian food.

Ethiopian Cuisine has been on my list for quite some time. I just haven’t gotten around to it until recently. A good foodie friend of mine suggested we go to Messob for dinner. The only few things I knew about Eithiopian Cuisine was that you eat with your hands by using the injera (a sour spongy bread-​like tortilla) to grab the food. Other than that, I was a total rookie but open to the entire experience.
Friend and I arrived at Messob on a weekday evening. It’s just a block up from Fenton’s so street parking was relatively easy. The eatery is small but has a homey feel to it. We decided to sit at one of the tables outside. We were the only patrons until another couple arrived. It seemed like a quiet night for Messob. Our waitress, who could have very well been the owner was a very sweet lady. It felt like eating at a friend’s mother’s house.
Since friend was much more familiar with the menu, I let her order. She chose the combo platter which included both meat and vegetarian items. When the large platter arrived, I was delighted to see so many colorful and delicious choices. I couldn’t name any of these items, but there was individually stewed beef, goat and chicken, plus a hard boiled egg for the meat sides and something reminiscent of a lentils (like Indian daal), collards, cabbage, other veggie stews and fresh salad. Some items had hints of curry in them. A basket of warm injera was served with the platter. Each item was bursting with flavor and some were spicy. There wasn’t one thing on the platter that I didn’t like. I thought everything tasted delicious. The portion was plenty for the two of us and great value. The combo platter was only $ 19.95. Very affordable meal that will satisfy both your stomach and wallet.
I am proud to say that I am no longer a virgin to Ethiopian Cuisine. I would definitely go back again to try out more dishes, but I would also be content just ordering the combo platter again. This is a local business with wonderful offerings. The restroom is very clean and as well as the eatery. I would encourage anyone who hasn’t tried Ethiopian Cuisine to check out Messob. If you are hesitant about eating with your hands, my advice is to just dig in and have fun!

I enjoyed eating here. The food was good and the flavors were wonderful in every single platter that I ordered. I’m from Africa so I was judging the food very harshly, and I found everything to be quite good. However, the prices are a bit much for the amount of food that we got. I went with four of my friends and and we ordered 6 platters of food, but left feeling very dissatisfied with the amount that we got. We ordered 2 sambusa appetizers, which in most restaurants means that you would get three in on one serving, but here it’s one sambusa per serving that costs $ 2.95 each. Each platter that was about $ 17, which was not proportionate to the amount of food we got. We ran a tab that was close to $ 130, and we were not even satisfied. No doubt, after we finished our food we left and got some boba to fill up our tummies.
I liked the layout of the restaurant, and the bathroom was clean. Our server was good, but not really engaging. I guess if you have the money to spend then it would be fine to come here, but the prices were a little outrageous for me.