Authentic Ethiopian Place! The lamb tibs are out of this world and I highly recommend giving them a try.
Horn E.
One evening my wife and I were in the mood for Ethiopian cuisine. Because the waiting time at the other two Ethiopian restaurants nearby were long, we decided to check out to Meskerem Restaurant. The cavernous hall resembled a dance club and bar but was almost empty. There was a lone dude sitting outside on the patio and an Indian-African couple sitting in a booth. The lack of customers was not a good indicator on such a night when their two other competitors were so busy, but we wanted to check out their menu before ruling it out. It was intriguing that half of the menu consisted of Ethiopian dishes and the other half West African ones. From my suboptimal experiences with other eateries that had too many pan-continental menu choices to please everyone, I was not sure whether the dishes at Meskerem would really be authentic or watered down. What tipped the scale into us staying was that the Indian woman said it was delicious. Was it wise to trust an Indian woman's judgement on Ethiopian food? Not sure, but her African partner didn't say anything, so we assumed he concurred, and we decided to give this place a chance anyways. I ordered a West African peanut & tomato stew (Lamb Mafe, $14), and my wife ordered Ethiopian (Meskerem Veggies Combo, $12). The waitress gave us each a glass of water, disappeared into the back kitchen, and then we waited, and waited.....and waaaiiiiited. Sometimes, she would pop out to survey the situation but then disappear back in without giving us an update on our order, an apology why it was taking so long, or water refills. After a while, I started to joke that they were probably shopping for missing ingredients or taking time to butcher the lamb in order to prepare my dish. 45 minutes after taking our order, the waitress briskly walked out from to kitchen, but it was not for us...she was delivering a hookah to the dude on the patio outside! It took that long for her to assemble and deliver a hookah? Geez...how much longer would it take them to prepare our dishes? We patiently sat in our booth while the Indian couple next door nibbled and chatted away. After a full hour of waiting and speculating, the joking stopped, and we were getting frustrated, impatient, and hungry. It was late and almost empty in Meskerem so it made no sense why it was taking them so long to fill our orders. We concluded it would now be worth it to wait in line at one of the other two Ethiopian restaurants nearby than to have Meskerem continue neglecting and disrespecting us. To be fair to the staff, we gave them 15 more minutes of our time, but with still no food on our table or a progress report after a total waiting time of 1.25 hours, we had enough, got up, and left. We really wanted to give Meskerem a chance, but they totally blew it. With two other Ethiopian restaurants of reliable quality and superior service just a short walk around the corner, why would we ever come back and waste our time? Thumbs down!!!
Azeem R.
Meskerem was a last minute pit stop. The ambience was great, vibin' to Ethiopian music was a fantastic experience. I ordered the Lamb Tibs. It was on point. I usually don't eat salads but the dressing on it was too good! I will definitely come back!
Wilton Delcid
Friendly service and excellent atmosphere the Food is my motivation to go there is just delicious
Qadriyyah L.
Where do I even begin?? Mesekem came on my radar via scoutmob. I purchased a deal for $39 that included an appetizer, two entrees, and two beverages (either alcoholic or non alcoholic). Upon arrival it was clear that although the restaurant was aware of the deal they had no idea exactly what was promised. Despite the full bar (see picture), my friends and I were told there were no cocktails available and the only non alcoholic beverages were coke, diet coke, and sprite. Strike one. We then placed our appetizer orders as well as entree orders. Forty five full minutes later the appetizers arrived and one out of the three was completely incorrect. After sending the incorrect appetizer back, the entrees began to arrive one at a time over the next hour (we'll get to that in a second)8. One entree had incorrect sides, and two (out of six) arrived a full hour after the order was placed. At one point during the hour, the waitress came to ask what the missing entrees were because they didn't know (insert horrified face). The only saving grace for Mesekem was the quality of the food when it finally arrived. The food is amazing which is why I graciously gave one star. Never ever ever ever in my life will I return to this establishment.
Hameelah Rasheed
Amazing! The Authenticity of the food was spot on. We didn't like that an auto tip of 18% was added on for a party of 3, but the ambiance and food was superb!
Authentic Ethiopian Place! The lamb tibs are out of this world and I highly recommend giving them a try.
One evening my wife and I were in the mood for Ethiopian cuisine. Because the waiting time at the other two Ethiopian restaurants nearby were long, we decided to check out to Meskerem Restaurant. The cavernous hall resembled a dance club and bar but was almost empty. There was a lone dude sitting outside on the patio and an Indian-African couple sitting in a booth. The lack of customers was not a good indicator on such a night when their two other competitors were so busy, but we wanted to check out their menu before ruling it out. It was intriguing that half of the menu consisted of Ethiopian dishes and the other half West African ones. From my suboptimal experiences with other eateries that had too many pan-continental menu choices to please everyone, I was not sure whether the dishes at Meskerem would really be authentic or watered down. What tipped the scale into us staying was that the Indian woman said it was delicious. Was it wise to trust an Indian woman's judgement on Ethiopian food? Not sure, but her African partner didn't say anything, so we assumed he concurred, and we decided to give this place a chance anyways. I ordered a West African peanut & tomato stew (Lamb Mafe, $14), and my wife ordered Ethiopian (Meskerem Veggies Combo, $12). The waitress gave us each a glass of water, disappeared into the back kitchen, and then we waited, and waited.....and waaaiiiiited. Sometimes, she would pop out to survey the situation but then disappear back in without giving us an update on our order, an apology why it was taking so long, or water refills. After a while, I started to joke that they were probably shopping for missing ingredients or taking time to butcher the lamb in order to prepare my dish. 45 minutes after taking our order, the waitress briskly walked out from to kitchen, but it was not for us...she was delivering a hookah to the dude on the patio outside! It took that long for her to assemble and deliver a hookah? Geez...how much longer would it take them to prepare our dishes? We patiently sat in our booth while the Indian couple next door nibbled and chatted away. After a full hour of waiting and speculating, the joking stopped, and we were getting frustrated, impatient, and hungry. It was late and almost empty in Meskerem so it made no sense why it was taking them so long to fill our orders. We concluded it would now be worth it to wait in line at one of the other two Ethiopian restaurants nearby than to have Meskerem continue neglecting and disrespecting us. To be fair to the staff, we gave them 15 more minutes of our time, but with still no food on our table or a progress report after a total waiting time of 1.25 hours, we had enough, got up, and left. We really wanted to give Meskerem a chance, but they totally blew it. With two other Ethiopian restaurants of reliable quality and superior service just a short walk around the corner, why would we ever come back and waste our time? Thumbs down!!!
Meskerem was a last minute pit stop. The ambience was great, vibin' to Ethiopian music was a fantastic experience. I ordered the Lamb Tibs. It was on point. I usually don't eat salads but the dressing on it was too good! I will definitely come back!
Friendly service and excellent atmosphere the Food is my motivation to go there is just delicious
Where do I even begin?? Mesekem came on my radar via scoutmob. I purchased a deal for $39 that included an appetizer, two entrees, and two beverages (either alcoholic or non alcoholic). Upon arrival it was clear that although the restaurant was aware of the deal they had no idea exactly what was promised. Despite the full bar (see picture), my friends and I were told there were no cocktails available and the only non alcoholic beverages were coke, diet coke, and sprite. Strike one. We then placed our appetizer orders as well as entree orders. Forty five full minutes later the appetizers arrived and one out of the three was completely incorrect. After sending the incorrect appetizer back, the entrees began to arrive one at a time over the next hour (we'll get to that in a second)8. One entree had incorrect sides, and two (out of six) arrived a full hour after the order was placed. At one point during the hour, the waitress came to ask what the missing entrees were because they didn't know (insert horrified face). The only saving grace for Mesekem was the quality of the food when it finally arrived. The food is amazing which is why I graciously gave one star. Never ever ever ever in my life will I return to this establishment.
Amazing! The Authenticity of the food was spot on. We didn't like that an auto tip of 18% was added on for a party of 3, but the ambiance and food was superb!
Restaurantji Recommends