Mesob Restaurant & Rum Bar

We happened upon this place, honestly. Because we needed to use the restroom but, we wanted to be good patrons and checked out the menu. Opted for the Jerk Chicken Bao Bun & Blackened Shrimp appetizers.
Oh my god!! I swear, they have the absolute BEST jerk chicken I've ever tasted. Perfectly grilled/smoked and flavorful and just the right spice, on a soft steamed bun. The blackened shrimp was also phenomenal with great char and served atop jerk sauce and tropical fruit to complement the heat & sweetness.
The gentleman who served us (our bill said his name was Jims D) what a great conversationalist. We talked about the history of the place and how they are working to get their liquor license (which is taking quite a bit of time with the city, btw). We were having about the food and he mentioned another dish they were cooking up, which included this amazing cheezy/garlicky mashed potatoes. Tasted like it had both regular & sweet potatoes. If we weren't already so full, we would've got some to go!!
If you're looking for a chill atmosphere and tasty Ethiopian/island food - this IS the place to go!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Jerk Ribs, Coconut Curry Shrimp

Cool place. Cool vibe.. ordered the lamb. A tad over cooked. But staff was great and friendly!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 5

Ive been to alot of restraunts in kansas city. This was the best, most flavorful food Ive had in a long time. Super impressed with the presentation on the plates as well. Seriously a hidden food gem! Great Job!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Great food Terri was awesome, food was good great place

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Ribs

Great Food, small serving portions. It was spicy with a lil kick to it.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

The way the staff immediately greeted us with warm smiling faces was an instant treat. Especially our server, Terri! As an appetizer, we had the jerk chicken bao. I cannot stress this enough, you have to try it. The combination of flavors are absolutely explosive! My wife ordered the shrimp tibs with the red lentils, and I ordered the shekla tibs with collard greens.
My wife loved her lentils, and they spices with her shrimp tibs!
I thought the collard greens were done to perfection, and could not love my choice of the shekla tibs any more.
If you are in or visiting the Kansas City area, this place is a must try!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Dear white people: GO TO BLACK GARLIC.

Sure, maybe you’re home thinking, “I wanna try something different! But Ethiopian?? Caribbean?? I won’t know what to order!”

Wherever else you were going to go — I know Black Garlic is better.

The people who work here are fantastic and will answer all your questions. You, too, will fall in love with Shekla Tibs and conch and deeply look forward to whenever you can go again. For real. The Shekla Tibs are my new favorite thing to eat in Kansas City.

Black Garlic is midtown KC at its best. Yes, you can park in the lot behind the building! This business deserves to thrive, and, white people, I promise you’ll love it. The key to great food is stepping outside your comfort zone!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

It's been a while since I've had Ethiopian food and this was a treat. Lamb and beef tibs were well prepared and nicely seasoned. Yellow lentils and cabbage and potatoes were very good. Portions were generous, with the 2 sides we could probably done one main. The pineapple rum upside down cake for dessert was amazing. They are just getting their liquor license but when they do, the rum selection is brilliant

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was delicious, service was awesome and atmosphere was good but would like seating a lil more private. Other than that one of the best places I've been too!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Very poor service. Food is expensive. They provided me with a wrong order which was much more expensive. I ordered a mushroom dish after asking some questions, but the waitress got me a lamb dish. As a life long vegetarian I could not recognize this as meat and assumed its the way the mushrooms were cooked. I put the lamb pieces aside and just had the bread and gravy. My wife later examined the pieces and identified this as meat. The waitress never came in between to check on things. When I brought this up to the waitress at the end, she did not care. This was at the end of a long day, and I was in no mood to discuss anything so I paid for everything without a tip, left a note on the bill about what happened and left.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Place has gone downhill since the name change. Very disappointing as I've been eating at Mesob since it was a hole in the wall on independence avenue. This location is dark and dank with flickering LED lights and wood rot. Still no liquor license (going on years now), and no sign of getting one despite being advertised as a rum bar. Food was great, took 1.5 hours to come out though. Service was terrible. They came back to verify what we ordered 45 minutes after we ordered it. Never checked in. A far cry from the white linen table cloths and hyper attentive service this place use to sport. I suspect the name change was some kind of tax evasion or loan fraud. In the hyper competitive upscale restaurant market in KC, Black Garlic FKA Mesob Pikliz has fallen from eclectic gem to dusty after thought.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 5

Service: 1

Our Hostess was a Dream☺️
I felt like we were the only people in there🤭
The Cuisine was Delectable!
The People were Jovial & Very Friendly!
The Atmosphere was clean, good music & stylish 🤩

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

A1 food always!!! I'll give them a break because they are rebranding, and they are trying to get their liquor license back for the RUM!!! This is in my top 10 places to eat in the city!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Absolutely amazing flavors.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Taxes seemed on the higher side, $6.25 on an $18.95 meal? Got to go food, server was annoyed and didn’t know the menu. I asked what vegetables were in a dish and she didn’t know or offer to find out.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 1