Messob

Long ago, someone amongst my foodie friends decided "Let's eat Ethiopian food!" The excitement soon simmered into a hot mess of complaints and excuses ranging from "That lemony bread is kinda weird" to "I don't feel like having GERD tonight" to "I don't like eating with my hands" to "I want something soupy instead" to "Let's wait until [insert any friends name who happens to be busy or out of town] comes back." But FINALLY we went! At the recommendation of an Ethiopian friend, we traveled a whole 5 minutes over to Fairfax where Little Ethiopia makes its home to try a place called Messob. Now, I find myself quite conversant in the cultural diversity of food, but when it came to ordering off Messob's menu I was like "jigga wat?!" Luckily the waiter recommended The Super Messob Exclusive which included:
-Doro Wot
-Siga Wot
-Yebeg Siga Alitcha
-Yater Alitcha
-Kitffo
-Tibs
-Yatakilt Alitcha
-Alitcha
-Yemisir Wot
-Collard Greens

Don't ask me what any of that means. I cut and pasted it from the website menu! We also ordered another meat dish on top of all that for fear our tummies would revolt in dissatisfactory hunger.

For 4 adults with large appetites, this was plenty.



I don't know which mush pile was which dish, but they all sorta blended together with no dish really standing apart as far as flavor profiles were concerned. I was glad there was some salad on that plate as it served as a good palate cleanser for all the spicier foods.



BEHOLD! Sour bread!!!!


It wasn't as sour as I had anticipated. It went well with the food, and I think it served as a main ingredient in some of the dishes in the combo plate. The downside was the gritty sandy texture left on our hands after touching the bread. I was working really hard to avoid touching any of the food so my hands would stay as clean as possible, but alas, the bread won me a trip to el bano to wash my hands.

I enjoyed my first Ethiopian food experience. I think the other members of my party were also satisfied but we all agreed that Ethiopian would not be a food we would likely crave anytime soon. None of us can really explain why, as the food was delicious!


Messob
1041 S Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 938-8827
http://www.messob.com/




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