mesob

wonderful dinner last night. our first time with ethiopian cuisine. all our apps and main course were vegetarian. what i especially liked about the food was that the rich variety of spices was not overwhelmed by salt.greatdesserts, too.

the food is both authetic and prepared with attention to quality and the sensibilities of it's patrons. for example, the chefs go togreatlengths to strike the fine balance between flavor and autheticity. in ethiopia, people believe that excessive amounts of oil make a dish "special.". (so if you have ever had oily ethiopian food, you now know why - it was "special"). however mesob has adapted the ancient cooking traditions of ethiopia to give a unique dining experience in a warm environment.

family warmth. i love mesob - the staff and owners always take special time to welcome you. the food is the best ethiopian i have eaten (and i've eaten it in nj and ny) - perfect blending of thosegreatspices. and, always thinking of their diners, they've added desserts to the menu - all freshly made. that's another thing i love about this restaurant - all the food is freshly made, no canned food, no frozen foods, no preservatives.

no hospitality. it was a spectular saturday evening shopping with a girlfriend, we had finally carved out an evening together just to shop and enjoy. after spending about two hours on church street, i had suggested that we finish off this jubliant evening at mesobre restaurant over some aromatically soothing tea and some delectable dessert.
when we arrived at mesob, around 6 p.m. the restaurant was virtually empathy -greatfrom our perspective.

as we jovially announced to the host that we had beening shopping for hours and needed a pick-me-up, some of that aromatic tea and dessert, she exclaimed, " we have a lot of reservations and you will have to sit at the bar. i looked around and counted eight empty tables.
again, i requested could we sit at one of the five empty table for two. the host bruptly respond, " yes, but you will have to eat quickly because we have a lot of reservations for dinner!" i did know that mesob was a fast food restuarant. we decided not to stay and see if the tea shop on glenridge ave was still open. well, we walked to the bank and then to the tea shop find it closed ( about ten minutes had lapsed). on our way back to the car we pasted mesob restaurant looking in side to see only one of those empty tables now occupied.

i took my friend home ( we live in montclair) and just out of curiosity returned to mesob ( approximately 45 minutes had lapsed since the incident), peering inside from the window counting four tables still empty.

it was a rare opportunity for me to spend time shopping on church street, and instead of concluding a memoriable nigt out with my girlfriend evening over some savory dessert at mesob those memories were tainted. ironically, david corcoran, new york times restaurant critic view of mesob was, " there is one thing you will certainly not want and that is to leave." we just wanted to get a seat.

ms. s. qualles