Most Ethiopian food in the Bay Area is good. Messob's is better. Maybe it was the honey wine affecting my mind but I was convinced that Messob served better food than I've had at any other Ethiopian restaurant in California in the recent past. I'm a fan of injera, vegetarian combos, spicy minced meat, et cetera. But at other places, all good places mind, on an off night the flavor of the sauces can trend toward ketchup, the vegetarian dishes can be overspiced, the meat can be a little salty.

At Messob everything seemed to be just that much better than I've had elsewhere. The sauces were a little more refined, the spices were balanced. The didn't serve anything that I didn't like. Nothing tasted like ketchup.

I don't think this was just my impression either. One other supper club member used to avoid Ethiopian food due to a bad experience in LA and had to be cajoled into coming along this time. Messob changed their mind completely.

Their vegetarian selections were the real stand outs. Really well done. The misir wot, spicy red lentils, were my favorite, but the gomen wot and the atkeli wot were also memorable. I wouldn't worry about individual dishes though, just get the vegetarian combination and you'll be able to try it all.

The chicken was great. The lamb wasn't a favorite. In fact it was the only thing left unfinished.

A couple of bottles of Enat honey wine didn't hurt anyone either.