CLOSED: Meskel Ethiopian Restaurant

I've been here once and only once. It was a Friday night. The place was overcrowded and noisy. The wait to place a takeout order was about 30 minutes. The wait to get said order was another 45-60 minutes. It was considered rude to stay inside the restaurant to wait, even though the weather (and neighborhood) were crummy. The other complaints I have about the area/setup are common in NYC, so I won't bother to list them.

As for the food itself: I ordered about $100 worth of food and barely got one meal for two people out of it. They pretty much only gave us injera. Each meal was quite tasty, but only about 2 Tablespoons worth of food each. How this place got a high Zagat rating, I'll NEVER know. I've had better Ethiopian food in a dozen other states.

This is an excellent place to be introduced to Ethiopian food. Very small, but cozy. An entire section of the menu is vegan. The owners are orthodox Christians so they do not use dairy in the restaurant. They have a sampler platter with most veg dishes. Most Ethiopian restaurants serve meals on the bread, Injeera. Your food will come on injeera, but they do have eating utensils should you want them or need gluten-free. Please tell the server you prefer your food served on the plate alone. Your meal can meet your spicy heat needs from none to hot, hot, hot.

They have wine that is good. We liked all the vegan dishes and the dressing on the avocado salad. The service was great. Not a fancy joint, but fine for a date in the trendy, funky lower east side of NYC. Perfect for catching up with friends.

Good for the price.