Harar Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant

STEPHANIE NO– Crystal Lounge is the NEW NAME AND NO Happy Hour what so EVER! Done come here.
They change prices on drinks daily.

I like to support small restaurants. I always go to restaurants close to Harar Mesob and never tried it. Rule of thumb, if there are never people at a certain restaurant, it’s that way for a reason. Stay away! How can anyone mess up an awaze tibs fir fir order… well, they did. I am not Ethiopian but grew up around Ethiopians so I know good Ethiopian food. This place needs to work on their service and food quality. I was disappointed.

Harar Mesob is now the Crystal Lounge. It is advertised as a Hookah bar, but still serves the same amazing Ethiopian food. The Awaze Tibs are perfection and if you want true Ethiopian food with a little less spice, this is the place to go. I love introducing people to Ethiopian food here because it’s not super spicy and overwhelming, but it is still very authentic. I’ve traveled to Ethiopia so I promise you can trust me!

This is an amazing place!
Great Décor ! Full Bar! Hookah Corner!
Did I say delicious food? Good service too

Noooooo!!!
I used to LOVE this place (gave it 5 stars)! Delicious food, best injera anywhere, and friendly service. I always looked forward to a visit whenever I was in Crystal City (a lot).
I walked in for a late dinner last night and found… all new furniture, and no people. The straw Ethiopian tables were gone — in fact, the restaurant tables were all gone too — and instead, the place was crammed full of lounge furniture. The air conditioning was freezing so we decided to sit out on the new lower level patio. People were smoking from hookahs on both levels so we had to choose between hookahs and cold, and we took the hookahs.
Through the long course of our dinner (server said it was her first night, so I’ll refrain from commenting on the service, other than that we had to ask for napkins… hello, we’re eating with our hands), we endured not only a growing crowd of hookah smokahs, but also a lot of whooping from one of the women (not sure if she was affiliated with the restaurant or not). I’ve never gone here for the drinks but all of the beers are in bottles. The food was still decent but not as good as it was before (perhaps flavored by my disappointment), and even the injera didn’t taste as good.
What a complete bummer. Apparently I am not Harar Mesob’s new target market, and I will be taking my per diem elsewhere in future.
Goodbye Harar Mesob! I’ll miss the way you were, and will be at Enjera across the street when I want my 23^rd St Ethiopian fix.

My first time trying Ethiopian food, a bit like Indian food with no spices. The server was very nice. I looked around the room, 4 men in one corner and 1 woman sitting alone. After walking past all the other restaurants on the street with people fulling each place, I started to think hmm but my son picked this place, we’re on vacation why not!
We ordered the sample platter for two, I understand in Ethiopia there is very little food but in America $ 40.00 should give you a fair bit of food. I guess it was a fair amount but each item is of course a sample little piles of food and loads of this pancake style bread. I have decieded that Ethiopian food is not one I will try again.
The atmosphere was quiet and the server was nice, if you like Ethiopian food it’s probably very nice. If your exploring something new there was nothing here to be amazed with!

This was the first time I had Ethiopian and I didn’t know you ate with your hands yet. But I ordered the Lamb Tibs, because anything with lamb in it I will consume. It was really good, no matter where you go the injera is incredibly filling (if you want to eat more meat but feel the injera is taking up all of the room in your stomach forgo the injera and just start eating the meat, I usually do this about ¾ths of the way through the meal).
Here the service is incredibly slow, to the point where you have nothing left to eat or drink as a distraction while you wait. And if you are confused about the food you are on your own.

We went here with our 10 year old granddaughter and had a fine evening. The combo dinner had a great variety with excellent choices. The service was fast and very friendly. Eating with enjera is always a pleasure, especially for a kid. We will return!

Service was excellent. Food was good. And their chocolate cake is simply amazing. Loved it!

This is my go-​to Ethiopian restaurant in the DC area, and every one of my friends who know/​enjoy Ethiopian cuisine LOVE this place. It’s unpretentious, appears to be family run, and of course, the food is delicious. I always order the combo platter, which has a good sized portion of all of their more popular dishes served on top of enjera on an enormous platter. It’s meant for two, but can easily feed three or four. They also have the staple Ethiopian honey wine and beers, and I know they serve Ethiopian coffee, but I can’t speak to it. The service is friendly and casual, but not inattentive. I love bringing my virgin friends here for their first experience.

This was my first time eating Ethiopian food, and I can honestly say I was glad that it was here. The hostess was very friendly and accommodating to our questions and our big group, which was very much appreciated. Everyone I was with got their own plate (I had yebeg tibs) and the food was delicious! Everything was very flavorful and spicy. The atmosphere of the restaurant is very homey and cute as well. We even stayed for dessert; their baklava is amazing! I would definitely recommend this place to anyone wanting to try Ethiopian but who might be a little intimidated!
–1 star because it took forever to get our checks.

This place is awesome! Veggie combo with Yebeg Tibs!!! Also, the chocolate cake is LITERALLY the best I’ve ever had :)

Thought we’d try this place after the reading reviews. Nice atmosphere & good service. But… the quality of the meat was very poor. The menu described prime beef & lamb. Grisly and tough on all 3 entrees ordered. Good combo of spices and other sides, but the cheap meat ruined the meal. Prob will not return-​too many other better Ethiopian restaurants with higher quality food.

Had lunch here a few days ago, and everything was tasty and seemed fresh. My friends and I shared a sampler platter with meat combined with the veggie sampler, so we tasted a wide range of Harar Mesob’s dishes. Everything was roughly on par with my expectations for a good Ethiopian meal, and the tomato salad that came with the veggie option was particularly flavorful. The chicken was slightly dry, but generally this place did not disappoint and we all left happy. Pretty good ambiance/​décor as well. All in all, a pretty solid Ethiopian joint!

Harar mesob was my first experience with Ethiopian food and it was a delicious experience! I tried the lentil sambussa for appetizer that reminded me of an Indian samosa. For $ 3.50 each one, I found it to be underwhelming-​it was kind if burnt and nothing great. My entrée was the «harar mesob kifo», which I ordered rare and was out if this world! It was spicy, flavorful and a very generous portion. It seemed like there was only one waitress when we went and she was very friendly, but service was somewhat slow for only having two other tables seated in the restaurant. I am so happy I stopped by here & would recommend this place if you are not in a hurry and want some good kitfo.

This is my first time with Ethiopian food, and it was overall a delicious experience. Since we didn’t have any clue what to order, my girlfriend and I tried the sampler which included a little bit of everything. Our order came on a large flat tray on top of a large piece of injera, with more injera on the side. We got a little bit of everything, which included lentils, chicken legs in two sauces (one spicy and one sweet), potatoes, green beans, two hard-​boiled eggs (interesting) and various meats. Overall it wasn’t too bad — the closest to taste is Indian food without the spiciness. It was surprisingly filling.
The injera had the consistency of a pancake (spongy and fluffy) and it has a very mild sour taste to it. Trust me when I say it’s actually quite tasty.
I’m only giving this place three stars because I think I’m just not a fan of this type of food. It is certainly worth a try, although it would seem from other Unilocalers Enjera is the superior Ethiopian place, which is located across the street.

There are far too many Ethiopian/​Eriterian options close-​by to settle for this place.
The outside seating is nice and service was pleasant but as an Ethiopian the food was extremely mediocre, the berbere is either cut with something else or old so it lacks flavor; the portion sizes are so much smaller than what other restaurants offer for the price this place charges.
For the people that have reviewed this place with more than three stars I recommend that you try, Dama, habesha, zenebech or any other Ethiopian/​Eritrean restaurant in the area and then come update the Harar review.
Also note, no Ethiopians/​Eritreans have left this establishment good reviews…

Went with my mother, brother, sis-​in-​law, my two nieces and my SO. First of all, this place is TINY. They did manage to pull together tables for us, but that’s more because it was late and kinda empty.
They have rice dishes and pasta dishes on the menu so my nieces split and order of Shrimp rice. They did not charge us an extra plate fee. My sis-​in-​law got the Tedoro Alicha Wot which was very tasty. My mom had the Yebeg Tibs which were done exactly right. My 2^nd oldest niece kept eating off of her plate. My brother got the a beef dish as did my SO. I had the Veggie Combo Platter. I liked all of the things that came on the platter. I was just hoping for Bucheta which wasn’t there :(Oh well. They gave us a big dish with pieces of rolled injara (roll up. slice roll into 4ths or 3rds)
Service was a little slow. They missed my order for Sambussa, but didn’t charge us for it. We ordered a side of rice, again not charged.
It’s not bad, but I’ll try the one across the street next time just to see if it is better.

The food was average and several dishes were cold, but the one thing that irked me the most is the fact they charged for extra injera. Having had Ethiopian food on U Street and in NoVA, I have NEVER encountered a restaurant that charged for extra bread.
I highly recommend Enjera, the Eritrean/​Ethiopian restaurant across the street. Both the food and service is exponentially better.

I stopped in here for the Lunch Buffet since Harar Mesob was a short walking distance from my hotel. The dining room is cozy with colorful artwork on the walls. The Lunch Buffet was $ 10.50 plus tax, which seemed like a fair price for 10 hot items to choose from.
Though not fancy, the Ethiopian food on the buffet IMO tasted pretty good! I sampled cabbage, collard greens, yellow lentils, red lentils, fettuccine noodles in tomato sauce, chick peas, rice, and a very soft thin bread roll. I was hungry, so I definitely went back for more food until I had my fill.
After lunch, it was time for me to go back to my hotel and take an afternoon nap. I would definitely eat here again, if I happen to be staying in the area in the future.