Serendipitously, last Sunday found four Jackson Street Eaters in Nia’s house right around dinner time. I’d planned to go home and make dinner, but because I missed out on the Friday Feed, it was easy to convince me that what we really wanted to was wander over to Jackson Street for Vietnamese at the Moonlight Cafe.

Here are some good things about the Moonlight: I’Ts only a few blocks from Nia’s so we can walk. It’s cheap. They have a huge vegetarian menu. The food is really good.

The veggie menu bears special mention. The Moonlight has two menus that appear to be exactly the same. Except. One menu is the standard full menu, the other menu is the same menu, only it’s vegetarian. When you order Lemon Grass Chicken off the veggie menu, you get Lemon Grass Chicken, only the chicken isn’t chicken, it’, well, what, exactly? It’ another product. Gluten? Seitan? Textured veggie protein? I know that this may not sound all that delicious to you, but actually, it’ really good. It’ a nice change from the standard “I’ll have the XYZ, tofu” option. The stuff doesn’t really taste like chicken, it’ more sausage like in it’ consistency, but it’ delicious, spicy, a little chewy (in a good way) and it swims in whatever sauce you’ve ordered.

Bill and I had the Lemon Grass (not) Chicken, Nia had the Lemon Grass Tofu, and Julius had the Chicken with Mushroom and Pineapple. I ordered the limeade too – I’m taking a cue from Bill’ bravery on the drinks and starting to order off that section of the menu, though I won’t get a red badge of courage for limeade. It was delicious, though, lots of sugar at the bottom of the glass. A little bit like a mojito without the alcohol. We got some tofu rolls for a starter. I find these things not exactly bursting with flavor, but I do enjoy them and they take the edge of your appetite.

The service is spotty there, the meals arrived in a random manner, the waitress seemed distracted, and the environment is a bit like a roadside diner with maroon vinyl booths. No matter. For flavor, the food is right up there at the top with Saigon Bistro. We came out at 13 dollars a head.

The Moonlight Café is at 1919 S Jackson.

Cherry Street I
This week, we braved new territory and headed down Cherry for Ethiopian Food. We’d all recently had our heads turned by the expansive outdoor patio at Meskel. There were six of us, with special guest stars Kevin and Erin joining in.

Here’ the deal with Ethiopian food: no cutlery. The dishes are something between a curry and a stew. They’re served on big round trays topped with injera, the spongy bread that you use to eat everything with. You tear off a bit of bread and use it to pick up your stew or soak up your sauce. It’ messy but fun.

We had three chicken stews, a beef, a lamb, and a vegetarian plate. I forgot to take notes (bad blogger, bad!) so I can’t recall the exact names, except for the veggie plate and the green chicken. The green chicken was really good – chicken stewed with collard greens, as was the chicken I ordered. It was served in a dark red spicy sauce with a mild cheese, a little like paneer, a little like cottage cheese. I found the other chicken dish a little plain. I didn’t try the beef or the lamb, but they got the thumbs up, and Bill said the veggie plate was excellent. I was a little envious of him because when you order the veggie plate, you get a variety of things to try. I shouldn’t complain, though, we had three kinds of chicken, salad, sauce, and cheese, on our tray.

Compared to our usual Jackson Street venues, this place is spotless inside. It’ not fancy, but there’ nothing divey about it. There’ a fair showing of Ethiopians there, too, making you feel like it’ not just food for gringos.

The folks at Meskel are awfully nice, with a certain wacky demeanor that makes you feel like they’re a little amused by your presence. They’re helpful with the menu and the service is quite good. When we were all leaning back in our chairs, one of the waitresses came out with a genuinely concerned look on her face about the amount of food still left in front of us. “Was everything okay?” she asked, as though we hadn’t eaten it all because we hadn’t liked it. Truth is, we were collectively full to bursting, a side affect of eating a meal that’ driven by spongy bread. She brightened visibly after we agreed to take the leftovers home, but still seemed a little hurt by the fact that we declined the leftover injera.

Meskel isn’t as cheap as Asian food on Jackson, but it’ still mighty affordable at 16 dollars a head. And they have a delightful patio for those balmy summer evenings. We’ll be back.

Meskel is at 2605 E Cherry St. Here’s a review.