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| - I have only eaten Moroccan food once or twice before. But after dining at Moroccan Paradise across from ASU, I liked it so much that I decided to try another Moroccan restaurant the following day. That's when I discovered Couscous Express, which I read is famous for their couscous and date shakes.
When I entered Couscous Express, I was personally greeted by owner-chef Abdul who hails from Tangier, Morocco. Even before shown the menu, he had dropped off a few complimentary starters - a warm cup of bitter gunpowder tea, a bowl of mildly spiced hisara soup that was lentil based, and a microwaved piece of harsha that's like a thick disc shaped pan fried bread. Abdul told me to take my time, he would take my order after I finished the appetizers. I have eaten at Arabic restaurants where a hearty lentil soup is the first item served, and the hisara soup tasted very similar to that. It's like the "miso soup" of Middle Eastern meals.
The menu was very simplistic, permutations of either kabobs or tagine, with the choice of vegetable, chicken, beef, fish, or lamb. For that reason, there was no paper menu passed out. Just tell Abdul what you want. I chose the lamb tagine, after having had chicken the previous night.
The tagine was essentially an individual serving potted stew, very soupy, containing a melange of boiled vegetables, raisins (instead of dates), and meat. I ate it with steamed couscous which was prepared reasonably well - very moist and soft, somewhat fragrant, a hint of raisin-like sweetness. The couscous was not as spongy as rice that I eat more frequently, but it did taste good with the hearty low-sodium broth. I especially liked the broth because it had natural sweetness from the boiled vegetables. The broth was light but still relatively savory, it tasted great even on its own.
Unfortunately, I was extremely let down by one aspect. I ordered lamb but I'm convinced that I received beef, although one of the servers assured me it was lamb. I don't think it was goat meat either. The lamb tasted really similar to the boiled beef stock that I add to my Chinese soup. No gamey flavor, tough resilient texture, very lean meat. It was my least favorite aspect of the tagine. In my opinion, using lamb or goat shanks (bone-in) would make the tagine taste infinitely better.
Nonetheless, I had a positive experience at Couscous Express. Hospitality was the most memorable aspect of the meal. Chef Abdul treats customers like family, and dining in felt like being a guest in his house. It's a one man show in the kitchen but he somehow finds time to bus tables. Chef Abdul even refilled my broth and bowl of couscous without asking. It's impossible to leave hungry from this place.
Between Couscous Express and Moroccan Paradise, I would pick Couscous Express if I wanted a more soupy and stew-like tagine, and choose Moroccan Paradise if I were craving for a more of a purely steamed bowl where a gravy is served on the side.
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