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| - Traveled to Madison this weekend for a concert, and decided to look for things that are difficult to get back home. Fortunately, we ended up finding out about this establishment. Never having tried Moroccan cuisine, and always up for trying out new things, my party of culinary adventurers headed to this establishment when they opened.
The exterior is a little worse for wear, and it doesn't look like anything to write home about. Do not believe this impression. It is false, and will lead you astray. Listen to this friendly gourmand, and walk through that front door. The establishment is very nicely decorated, cozy and comfortable, despite having plenty of seating. One side of the restaurant is very standard chairs and tables, another side seems more "traditional". Lots of cushions, etc.
We were greeted by an extremely friendly gentleman, and were promptly directed to a table. After being seated and procuring water, he did something I've not really encountered often in a ethnic restaurant. He offered to either let us review the menu as is, or if we wanted, he would give us more information about the dishes, cultural relevance, etc. Being a very curious bunch, we opted for the later.
After a brief but interesting crash-course on the menu, we opted for ordering a handful of appetizers as well as our entrees. To start, we got the sampler plate, which contained hummus (It's hummus. 'nough said), zaaluk, (grilled eggplant blended with tomatoes, green pepper, garlic, olive oil, and other spices) and mohamara (roast rep pepper dip with walnuts, artichokes, garlic, and other spices), as well as makouda (potato, carrots, spinach, garlic, cumin, fried into a croquette, with a dill yogurt sauce). Excellent flavors, a very nice tanginess to the zaaluk and mohamar. Normally I despise eggplant, but found myself repeatedly reaching for more. The makouda was heavenly. Kind of like a weird cross between kibee, falafel, and samosa.
For our entrees, myself and my friend Brian ordered the lamb tagine, a stew of lamb, potatoes, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, peas, onion, garlic, cilantro, and parsley. The lamb was amazingly tender, the dish was piping hot, the vegetables still had a good crunch to them despite being in a stew, and the side of rice complemented it wonderfully. The taste was kind of an interesting cross between Indian and Middle-Eastern. Larger quantity of sauce, like Indian, but the spices were much more layered like Middle-Eastern.
My friend Cindy ended up getting the vegetarian bastila (phyllo dough die with carrots, spinach, potatoes, onion, and garlic). It ended up being a misunderstanding, but one hell of a fortunate one. I got to sample a piece, kind of a vegetarian pastie.
For a beverage, I had the Moroccan blended red wine (cabernet, syrah, and merlot from Moroccan wineries), a very light touch of sweetness to an otherwise dry red that complimented the stew nicely. Cindy had the Moroccan mint tea, a sweet, nice delicate mint tea prepared traditionally. (Courtesy of the aforementioned information, we got an amusing anecdote about why it's served how it is)
Desert was, of course, a piece of baklava. Delightful crispy, not overly nutty, and just enough sweetness. A nice molasses drizzle to boot. They even cut the piece into smaller sections so we could share (I'm the only one that had room for it, so I'm the only one that actually ordered it)
The prices were reasonable, towards a little on the higher end, but very much well worth it. There was a couple mix-ups with orders, both at our table and others around us, leading me to think it might be somewhat understaffed, and our friendly, helpful server was extremely soft spoken, so when more people started to filter in, it got a bit difficult to hear him. That aside, service was extremely prompt, very friendly, and the dishes were all brought out piping hot.
If you're the adventurous type that likes to try new things, or a fan of cuisine from the region, I highly recommend this establishment. My group left full and happy.
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