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| - Let me first qualify my review by stating my focus on the total experience of dining than merely the consumables (food & drink).
I love this place. The owner must have a great sensibility to aesthetics and the totality of experience. This "souk" is a rendition of a nostalgic concept of the past bazaars: It begins by a close-up browsing of various middle-eastern preserves and spices. The browsing itself fires up imagination and recollects joyous memories of souks or traditional markets.
Make sure you pay homage to "Cafe Younes" as you step in more. You'll see what I mean.
It then welcomes you to a tableau--a mosaic of letters that comprise the menu. You really do not want to rush placing your order because your eyes keep getting invited to various parts of the menu. For someone who is not familiar with middle-eastern cuisine, the words and names could appear cheeky. But the serving staff masterfully engage with you, help you stay on the tableau and just pepper insights onto your read of the menu. I ordered a few items, not knowing if it were too much. The server affirmed that I might have ordered too much; she suggested a mild modification.
Next, you are drawn toward the show of a time-old craft: baking. You watch, in awe and admiration, the deceivingly simple stretching of the dough, the pasting of the pie to the hot oven, and the sizzling bubbling of the bread. Stop and watch the whole show: The breads get neatly folded, stacked on top of one-another, and placed in souk-type baskets.
Once you sit at a table (plenty of which are around, and no two are similar in view), you are drawn to nibbles of crafts plastered on various spots on the walls, placed in charming orders on tables, or displayed without hesitation on the northern shelves. Just browse. Stay curious.
In short order the food arrives. If you are in a rush, make sure you have your "number" sitting up right. You know what I mean soon enough. The food is--ah--yum. I'll let others write about the food itself. To me, simply "yum" will do; I want to continue experience the place while I am enjoying the yummies.
Do not rush out the door. Go back and order tea. There is a subtle difference (as I discovered) between Moroccan tea and Lebanese tea. Rest back, let it infuse. Bite on a date pastry while you keep observing the patrons of this mediterranean market. Say hi to the next-table neighbour. Strike a conversation. This is what a souk ought to be!
To the owner(s) and manager(s): THANK YOU.
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