I went to Casbah for the first time a couple years ago and remembered not being too happy with my experience. I decided to give it another shot, and I'm very happy with my decision to do so.
Last night I arrived to Casbah around 9:15. The kitchen closes at 10:00 so we were fine. The male at the host stand seemed pretty irritated that we were just arriving but it wasn't like I was walking in at 9:55. We opted to sit inside because it was a little chilly. He the two of us down at a table against the wall in the very back. It was tiny and cramped and not too mention very poor lighting. Almost felt like I was punished to that table? So I asked our server to be moved to another table in the restaurant.
We served some bread and sea salt butter. In my opinion, the bread was nothing special. I had a few bites and didn't finish much just because I wanted to save room for the more important dishes. We were also served some type of Greek yogurt for the bread but that combination didn't sound appetizing to me.
I ordered a 3 cheese selection option as an appetizer. I regret it a little bit now just because I was served the same bread. I added the prosciutto for an extra $4 and it was very good. I picked the first 3 cheeses on the menu (forget exactly what they were). I would have like the server to tell me which cheese was which, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
In addition I also had the Charred Spanish rock octopus which was the highlight of the entire meal. I highly recommend it.
I had the Casbah (signature, as I was told) double-cut pork chop. This cut was very large and I ended up taking most of it to go. The rice was phenomenal, especially the rice that was under the meat. It had absorbed the flavors from the meat.
Finally, I decided on the pistachio cannoli. I had a tough time deciding between that and the chocolate pot de creme. The flavor seemed to be a little off and I think i would have like the filling to be a bit sweeter. I also opted for the Greek dessert wine pairing, which they only able to serve me half a glass because they ran out. It ended up being free, so I didn't mind.
My server was very knowledgeable about the menu and was able to explain things very clearly. However, I HATE when servers go take a smoke break and then leave my table smelling like an ashtray. Off putting as I was eating my cannoli dessert.
Pretty good experience, but could have been amazing.