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| - I may very well have found the perfect dish to satisfy those who want to eat dinner and dessert all at once. And while I was at it, I discovered a truly multifaceted local business. I've already sung the praises of Habbouz, a local restaurant serving up delicious food with a primary focus on Tunisian cuisine (as of this moment the only restaurant in town with this emphasis as far as I'm aware). Right next door to Habbouz is a restaurant, with hard to find Middle Eastern groceries as well as a Middle Eastern clothing boutique all in one spot. There really is no place in town quite like Alzohour Market. And there's no dish I've ever tried quite like the Bastilla.
Originally opened in 2003, Alzohour is the brainchild of owner Zhor Saad. Originally from Morocco, Zhor opened the market first and foremost as a grocery store and clothing boutique. The clothing boutique on the south side of the business contains a variety of cultural clothing for men and women and in fact I saw a couple of Muslim families shopping at the boutique during my visit here. The grocery store is on the north side of the business space and contains a variety of dry and cold grocery items as well as a deli counter that backs up to the main kitchen. In the middle is the sit down restaurant, which Saad added to the space in 2008. The restaurant portion seats maybe 20 people and the entire business was operated by three people on the day I was here, with Zhor herself running the show.
I came here on a Saturday after attending a rally in support of the local Muslim community at the Islamic Community Center just down the street. A number of Muslim families and supporters made their way here afterwards so I figured I'd give it a go. Another driver of me coming here was an article I'd seen about Alzohour by renowned Arizona Republic food critic Dominic Armato. In one of his "Killer Dish" articles, Dominic sung the praises of Alzohour's most complex dish of all. The Bastilla. In fact there's actually a video on AZCentral that shows all the ingredients and the process Zhor Saad uses to make this dish. But there were other pleasant surprises in addition to the Bastilla.
When I arrived, Zhor very kindly sat me down at one of the corner tables. As I knew what I was getting for my main course (and I was starving), I ordered my Bastilla right away and also decided to give a glass of their mango juice a try as well. First though, the house salad, which you get with your entree as a starter. The salad was a delightful mix of greens, olive oil, pita chips, tomatoes, and even some cucumber mixed in. Nice and cold, but with a smooth finish each time thanks to the olive oil. The mango juice was also a very pleasant accompaniment. Not too sweet, not too acidic. Just a smooth fruity drink to wake up my palette.
And then, at last, the main event. The Bastilla. The ingredient list for this dish is so long it would rival a Mexican Mole' recipe so check out the AZCentral article I referenced for the full rundown. But basically we're talking about chicken and almonds that have been mixed with a ton of different ingredients, which is then cooked into a filo dough pie and doused with tons of cinnamon and powdered sugar. The size of this dish was quite imposing when it arrived at my table. But that first bite, wow. A veritable cornucopia of different flavors swirl in your mouth with every bite. You get the sweet notes from the cinnamon and sugar (both on top as well as cooked into the chicken), along with the savory notes of the chicken, saffron, cilantro and a number of other ingredients. The volume of chicken in this dish was quite surprising and such that there's no way I could've finished this all by myself so I had to take some home. In any event it's abundantly clear to me why Armato marked this dish as Alzohour's calling card. I've never eaten anything quite like it.
Total cost for the salad, Bastilla, mango juice drink, tax and tip came to about $30. I'd noticed a number of people who'd previously reviewed this business on Yelp docked it for poor or unreliable service. I experienced nothing of the sort today. Zhor was extremely friendly and attentive to me even with 6 other customers dining in. Considering its just her and one or two other people working in the kitchen, the amount of food, quality of the food, and relatively short period of time they're cranking out the food is quite impressive. By the way, you'll want to order the hot tea here sometime. Zhor puts on an impressive show with the tea you have to see for yourself. Great food, great owner, great find. What a treat.
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