I don't know how to feel. I've been going to Casablanca since the very early 2000s. I was in love with their vegetarian dishes and hit up the lunchtime buffet as often as I could. I started bringing my son along when he was 5, circa 2006, any time I could get a Friday off of work. At first he was only adventurous enough to eat pita, hummus, and cucumbers, but he came around quickly and his tastes grew immensely - it's like we grew together, Casablanca.
...But something has changed in the past few years. The quality has diminished - to a point where I can't deny it anymore. For the longest time, I kept saying, "Well hey, they probably just had a bad night!" But the actual fact is that they've let the food just completely fall apart. First offense: I ordered the large serving of hummus, but only received two tiny pieces of pita with this massive portion? Nah. I also ordered the vegetarian appetizer platter which includes a ton of dip-like options but didn't provide any additional pita. I don't even care about bread, but other people seem to like/need it, and it's the PRINCIPLE.
Second offense: We're vegetarian. I ordered a falafel wrap for my boyfriend. He took a bite and spit it out because it was actually sliced beef. That's not cool, Casablanca. We don't want to be stuck-up vegetarians, but that's really actually not cool.
Third offense: I don't understand why the Jibneh rolls exist on this menu. There's nothing Middle Eastern about them. It's in a WONTON WRAPPER. You could at least use phyllo? I know you call it "spicy tahini sauce" - but... who are you kidding? That's straight-up ketchup + mayo. It does not match with its paired food item whatsoever. Who thought this was a good idea? This can't be something traditional, right? That would be the only thing to make sense; if it was a traditional Middle Eastern sauce that was paired with cheese dishes. Don't get me wrong - the rolls taste ok, because deep fried + cheese. It's just that they MAKE. NO. SENSE. They're trying to be deep-fried Reuben rolls with Thousand Island (with an extra cultural twist?), but failing.
Then we have the atrocity that is the vegetarian potato balls. This, to me, is the most inexcusable offense. The mashed potatoes that are used to make the shell itself are OK, although dry. I always order tons of extra tahini sauce & tzatziki, so it was fine. It's what they stuff the balls in that moves this into "trash" territory. CANNED "MIXED VEGETABLE MIX." You know, the can with limp green beans, pallid diced carrots, lima beans no one wants, wrinkly corn kernels, and shriveled peas. The actual canned mix. Wtf. You're at a restaurant surrounded by beautiful fresh vegetables that are used in your other dishes. You don't have any leftovers that can be used as the filling of your vegetarian potato balls? Instead, you'd prefer to bring in canned, tinny, otherwise-tasteless garbage? Coming from an inventory/purchasing perspective, I'm thinking they only bring this awful throw-away vegetable mix in for THIS specific item. WHY? The fact that a restaurant would make such a stupid, money-wasting move makes me physically angry. Casablanca, I feel like this would be such an easy fix. Save some of your fresh carrots, eggplants, lentils, etc. from your other dish prep and sub that in, pls.
I think the thing that keeps bringing me back is the hummus + pickles. It fulfills a never-ending and very specific hunger. I'm wondering if the overall quality of Casablanca has decreased as they've branched out, because they used to be so much better. They could likely get back to that if they relied less on bland money-saving Sysco deliveries and more on fresh ingredients/home recipes. I feel like they do fairly well when they focus on actual authentic recipes. read more