* A mixed bag *
A Vancouverite in London is likely going to want to get some food we don't get a good selection of at home - so off to get Moroccan food it was!
Random side story: There was a rather sad couple dining at the same time. They clearly were on a first date. He was very proud of himself and trying to get her more interested by bragging about all of his wonderful accomplishments, if you know what I mean. She was having none of it. When they were getting ready to leave, there was another couple sitting at the table closest to the door, and the man's chair was blocking the door (it is a narrow restaurant). The "big tough impressive guy" said something to his date but then didn't have the guts to ask the other guy to move. He actually went and asked the server, "Could you please ask the man at the door to move so we can leave the restaurant?" Ridiculous. Couldn't believe it. Neither could his date. But I digress.....
This is a nice little spot with very friendly service. We started off with the broad bean salad (which had a lovely cumin overtone combined with a pungent garlic taste), and the aubergine zalook (which had a similar cumin overtone and tomato balancing out the garlic). They also served some carrot sticks which was a refreshing touch.
For the mains we tried 3 different tagines - lamb apricot (which had s strong black pepper flavour contrasting nicely with the grilled apricots - yet the lamb was not as tender as I would have hoped for), lamb souss (which had saffron and ginger overtones - yet again the lamb was not as tender as I would have preferred), and prawns (which was flavoured with saffron, raisins, peanuts, and garlic - this was my least favourite as the prawns were WAY past the proper cooking point).
Overall I was a bit disappointed in the tagines - one of the things I always love about tagines are how tender the meat is. Sadly the lamb wasn't as tender as it should be, and the prawns were just rubbery. Oh well.....
We did share a pleasant pot of mint tea to wrap the meal, which was poured similarly to how I remember everyone pouring it when I visited Morocco way back when (seeing how high the server can raise the pot and still not splash or spill).
I thankfully got my North African food fix a bit later in the trip at Restaurant Ghomrassen (http://www.yelp.com/biz/restaurant-ghomrassen-marseille#hrid:ZisSS6SWI4DS4q4rpD5U2g/src:self) read more