If I had a nickel for every Algerian restaurant I've been to in the past week, I'd have two…read morenickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Also, something something Rock the Casbah.
All terrible references aside, I went to this small Algerian restaurant with five others pretty recently. This chef, Amina, was very friendly, which was especially warming after walking through a bit of a storm a few days ago to get here. To drink, she poured us some complimentary hot green tea with a bit of mint, which was tasty. Outside of the tea, I also got a $3 can of Slim, a lightly sweet drink from Algerian soft drink company Hamoud Boualem. In this case, it was ananas, or pineapple, and it was very refreshing.
As we didn't have many people, we got two orders of three dishes. The first was the $26 Lamb Couscous, consisting of steamed couscous with lamb shank, potato, zucchini, carrot, squash, chickpeas, and a red meat broth. The broth came on this side, and we were instructed to add it for taste to the couscous. I'm usually someone who prefers pearl couscous as I like the texture a lot more. However, this couscous was much fluffier and less dry than other spots I've been to, so it was a treat. The various vegetables were cooked down nicely, and the meaty shank fell off the bone with ease. The broth added a bit of richness, with the couscous soaking it up.
Next to arrive was the Chicken Rechta for $24, consisting of a half chicken, homemade flat thin semolina noodles, zucchini, turnip, chickpeas, and a chicken broth on the side. From the taste and the name being similar to the Persian reshteh, I presumed they were egg noodles, with them being soft and fluffy. Outside of the tender and tasty noodles, the chicken was soft, and just like the other dish, the vegetables were cooked wonderfully with the slightly green broth, in this case, adding extra flavor.
Last to arrive was the $28 Baked Branzino, consisting of said fish with roasted potatoes, sauteed red onions and cherry tomatoes, brushed with herby garlic lemon sauce, topped with spring onions and parsley, and served with perfectly toasty warm French bread. Like all the other proteins, the fish was cooked beautifully, though as usual for branzino, you have to look out for bones. The fish's tail was the highlight, with plenty of flavor and crunch. Outside of this, I loved the potatoes, and as someone who usually doesn't like cherry tomatoes, they were delicious.
I don't have any particular favorites, as all the dishes were nice. This place, just like my previous Algerian spot Le Petit Pêcheur, was lighter on the spices, but for once I didn't mind. Everything was cooked wonderfully, the portion sizes were adequate, and the service was lovely. I would go back and try their merguez and other things. I wish I were in the area, as I would support this business heavily.
