Summerlicious at Café Moroc this evening with my friend ME. Café Moroc is the name of the bar / front area of The Sultan’s Tent restaurant. It is decorated in Moorish style, which I love (can’t wait to go back to Benadalid in the Andalucian Mountains of Spain and stay at that Moorish villa with my English friend SP et al again, sigh!) plus it totally adds to the experience. A few years ago I went to The Sultan’s Tent for a birthday dinner. We had the $45 prix fixe menu, which included an hour of belly dancing. It was so fun! And I’ve yet to see a prix fixe menu with as many choices as theirs.
Looking towards the Front Street windows from our table
The crowd was young, twenty- and thirty- somethings, with an equal number of couples and friends. Background music was fusion (pop, French, Arabesque); both ME and I wished it was heavier on the French/Arabic than contemporary. Even some Thievery Corporation would have been more condusive to the atmosphere.
Sliced smoked duck breast salad
For my starter, I selected the duck breast salad because (a) duck is my favourite meat, and (b) I really needed some greens. Three slices of smoked duck breast came on top of “baby lettuces, dressed with a Champagne, pomegranate vinaigrette, tossed with fresh fine cut vegetables, cherry tomatoes and sliced mango, finished with parmesan, asiago and Romano cheese.” It was quite good– the balance of flavours playing out perfectly until the last bite. I wasn’t sure about the duck-and-cheese combo, but it worked; the pomegranate vinaigrette provided enough sweetness to cut the cheese, if you will. Heh heh. ME had the maftoul, hand-rolled Moroccan “cigars” of spiced beef, cashews and raisins in hot pastry. The two (thin) cigars were topped with chipotle mayo, which ME found unnecessary because like he said, and I concur, we weren’t in a Mexican restaurant. I would have liked to try the harira soup, with tomatoes and chick peas, but it was just too damned hot out today.
Braised lamb feast
Both ME and I chose the lamb for our main. I don’t eat chicken, although the Chicken Marrakesh sounded tasty; ME didn’t order it because he hates olives. The lamb was a GREAT CHOICE. The meat was so tender it fell off the bone. (Reminded me of a braised bison rib I had once at Tundra, and ate with a spoon.) The prune demi glace was amazing, and although the lamb tasted quite bland without it, it was sufficient to cover almost every bite. Under the lamb was a bed of tagine-spiced couscous and roasted root vegetables. As you can imagine, both of us licked our plates clean.
Baklava and Moroccan Treats
Dessert was somewhat disappointing. ME chose the Moroccan Treats: “traditionally made Moroccan cookie and pastry accompanied with Latshin, a light and refreshing traditional dessert of fresh orange slices sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon.” He said the cookie tasted of rose-water, and the pastry of lemon. The Latshin, which I had read good things about, appeared as two slices of orange stacked so only one of them had any sugar-cinnamon sprinkling. And it was a THIN sprinkling at that. My baklava was labelled as gluten-free on the Summerlicious menu online, but when I asked my server about it he said that must be a mistake. The manager came over and apologized for the error and said he would update the website. Luckily I’m not on a strict GF diet. Regardless, the baklava was dry, had way too much pastry (like a slice of pie), and I have never said this before in all my years of baklava-eating, but it could stand to be sweeter! A LOT SWEETER. It tasted like sugar-free baklava. Boo-urns.
However, overall the meal was definitely good value for the price. My major complaint is that Café Moroc is not authentic enough. Which is ironic because it’s such a nice place. (I read a review online that said it was like eating at a Moroccan resto at Epcot in Florida, which was supposed to be an insult, but only made me like it more because I LOVED the world showcase at Epcot Centre when I was a kid!) But here at Café Moroc, it’s like they almost get to authenticity… but then they fall short. It could be that they are afraid of scaring off the customers. But, you’d think in Toronto (foodie central), authenticity would only draw them in? Nonetheless, I highly recommend dining at either Café Moroc or The Sultan’s Tent at least once. Especially if you’re like me and can’t afford the trip to Morocco.
Price: $25 prix fixe
Duration from sitting down to standing up: one hour
Drinks: budget for $10 extra per drink
Wine: specials available on Inniskillin red & white
Total cost for 2ppl with one drink each, including tax & tip: $90
Afterwards, we sauntered back out into the 35C heat (at 9pm no less), and headed towards Union Station to take the train home.
I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…
Shahia tayeba!
x