I had been looking forward to meeting one of my oldest friends all week. Unfortunately she lives in Cowley, whereas I live in Jericho, so, being the lazy soul that I am, I caught the bus to Cowley Road and walked up to the O2. I then decided to go for the nearest decent-looking restaurant. Thankfully, my generally lazy approach to restaurant choosing paid off and we really did have a great evening.We were looked after the moment we stepped through the door. Water was brought to the table immediately followed not long afterwards by menus. As usual though, our main focus was the food, and we ordered a lamb (£14.95) and a chicken tagine (£10.95).
The menu was fairly conservative and was obviously trying to cater to people who probably weren’t used to more unusual Moroccan tastes and textures. With orders made soon after we had sat down, we sat back in contentment and looked around at our surroundings. The room had an air of luxury, with scarlet walls and ebony arches and beams, and lots of vases with fresh flowers. The polished tables and white booth seating added a nice touch of modernity.
Our meal began with the complimentary man’oushe (Lebanese flatbread) and houmous. The bread was soft and warm and light, the houmous smooth and fresh and fragrant. The tagines were brought to the table in their pans, and the smell rushing out as the lids were removed was extraordinary. The meat jus was wonderfully rich and flavourful, the stewed fruit melted in the mouth, and the meat fell off the bones. The general texture of the dish was silky smooth and moist, and the couscous that came in a separate bowl was brilliantly fluffy. The portions were generous and both of our dishes tasted so good that we ate them in near-unbroken silence.
For dessert we shared a konafa (£3.50), which our waitress described as a sort of cheesecake; but it was unlike any cheesecake we had ever eaten before. A thin layer of semolina-cake topped actual melted cheese, and seemed to have been soaked in syrup before being left to dry, and then sprinkled with crushed pistachios and warmed before being served in a shallow pool of syrup.Both aesthetically pleasing and delicious,it was not sweet and sickly at all, but a good palate cleanser after the heavy main meal. However, I don’t know if I could have eaten an entire konafa by myself since it was extremely rich.
Before leaving the restaurant, we had a peek into the garden at the back. I was surprised by their tented hookah lounge, which had the all-important outdoor heaters. There was a long list of shisha flavours available, and real charcoal is used in the hookah burner, so the shisha tastes authentic.
My one major criticism is that their card machine was very temperamental but it did eventually work (thank God!) and we left feeling more than satisfied with what we had experienced.
All in all, there were no disappointments,and I have only positive things to say about the entire evening. You could go here for a meal or just for a drink; in a group, with a friend, or even alone — the waiters are up for a chat and this restaurant is more than worth the long walk. This was a great meal out.
