Moroccan | DAMMIT JANET I LOVE FOOD

Hummus, yoghurt, olives, potatoes, eggplant and pickled carrots served with flatbread

Roasted eggplant, yogurt, rice, almonds

Tomato rice, yogurt, eggplant, salad, almonds

Rice and vegetables (cannot remember what this was exactly)

Chickpea bake (sumac, almonds, yoghurt, chickpeas, crunchy pita crisps)

Stewed pumpkin

Rice and salad (cannot remember what this was exactly)

Turmeric rice, lentils

7 Vegetables with couscous

Fried doughnuts, coconut date balls, pistachio baklava

Mint tea

Black coffee

Overall:

Whenever I used to think about Moroccan Soup Bar, I always thought about their chickpea bake. I had it for the first time a few years ago and I remember being blown away by how deliciously crunchy and creamy it was. I was seriously looking forward to sampling it again. The first thing I noticed about the chickpea bake this time around was was how oily it was. A lot of oil pooled on top of the yogurt and the pita crisps were also quite oily. I could only eat so much before I had to stop. Don’t get me wrong it’s still a nice dish, but I definitely did not enjoy it as much as I did previously.

A verbal menu is used here and this usually results in people choosing the easiest option which is a banquet. A $23 banquet includes dips, mains, dessert and coffee while a $28 banquet includes starters, dips, mains, dessert and coffee. We chose the $28 banquet which offered a good variety of dishes that were average to good, as well as extremely sweet desserts. The mint tea served reminded me of toothpaste while the coffee was nice and strong.

Service was average and the atmosphere was pleasant and homely. A few things to note: this place is closed on Mondays, bookings can only be made for 6 or more, and you need to bring your own containers if you order takeaway.

Moroccan Soup Bar

183 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North, VIC

(03) 9482 4240

http://www.moroccansoupbar.com.au/

30b Bray St, South Yarra 9826 2370

Semolina crepe

Lamb ribs

Chicken wings

B’stilla

Seafood tagine

Vegetable tagine

Freekeh salad

Cous cous salad

Thoughts:

Semolina crepe – lentils, squash, green chilli = Not bad

Lamb ribs – tender fall-off-the-bone lamb ribs served with amlou (honey, hazelnut, argan oil) = Good

Chicken wings – crispy chicken wings served with a nutty pistachio curd and sweet pomegranate = Not bad

B’stilla – duck and chicken pie with almond and saffron, sprinkled with cinnamon and icing sugar. An unusual mix of savoury and sweet. The pastry was delicious, but I would have liked the pie better had there been more meat and less almonds = Not bad

Seafood tagine – spinach, mussels, fish, octopus and prawns = Not bad

Vegetable tagine – figs, goat’s curd, pumpkin seed granola = Good

Freekeh salad – chewy nutty freekeh, apple, walnut, cress and lime = Not bad

Cous cous salad – cous cous, pumpkin, charmoula, coriander and preserved citrus = Not bad

Overall:

Laid back atmosphere, good service, small serving sizes (the large plates are not particularly large). I had high expectations for this place as it was ‘The Age Good Food Under $30’ award winner for 2014. However I found the food to be underwhelming and not something that I would get a craving for.