It apparently appeared that way as the waiter at Tajine, a Moroccan restaurant on Polk Street, set down our Chicken Bastilla appetizer in front of us with a large heart shape drawn on top in cinnamon dust. My friend Bianca, in town for work for the week, had a confused look on her face, and the awkward couple next to us stared at our plate and then stared at us for a while.
That was just the beginning of a sequence of strange events to come, in which the wait staff repeatedly and aggressively tried to take our plates away before we were finished with them, the kitchen staff stacked and put away all the tables and chairs surrounding our table, leaving us in isolation in the middle of dinner, and the wierd couple next to us quietly munched on their food while eavesdropping on our conversation.
Regardless, the meal was delicious. The Chicken Bastilla appetizer had come highly recommended and was well done. Bastilla is like a pie, with a flaky crust, filled with savory meats and dusted with powdered sugar. The crust is made of "warka", which is like phyllo dough but thinner and made in a different way. Ours was made with a mixture of ground chicken, crushed almonds and egg, but the dish is historically made with pigeon; pigeon bastilla is the national dish of Morocco.
(picture of my bastilla leftovers the next day)
For entrees, I ordered the merguez (a type of lamb sausage) kabab plate and Bianca ordered the lamb kabab plate. Both came with lots of rice, zaalouk (a cooked egglant salad), shalada (a Moroccan style salad with tomatoes and cucumbers) and bread.
It was pretty much as delicious as it looked - the meat was tender and the salads were full of flavor and complemented the meats well. The strange couple next to us broke their silent stares to comment that they didn't think we would finish all the food on the table, and they were wrong - we cleared our plates.
Overall, great Moroccan meal and only 3 blocks from my apartment. The place was also packed which is always a good sign. Bianca will have nightmares about the weird couple for the next week or so, but another than that, success!
| Restaurant: | Tajine Moroccan Restaurant |
|---|---|
| Location: | 1653 Polk Street, SF, CA |
| Items ordered: | Chicken Bastilla; Merguez Kabab Plate; Lamb Kabob Plate |
| Pricing: | $10-$30 |
| Grades: | Taste: A-; Cleanliness: A-; Service: B |
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