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Americans, "particularly the younger set," should not be worried about their "geographical illiteracy" according to Robin Garr, who believes even those innocent of any knowledge of Morocco beyond Rick's Café should enjoy the "Mediterranean Cuisine" of Andalous. After helpfully providing readers with some Wikipedia-level info about Morocco ("California-size kingdom that wraps around Africa's northwestern shoulder"), Robin hints he might recognize "Bogart" as more than a movie character:
the CIA's World Factbook ... wants us to know that Morocco is one of the world's largest producers of illicit hashish. They say this as if they think it's a bad thing.Going on to note the usual "Mediterranean Cuisine" list of gyros, falafels and hummus and the availability of an American-style "all-day breakfast menu," Garr then describes several of Andalous' "North African" menu items, which he enjoys despite a few problems with his lamb and lettuce (and possibly while pining for hashish).
Here's what Robin had to say about Andalous' "North African" dishes once he got over the CIA's harshing his hash buzz:
We started with a dish of foul, an Egyptian fava bean dish with an unfortunate name that isn't really improved by its pronunciation, "Fool." You're welcome to foul me twice with this goodie, though: A pool of tender, creamy favas and a few diced veggies swim in their own gently spiced juices with plenty of pita wedges on the side.Tagine, also spelled tajine, is perhaps the iconic dish of Morocco and its North African neighbors. The name for both the dish and the shallow earthenware pan it is usually cooked in, tagine is a comforting, long-simmered stew that bears some resemblance to similar fare braised in a crock pot. We enjoyed a lentil tagine ($8.50), a stick-to-the-ribs porridge of tender, creamy brown lentils and onions ...
Kalaya lamb ($11.75) featured chunks of flavorful if not-so-tender lamb pan-fried with green peppers and onions, plated with pitas and simple, yellow-tinted rice.
In addition to rice or couscous, most dishes come with your choice of house salad or a cup of soup. The salad was passable, iceberg and mesclun with a tart vinaigrette, but the kitchen should have been more attentive about picking a few slimy bits out of the packaged salad mix.
Harira soup, however, was good enough to more than make up for that: A warm, gently spicy broth was loaded with what appeared to be a mix of lentils and long-simmered chick peas.
Along with tea and a chopped date dessert, Garr's "hearty meal for two" cost a pre-tip $35 and earned 85 magic Robin Garr points. [LEO Weekly]
· Andalous takes us on a tasty trip to Morocco [LEO Weekly]
· Andalous [Facebook]
· All Eater Week In Reviews [~ELOU~]