know it changed owners . hearing mixed reviews. is it still excellent , If so what are current best dishes .. are lamb and chicken tagine equally good?. portions still large enuf for 2. Byob still? thanks
saminyc
Mar 28, 2008 03:14PM
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CHOW Pick, posted January 04, 2009
Food Media, posted January 08, 2009
Green, posted January 06, 2009
Wine and Drinks, posted January 08, 2009
Went there about 2 weeks ago for the first time. Excellent food and service. Don't know about BYOB but they did have wine. The portions were definitely large. We had seafood cigars and zaalouk (roasted eggplant) for appetizers. Chicken tangine berber and traditional couscous with merguez for main courses. Everything right down to the mint tea was delicious. I highly recommend La Maison. In my opinion it is far superior to Tandoreen.
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I've travelled in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and the West Bank.
Tanoreen is on par.
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went March 29 . great lamb tagine and spinach appetizer would love to be able to go back but waiter /owner was a piece of work!!!! anyone else had this experience and how to handle it.? Opening comment to us was" don"t know why I have this restaurant ,I'd make more money with a fast food chain or a fancy restaurant. Huh??? then pushed his restaurant week menu on us that did not even include the lamb. we refused . he seemed unhappy. reluctantly gave us the lamb (which was delicious but not a big portion at all for $14 ) we 3 ordered 2 entrees and 3 appetizers . He said, "what about the 3rd entre ?". Thinking the portions were adequate, we said we would see if we wanted something after. He told us he couldn't do that , after we ordered that was it!!! wow!!! we left hungry.. any ideas how to handle this guy?. was thinking to go back but felt so uncomfortable...perhaps better to go to Tandoreen? never tried it
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Why compare it to Tanoreen? It's not even the same cuisine. Tanoreen is Palestinian.
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I think the lamb and chicken tagines are better at Fez Cafe on Prospect Park West. Great service, comfortable atmosphere.
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Tried it out today for the first time. For startes ,humus was delicious and creamy with morocon spices. For entrees we had two lamb shank tagines: one with artichokes,potatoes,olives, and preserved lemons; one with almonds, carmelized onions, apricots and prunes. Both delicious. The mint tea was a very nice finish to the meal. I'm not one for decour but this place was very cozy and beautifuly decorated with a very tradional feel. Small setting perfect for a good meal with a loved one or friend. P.S. If you want to try something different, ask for the rasberry belgium beer (sorry forgot the name).
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The beer would be a Framboise Lambic, probably Kriek?
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i ordered takeout/pickup from there back in the winter/fall of last year. was that when the old owners were there? i mean the owner who i spoke to over the phone was going on and on about how he was doing a big catering event for yoko ono and seemed generally strange. regardless, the food i had was delicious, lamb couscous du maison i believe. the one with the almonds and grapes and stuff.
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Does all this mean that we don't have to put up with the pushy, obnoxious and annoying owner to get delicious Moroccan food?
I certainly hope so. The food is really good, but it wasn't with the hassle because of him.
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I used to live in Bay Ridge and I moved to the East Village, but I still come back down for this restaurant whenever I can. There's no morroccan food anywhere in NYC that compares to this place. Personally, I like the owner, he's not "pushy," he's just really passionate about the food.
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I was just there earlier this afternoon for lunch and it was still delicious!
For an appetizer, we had the small salad assortment - a warm eggplant salad, a warm spinach and preserved lemon salad, and a cold carrot salad that had capers and (I think) rosewater and orange flower water. Of those, I liked the eggplant the best (and I'm not usually a big eggplant fan), and the carrot the least (still tasty, just not my favorite). For entrees, we had the couscous maison with lamb and the tagine berbere with rabbit. I love the lamb there, and I love the couscous maison with anything - those prunes are like candy, which I'm very into, and the smen/onions/chickpeas thing really works for me. The berbere flavors were very nice, though I think I've liked it better in the past with chicken than I did this time with rabbit. And we finished with the mint tea, no other dessert needed (especially with apple pie ingredients waiting for us at home).
The portions are large-ish but not huge. What we ordered today (as listed above) was too much for two people, but one entree would have been too little. I'll be able to finish off our leftovers for lunch tomorrow, is about what the excess food amounts to.
So, overall - still fantastic and I am still bringing everyone I know there as an excuse to go as often as I can. I like the lamb shank the best and the rabbit the least, and the chicken is very good and somewhere in between. Never tried any of the fish dishes.
It's not BYOB anymore.
Yes, the owner/waiter is pushy and talkative, but I really enjoy that. We've been there a bunch of times by now, and I like the way he recognizes us and is always very friendly when we come in. Sometimes he argues with me when I try order, but if I just let him feed me whatever he wants, it ends up tasting good, so that's okay with me.
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