Tagine, Rozelle
Ever since a few of my friends and I had dinner at Souk in the City (what seems like) eons ago, M’s developed a soft spot for Moroccan cuisine.
It’s not surprising then that she decided to have a big group dinner at a Moroccan (slash Egyptian) restaurant for her birthday. The restaurant itself wasn’t all that large and our fairly big group of 14 hungry people filled up most of the place.
As there were so many people in our party, we had to get the Tagine Banquet at $45 per head. Considering that you get 5 dishes and a dessert, I thought it was pretty good value.
It took a while between courses for the dishes to come out, but when they did everyone dug into them with gusto.
Entrée
Mixed Dip Platter - Chickpea & Harissa, Smoked Eggplant with Paprika, Olives, and Tzaziki
I think tzaziki and hummus are always battling to be the top favourites in a mixed dip platter, but this time things were a little different. I noticed that a lot of us adored the olive dip with its slightly salty and creamy flavour. Indeed it seemed an almost perfect bite with some Lebanese bread, but I totally fell in love with the smoked eggplant with a touch of paprika for a bit of flavour kick.
Chargrilled Marinated Vegetables
These vegetables were actually served with our mains (which I suppose in a way, made more sense) but it’s here as it’s under the Entrée section on Tagine’s website.
Chargrilled vegetables are a perfect way to balance out heavy, meaty dishes and it most certainly did its job here with its chargrilled perfection. They were almost all gone as soon as the dish hit the table.
Main
Mmm banquet...
Although our mains came out quite a long time after our mixed dip platter, they all came out together and piping hot too.
Couscous and Rice
I heart couscous. There’s something so enjoyable with eating hot, fluffy couscous and having it lightly spiced with cinnamon was absolutely heaven. The rice was really good and fluffy as well, but being Asian I find it hard to appreciate something I have every day (even though I love rice to bits, having it outside from home is always a bit different I think). I thought the sultanas sprinkled throughout both bowls were a nice touch.
Vegetable Tagine
F found the sauce a bit salty, which says a lot as he loves salt, but interestingly, I didn’t find them to be. In fact, I thought the vegetables were well-seasoned and really liked how it was swimming in sauce.
Meatballs with Raisins in Spicy Tomato Salsa
Not all meatballs are created equal – some are too hard, while some are too soft and crumbly, too big or too small (insert immature snigger here).
Interestingly, all that is a matter of perception as these meatballs were a bit hit or miss at our table. Some thought they were too big, had too much spice… or thought they were perfect sized and had a really robust flavour that tickled their fancy. F and I were firmly in the latter camp, though I tried to stay away from the sauce as it had a bit too much heat for me.
Lamb Shoulder with Potato and Roasted Garlic
Being cooked in a tagine, you would expect the meat to be super tender and retains its succulent juiciness. And you would be right for this dish… the lamb practically fell apart to the merest touch. I thought it was a touch salty, but nothing that more couscous wouldn’t fix! Hehe.
The potatoes in this dish was absolutely delicious too (no bias here haha) and were so soft! Mmm potatoes…
Dessert
Feteer Meshaltet
So Tagine’s website tells me that this dessert is an “Egyptian delicacy of home-made layers of pastry covered in butter served with honey, double cream and molasses”. To be honest, I don’t really care what it was. All I know is that it was freaking awesome and it boggled the mind that there was one dessert dish to share between 4 people!! Utter tragedy.
Then again, this is me being greedy and by this stage we were all quite beyond content – pushing towards being too full. It was also quite a large serving for one person, I must admit, but it was so delicious we all kept wanting more despite being nearly uncomfortably full (and past beyond the point where unbuttoning one’s top pants button to ease one’s discomfort).
Fresh Mint Tea
To end our banquet, we were served hot fresh mint tea and “washed” our hands with this perfumed oil, which is a traditional thing to do in Moroccan/Egyptian culture after dinner (if I remember correctly from what I was told).
I love tea and it was just really nice to sit back after such a large meal and relax with a nice, hot cuppa, chatting with friends. Our waiter/owner of the restaurant poured our tea from a really high height (I forget what that’s called, I’m sure it’s called something right?) and we watched in amazement that nary a drop went astray. Unfortunately, he decided to reduce the pouring height when he noticed I was taking pictures of the pour and so this photo is not as suitably impressive as it would have been. Hehe
Tagine is a pretty cozy setting with a great, chatty atmosphere. While the food might take a while come out for large groups, the dishes are well worth the wait and you’d go away feeling quite satisfied.
Tagine
679 Darling St
Rozelle, NSW, 2039
Ph: (02) 9810 6108
Web: http://www.tagine.com.au/
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By squishies
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This article was written on 06 May 2010, and is filed under Dessert, Dinner, Moroccan, Sydney, Inner West.
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Mmmm keep driving past this place all the time, might have to make the effort to stop by one day.
.-= angie´s last blog ..Home Made Pizzas (May 2009) =-.
Do! It's a really wonderful little place =)
Yeah, I always go past Tagine as well (it’s near St Vinnie’s). The food does look alright – I could eat eggplant dip till the cows come home
.-= OohLookBel´s last blog ..Red Onion Jam with sausages and pseudo-mash =-.
I <3 dips with Lebanese bread, just like their charcoal chicken… I can't stop eating once I start! haha
Great looking food and at $45 it is pretty good value too. It sounds like everybody had a good night.
.-= Mark @ Cafe Campana´s last blog ..The Ten Commandments of the Grill – Cafe de Paris Butter =-.
^_^ It was pretty good and we were pretty full too, so smiles all around! Hehe
That dessert looks sooo good…! Is it like baklava minus the nuts plus the butter and cream ?
.-= Monica´s last blog ..1945 , Pyrmont =-.
Pretty much! =D It's sooooo decadent…
man that lamb looks so good! perfect for this cold weather we’ve been having
.-= chocolatesuze´s last blog ..Malaysia part 4, how much kaya toast can i eat [1] =-.
Definitely… =D I have a hankering for some hearty goodness right about now *sighs*
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Howard. Howard said: What is Feteer Meshaltet ? @squishies found out when she went for some Moroccon food at Tagine in Rozelle http://bit.ly/bzc7XL [...]
Now I know what is Feteer Meshaltet!!!
.-= Ellie (Almost Bourdain)´s last blog ..Vanilla Crème Brûlée =-.
LOL Ellie! XD
That dessert sounds so heavenly! Egyptians sure know how to make a mean dessert hee hee
.-= FFichiban´s last blog ..Rick’s Wok n Noodles – Belrose, Sydney =-.
I want to go back and have it again hehe… such fatness XD
mmm love moroccan, and banquets or shared dishes are the ONLY way to go!
I heartily agree! =D Sharing food is so much more fun I think.
I’ve been meaning to visit this place after it was featured in Food Safari. I’m glad you enjoyed your meal. Your post has put it on my ever growing to-do list
.-= Amy @ cookbookmaniac´s last blog ..Twelve in King St, Newtown =-.
Ooh, I didn't realise it was featured in Food Safari! That's rather awesome =) Hope you get to try it sooner rather than later
Nothing like warm meatballs dripping in sauce.
In a clay pot.
Feteer Meshaltet looks like one of those things you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Unlike the balls which are everywhere.
Hur, hur, hur.
Bahahah… so terrible. (And yet I laughed.. I know >_> )