Play It Again, Karim: Casablanca Moroccan Restaurant Delights

Central Avenue has long been a destination for international cuisine. Worldly palates come uptown to taste the very best in Asian and Middle Eastern foods, and with the addition of Casablance Moroccan Restaurant, they can add one more stop to their dining itinerary.

Casablanca is located in a small space off Townsend Park, on the same block as already well-known restaurants like Shalimar, Gandhi and Aashiana. Its owners have worked hard to upscale the space, using Moroccan lamps, statues, weavings, and boldly striped fabrics to make it a little oasis from the hustle and bustle of Central.

I had never eaten Moroccan food before, so the menu was a completely fresh experience for my tastebuds. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a range of dishes that include items from the grill, appetizers, salads, soups, tajines , and couscous. At the chef's suggestion, my dining companion and I split a salad sampler, which provided a more than ample taste of four salads: smoky zalook with eggplant, bell peppers and tomatoes; cherifiya, a fresh-tasting mix of red peppers, tomatoes, lemon and cilantro; potato salad, which bears little resemblance to the mayonnaise-based conconction we swear by in this country; and a beet salad, served cold and finished with a dash of orange blossom water. Karim, the restaurant's chef and our dining tour guide also introduced us to loubia, white beans cooked in a spicy sauce and served with homemade bread.

For the main course, we ordered a vegetable tajine and a vegetable couscous. Casablanca is extremely friendly to vegetarians, because they go out of their way to provide detailed preparation instructions for each dish. They also do not mix meat and vegetables during cooking, so you can be sure the dish you order is truly vegetarian.

The tajine was a mix of seasonal vegetables served in a light sauce, flavored with olives and served with rice sweetened by candied apricots. But the couscous was the real show stopper. Karim warned us that Moroccan couscous is not the instant dish served in this country. In Morocco, cooking couscous is an all-day affair, and uses three separate steaming procedures. The dish we enjoyed had a completely different texture from the boxes of couscous sold at the supermarket, and a buttery, smoky flavor that you can't find in the grocery store. The dish was topped with zucchini, carrots, squash, turnips cabbage, onions, and roasted chick peas. After lunch we split a pot of sweet Moroccan mint tea and baklawa and basabousa, a semolina cake sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, and listened to Karim's story about his windy way to restauranteurship.

With its affordable menu (meal for two came to $25) and friendly owners, Casablanca should be your next dining destination. It promises to be a wake-up call to your palate.

Casablanca is located at 14 Central Avenue. For more information, please call the restaurant at (518) 463-1111.