3/48 Malcha Marg, Chanakyapuri, Delhi.
This new restaurant offers dishes you’ve never heard of before. Like escolanets—zucchini-wrapped dates stuffed with almonds and feta cheese (Rs 300).
I’d never had Moroccan food before, so I started with the ample mezze platter (Rs 700-850). It comes in a three-tier tray lined with kibbe (minced lamb and crushed wheat kebab), barbecued chicken wings, fried calamari, sheesh taouk (grilled chicken with saffron), fish tarator, hummus and garlic dip. Amidst all that variety, each individual mezze made an impression.
I tried the harira (Rs 130), a slighty boring chickpea soup, because I wanted to sample harissa, a signature Moroccan masala made of chillies ground with garlic and spices in olive oil. A far better way to enjoy harissa was in the tagine (Rs 340)—chicken stewed with harissa, saffron and salted limes. Delicate and satisfying. As was the briami (Rs 325), a dish of mushrooms, peppers, aubergines and zucchini sauteed together, their juices soaking into a bed of mashed potatoes. I wasn’t brave enough to try the sweet aubergine stuffed with nuts and glazed with honey (Rs 175), but the cinnamon and rose petal ice cream with chewy figs (Rs 175) was superb.
