Some restaurants have an ability to transport me to another place, an exotic far away land with cultures so mysterious and food so intriguing. One such place is Casablanca, my Mediterranean mini-getaway.
While being in the heart of Kailua town does not exactly make it such a remote locale (well, maybe for some of us Honolulu townies who are not accustomed to a commute taking longer than 15 minutes), the Moroccan restaurant’s ambiance immediately transforms one’s sense of place the moment one steps in. The walls and floor are graced with beautiful Persian rugs, while ceilings are adorned with tent-like drapery, sofas and cushions designed with tasteful flamboyance, and wooden tables decorated with intricate inlays.
The menu concept is simple–there are only two set meals. While both offer four sumptuous courses, with the prix fixe priced at $39.75, and the House special at $42.75, the latter replaces the regular entrée option with the special of the evening. The restaurant is BYOB, so guests are invited to bring their own wine and beer.
Once the courses have been ordered, an attendant greets customers with a tass, an ornate hand washing kettle and basin. Guests are honored with a ceremonial bathing of the hands as the attendant pours water from the kettle over the collecting basin. Towels, not napkins, are provided to everyone to dry their hands, which must be clean as Moroccans use their right hands to pick up food. (Wiping hands on napkins is considered impolite, although I secretly did on my towel before finally asking for utensils, which are available for foreigners incapable of accommodating to the native culture.)
The first course is a Harira soup, a tomato and lentil broth possessing deep earthy flavors scented with saffron, parsley and cilantro. The soup goes well with the next course, a melange of salad items.
The shared salad platter consists of: baba ghanoush, a beautifully smoky, yet tart mashed eggplant salad with tomato and spices; tabouleh, a fresh and herbaceous salad of couscous with chopped parsley, tomatoes and cucumbers; hummus, a creamy dip made from pureed chickpeas with olive oil and tahini, or ground lightly roasted and hulled sesame seed paste; olives; a marinated carrot salad, which are sweet but livened with a flavorful spicing; and a roasted marinated red peppers and tomato salad, which has a bright vinegary acidity, refreshing the palate. To pick up the various salads and dips are whole wheat breads.
The third course is a b’stilla, a baked phyllo pastry pie stuffed with saffron chicken, almonds and eggs, and topped lightly with powdered sugar and cinnamon. The first bite tastes a little dessert-like, but once the filling reveals its rich savory flavors, the moist saffron-scented chicken and nutty crunchiness brings forth a lovely sweet and savory balance.
Then come the entrees, of which some of the choices include:
A) Cornish Hen with Prunes and Honey – The Cornish Hens are mildly sweet with prune and honey notes. A little dry, though tender, the hens are further sweetened by Turkish apricots and have a delicate almond nuttiness.
B) Lamb Tagine with Honey – The tagine-prepared lamb is pleasantly sweet without being cloying. The tender and moist lamb shank’s meat falls off the bone and any gaminess from the lamb is delicately displaced by the honey.
C) Rack of lamb – The special of the evening, the rack of lamb, is certainly the top dish. Seasoned with breadcrumbs and herbs and dressed with a sauce, the peppercorns, cilantro, onion, turmeric, saffron, salt, pepper, dried ginger flavors make for a pleasantly piquant accent to a moist and tender lamb. Served with couscous topped with a ragout of vegetables including butternut squash and cauliflower, this entree selection is almost always the most popular dish of our repeated visits.
For dessert, the waiter brings forth a platter of chabbabia, or a deep-fried funnel cake dipped in honey, some baklava, phyllo pastry stuffed with a sweetened pistachio filling, and some biscuits, along with cups of fresh mint tea. Each guest is blessed with a splash of fragrant orange blossom water, though a big drop will occasionally spatter right in the center of my forehead, bringing me back to a sobering reality that, as the host, I am usually responsible for the bill. Fortunately, the bill is always reasonable, and while the restaurant sadly does not have any belly dancing performances, one thing is for certain—with all the swollen, content bellies, the only thing really missing in the end is the dancing—and with enough alcohol, that part is optional.
Casablanca
19 Hoolai Street, Kailua, Hawaii 96734
Phone: (808) 262-8196
Business hours: Tue – Sat, 6:00 – 10:00pm (last order at 9:30pm)
Credit cards accepted: Visa and MasterCard
8888sean 