While in Philly we also went to dinner at a restaurant near Warminster called Casablanca. It's the second or third time I've been and I love it. It's a Moroccan restaurant that my friend Andrea discovered years ago.
It's a whole experience that's definitely worth enjoying.
The first thing you notice when entering Casablanca is the color. The whole restaurant is warm. It's painted golden yellow and the seating is a rich tapestry of oranges and reds. There are gold and bronze lanterns with colored glass.
When you arrive you get seated at a small table on a comfortable couch and the server rinses your hands with rose water since you'll be eating with bread and your hands (although I assume you can ask for utensils if you really want them). Then you're server describes the fixed menu you'll be enjoying.
It's 8 courses!! An appetizer plate of Hummus and Baba Ganoush, Three Salads, B'stilla, Chicken or Rabbit, Beef, Lamb or Chicken Kebabs, Couscous with Vegetables, Fresh Fruit and Baklava with Mint Tea. If you're a vegetarian there's also a vegetarian option so don't worry. Soooo much delicious food.
The Hummus and Baba Ganoush are served at the same time as the Three Salads and it
was all good. My favorite of the salads was probably the marinated eggplant but I also loved the carrot salad and the cucumber, pepper and tomato salad. It was all so tasty eaten with the plain pita bread. Altogether, the flavors are very familiar if you eat Greek, Turkish or Mediterranean dishes. You can't go wrong.
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| Round 1 & 2 |
The next course is B'Stilla. This is a dish that was new to us. It's a traditional Moroccan phyllo dough filled with egg, chicken, almonds, and cinnamon which is dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon. It's really good but also somewhat odd for a Western/American palette since it combines sweet and savory in an appetizer course. I really enjoyed it. The chicken and eggs were cooked perfectly and went so well with the crispy phyllo and the hint of sweetness from the powdered sugar.
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| B'Stilla |
Next is the chicken or rabbit course. You get one dish for every 2 people so since we were 3, we decided to try both the chicken and rabbit. The chicken can be prepared 4 different ways: Lemons and Olives, Spicy Harissa, Walnuts or Dried Apricots. We decided to go for the Spicy Harissa which was quite spicy. It was delicious and full of flavor. For us, it wasn't too spicy but if you're not a spicy food eater, be wary. The rabbit, on the other hand, is cooked in a mildly spiced tomato sauce served with dates. It was really delicious and the rabbit was tender and juicy.
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| Our Spicy Chicken... I forgot to photograph the rabbit! |
I forgot to take a picture of the kebab because I was so excited for it. We got the lamb kebabs and it was so tasty. It was lamb, peppers, onion, and other vegetables grilled to perfection after being brushed with a marinade of garlic and olive oil. Next time, I definitely want to try the other option which is lamb topped with sweet honey and almonds or alternatively with lemon and cumin. That sweet honey and almonds sounded so good to me but we went traditional this last time.
At this point, I can tell you we were already getting full. We really needed a fourth person to help us eat the food (which is why we took leftovers for Andrea's husband).
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| Cous Cous amazingness |
The next course was the couscous served with carrots, onions and other vegetables. It also had chicken, chickpeas and raisins on top. Normally, I don't love raisins, but here it just complemented the dish so well. It's savory with a hint of sweetness from the raisins and spices. I definitely recommend it.
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| Belly Dancing fun! |
At this point we were ready to pop, but it was so worth it! We took our time with our fruit (and even took some to go because we were so very full). We did eat our Baklava somehow, although I don't know where it fit. And our Mint Tea served in the traditional way, poured from on high to aerate and cool it, was very welcome. The taste was great and it was almost a show unto itself watching him pour it! All in all it was a terrific meal even though we couldn't walk very far afterwards.
What made the meal even more special, was the entertainment. For part of the meal, there was a live belly dancer to watch and even dance with. We didn't dance because we were shy, but lots of other tables joined in the antics.
If you're in the Philly area, you should definitely consider partaking in the experience because it was so much fun.
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| The faces of three very happy, very full diners! |
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