Restaurants

Lebanese restaurateur Marouf Abouzaki’s stealthy colonisation of the Edgware Road continues, but instead of adding this latest property to his Maroush chain ( see the Middle Eastern chapter, starting on p224), he has left behind the Levant and headed for North Africa. It’s a highly successful change of direction. We loved Sidi Maarouf’s take on the little pastries known as briouats. The kitchen makes them beautifully, in five varieties including feta with mint, crab and shrimp, and chicken and lemon. Two people can share a platter consisting of one of each for £8.50. The tagine and couscous main dishes were less inventive, but more than competently rendered. Vegetables in a Berber-style couscous retained their crispness, while prunes in a lamb tagine were reduced to bubbling molasses, with flakes of burnt almond for unexpected crunch (you need a side order of plain couscous to soak up this wonderfully tangy gloop). The restaurant is a bit of a looker, formal but softened by sophisticated design: the ceiling billows with loops of golden cloth, and red ethnic rugs fill the floorspace between tables. The serving staff aren’t Moroccan, hence the overheard exchange: Lebanese waiter to Lebanese customer, ‘Yeah, it looks funny to me too, but the chef says that’s how it’s supposed to be.’ Trust us, the chef knows what he’s doing.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008