Souk in the City: Moroccan heaven

We had a company lunch at Souk in the City this afternoon and I was clutching my little food buddha, completely happy, during and after the meal. I'm still rubbing it in satisfaction. All I can think about right now is when I can go back for more.

First of all, the host is absolutely charming. Delightful even. And I never describe people as being delightful. :-D When I made our reservation on the phone he asked for the pleasure of knowing my name. I mean, seriously. Very cute. Our host was very attentive, but wonderful, and not annoying in the slightest. He had a great sense of humour and he even helped us to cut up certain tricky entrees we were sharing amongst 5 people each.

When all 11 of us were seated, half of us sitting against very comfy pillows, we were greeted with rose petals being dropped cheekily over our heads and shoulders, onto the tables and booths and chairs. Besides looking very pretty, the petals smelled divine too.

We shared a lovely mix of entrees, mains, and dessert, so we were very lucky to get to sample so much. Usually when you do this at restaurants there are dishes you love and then there are dishes that are just so-so and you just don't go back in for more. For the first time in ages, there was no so-so dish. All of them were delicious.

I highly recommend everything we had, including the following entrees:

- b’stilla fassia filo pastry filled with fragrant almond chicken, infused with rose water and cinnamon and served with delicate orange saffron sauce
- sumac prawn and squid stack with roast capsicum, smoked eggplant and balsamic glaze
- confit of vine ripened tomatoes with smoked salmon stuffed zucchini flower and cumin glaze
- roasted field mushroom with couscous, green bean zucchini salad and preserved lemon dressing

And let's not forget the delicious mains as well! We had:

- vegetarian tagine assorted vegetable marinated in moroccan spices
- saffron braised lamb shank tajine with boiled egg, honey, cinnamon, prunes and roasted almonds
- kefta meat ball tajine in rich tomato sauce, with peas and poached eggs
- corn fed chicken tajine cooked with olives, saffron, preserved lemon and noisette potato

Yum.

And for dessert, we had them all, all delicious:

- cinnamon panna cotta with pomegranate jelly
- rose water poached pear with saffron ice cream
- moroccan pudding with dates and figs
- mint tea créme brulée with white fig compote
- chocolate truffle cake with candied orange and dates

We had the traditional mint tea at the end - so good, I could drink it all day if I knew how to make it taste just the same! It's the "traditional mint tea du maroc" and it was the perfect way to end the meal, even if you're sad it has to end at all. Mint tea with mint leaves and lots of honey, I'm guessing. Sounds simple, but I've certainly never had mint tea like that before. Our host very impressively poured the tea with great grandeur into glasses 3 times each, with his arm raised high, in order to make sure everything was mixed together nicely. He said everyone has a lot of time for their food in Morocco. ;-)

Entrees were about $15-19 (just rounding here, please check the website for the most up-to-date prices)
Mains ranged from about $21-33
Desserts were about $12-15

Nice decor, lovely vibe, gorgeous food presentation, fantastic warm service from the host (we each got a handshake on the way out!), delicious food, fragrant rose petals. We were all impressed and busy undoing the top button of our pants!

I'll definitely be back here again soon!

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Souk in the City
St Margarets | Shop 5
'Henry' 431 Bourke St
Surry Hills Sydney
www.soukinthecity.com/
(02) 93 577 577