The meal began with small bowls of thick and brothy harira (lentil soup). Then each table got a large salad platter, including an eggplant spread, lightly pickled carrots and green beans, cubed potatoes, a fresh tomato salsa-like salad, and crusty bread to sop up the flavorful oil. Then the dish we had been waiting for arrived: Pastilla Classique (This traditional savory pastry is made with a layer of shredded chicken topped with eggs and a lemony onion sauce, and then dusted with sweetened almonds. The whole is enclosed in tissue-thin pastry called warka
and topped by a layer of cinnamon and sugar.) It was so hot that we burned our fingers in our haste to gobble it up. Delicious! (For a homemade version of this dish, also spelled Bistilla or B'stilla, click here. The photo above shows how the top of the pastry looks when decorated.)

As if this were not already enough, the main courses (each served family-style) began to arrive:

• Chicken M'rouzia (prepared with onion, cinnamon, nutmeg and honey)
  
• Roasted Lamb with Honey
  
• Beef Shish Kabob, standing upright in a large onion half
  
• a whole, small Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Olives
  
• Vegetarian Couscous (fine semolina grains steamed and
  piled on a large platter, with vegetable stew heaped on top)
  

The couscous did come with large spoons. We figured that real Moroccans probably eat this, too, with their fingers, but the chef wanted us to actually get some of the couscous in our mouths instead of on the floor.

Somewhere in the midst of this gluttony, music began to blare and a belly dancer undulated her way into the room. She gave an impressive performance, then encouraged people to come onto the floor, where she tried to teach them how to wiggle their stuffed stomachs. Pretty funny, indeed, although some epicurians were rather successful.

The final treat was a Morrocan pastry like baklava, made of thin layers of phyllo dough stuffed with almond paste. The traditional hot, sweet, mint tea came in glasses poured dramatically by the waiters and finished off the meal.

It seems these days like I'm always pining for more vegetables in my meal, but everything we tasted was well prepared and presented (although I did find the nautically themed plates a bit odd. Going out of business sale at Long John Silver's?). It's a great dining experience for a group, and kids will especially like the part where you eat with your hands and sit on the floor.

Marrakech Moroccan Restaurant
1833 Fulton Avenue at Arden Way
916-486-1944