Delhi and Gurgaon seem to compete with each other, in the number of new restaurants. But this festive season, for me, Gurgaon has a clear edge over Delhi with the recently launched fine dining Moroccan specialty restaurant Casablanca at Double Tree by Hilton. Delhi and NCR in the recent times have seen mushrooming of many multi-cuisine restaurants but there was a void of Moroccan cuisine, now filled by Casablanca. The cuisine agrees with the Indian palate as a lot of spices used are the same, say, like cumin, cardamom, coriander in their curries.
The best part of Casablanca is its chef, Rachid, who was earlier with Atlantic Place Agadir, Morocco. Being a native, he brings that authenticity to the cuisine. The ambience is intimate, dimly lit Marrakesh lantern lights enhancing the feel and décor.
I become rather tempted to order a whole lot of dishes after Rachid gives me the menu. I, of course, want my Harira soup to be served as quickly as possible. And in no time, Rachid delivers. It’s rightly called the national soup of Morocco, tasty and delicious. It texture is a bit thick due to the chickpeas and coarsely grated tomatoes.
The soup is followed by pastilla traditional dish which combines a nice sweet and savoury flavours. Rachid serves me with quail stuffing. The phylo pastry made with almonds and stuffed with slowly cooked quail and then topped with sugar powder and cinnamon makes it just divine.
The lamb madfouna is tasty too. I like the oregano being sprinkled on top. However, since childhood, Moroccan food for me has only been about tagines. I somehow always loved to look at the conical tagine pots. So, after the quail, it is time to try out rabbit meat, slowly cooked in a tagine pot. It’s a true delight for any meat eater. Rachid also serves quail tagine, it comes topped with roasted almonds. Though, the caramelised onion makes the dish a bit sweet. It goes well with the refreshing and healthy vegetable Cous Cous.
After the delicious main course, I sign off the meal with the homemade Moroccan ice cream and the delicious chaariyabil halib, a broken vermicelli milk pudding.
Meal for two
Rs 4,500 approximately
