Souk Bazaar, Moroccan Food in London

For the past two months, AlexandraLuella has gotten a fair share of attention on “Travel” articles. So I think it’s about time to let our bruised passports take a rest, do some Food posts, before we badger them for more exciting globe-trotting stories.

We headed to Souk Bazaar for a Moroccan night last week.

It’s less than a 5-minute walk away from Chinatown. With an exterior that might have fooled many into thinking that it’s another ordinary shisha bar, Souk Bazaar is opened by Samir Mahdi (who also owns Souk Medina), with an intention “to create a fun restaurant where people can have a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable time”.

With shisha and a wide array of Moroccan delicacies -be it a mezze or a delightful main, to wash down with an aromatic cup of mint tea or devilish cocktails, the choices are all yours to savour – I think he nails it.

The inside is covered with colourful and complex geometrical mosaics, seductive drapes, decorative art, and furnished with cushioned benches and low brass tray tables.

We started with the mezze selection – humous, cucumber raita, stuffed vine leaves, holloumi cheese, falafel, served with pitta bread.

I particularly enjoyed the falafel (the deep fried ball made from ground chickpea with a dollop of tahini dip). The fritters were a tad soggy like how I like it and I heard that this snack is so popular that there’s even “McFalafel” at McDonalds in Middle East!

I found the stuffed vine leaves a little bland compared to the ones I had in Turkey but Quentin loved it. Needless to say, humous and halloumi cheese were gone within seconds, plates wiped clean with pitta bread, two greedy gobblers were ready to plunge into the main.

We chose a rather summer-y tagine – Lamb with apricot and prune, dusted with toasted sesame (what’s a better season to indulge in apricots and prunes!) – and a couscous as side dish.

This might sound a bit of a brag but I haven’t had such refine couscous for a long time. I dislike sticky couscous or one that is too moist, so this one definitely had my vote because it was so nicely cooked, the granules were powdery.

The lamb tagine, on the other hand, is deserving of a big praise. The lamb was at the right degree of tenderness. You know, the texture really soft but not overly, so you can tear it into shreds with a gentle move of your fork.  Ah the little joy!

We stopped here, called it a light dinner and took a stroll to Chinatown for some warm fluffy taiyaki filled with custard.

A perfect fix right here in Central London, without even needing a magic carpet ride!

 

With love x

 

Address: 27 Litchfield Street, London. 5-minute walk from Gerrard Street, Chinatown / 2-minute walk from Covent Garden. Private rooms that accommodate 2 to 100 are available for booking. Visit their website at here.