Moroccan Dinner

It was a great experience to try different types of food here in Portland, Oregon. For its small area, luckily there are still some International foods around here. This time, my friends and I went to a Moroccan restaurant, Marrakesh. First of all, I really liked the Arabian ambience and interior, it makes me feel like I'm not in Portland. The word 'Marrakesh' or some call it "Marrakech' is known as the "Ochre City". It is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history and also the third largest city in Morocco according to 2004 census.

Due to the poor lighting, we couldn't get that much pictures, but my friend got some good ones. When we reached the place, it was really dark and the interior was so 'Arabic'. We sat down on a rather short cushion and decided to order the "Royale Feast Dinner" it includes all of their specials and it is for 4 persons or more, and if you're a vegetarian, they'll serve the vegetarian dishes for you. While we wait, we got to watch the Belly Dancer Show...

Belly dancer was the highlight of my trip!

Before they serve the food, they also washed our hands which was something new to me.

The waiter told us to put our hands on this container and then he poured the water from a silver kettle.

After we washed our hands, they finally served the appetizers. First, they served us a Traditional Morrocan Lentil Soup which has a strong tomato taste and a bit too sour. The beans were like small red beans which was okay (5/10). Then, the second dish was the main appetizer,

This was the appetizer, the onion was too strong, but with the bread it tastes really good. They'll give you breads and you eat it with this dish. The sauce on the middle tastes something like a Bolognese paste, but it was more like beans. This was not my favorite, but it was not bad, 6/10 

The second dish was another appetizer,

This was the second appetizer, the white stuff was powdered sugar and the stuff inside was chicken. This dish is called 'B'stilla Royale' this was my favorite! I thought it would taste weird because it's sugar on something savory, but it mixed so well that it turns out amazing! 9/10

Last but not least, they served the main dish. I think there were at least 5 different dishes for us to finish. There were lamb, chicken, and beef. It was pretty much a mix of everything with different sauces. 

This was lamb, beans, vegetables, and their special yellow rice. It kinda tastes like Jasmine Rice, but you can really feel the textures. It feels like eating fish roe because of the round tiny pieces. 7/10

It was really difficult to take pictures in such poor lighting, that's why we didn't take that much pictures. You can see samples of the food and the place here 

Marrakesh
1201 NW 21st Ave
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 248-9442

(Marrakech/Marrakesh info - Source: Wikipedia)
(Photos credit: Anthony N S)


Twitter: @cathkosasih
Web: www.catherinekosasih.com