Marakesh
January 1, 2007|
906 Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78701 (512) 476-7735 |
Mon-Fri: 11am-10pm Sat: 12pm-10pm |
The Middle East has long been a puzzling world to westerners: traditions, mores, and yes, even cuisine. It was thus with some degree of trepidation that I began my meal at Marakesh on 906 Congress. But the place was packed at lunchtime. Long lines of business types (including more than a few who had to be lawyers) formed at the counter and there was a kind of friendly, Austin buzz going on. So far, so good.
We perused the menu on the wall as we stood in line and decided we’d try the Shawadist (the special of the day), the Couscous with Grilled Vegetables, the Gyro Sandwich, the Tabouli Salad, and the ubiquitous Falafel.
You place your order, pay at the register, grab your drinks and then find a table. The food is brought out to you from the small kitchen. The Falafel came first. A delight for vegans, the Falafel consists of ground chick peas, tahini, finely chopped onions, and flour. The ingredients are rolled into a patty and fried. I enjoyed it, but was glad the serving size was small. The flavor was interesting, but highly concentrated and best enjoyed in small doses.
My friend tried the Shawadist. This was chicken served with sautéed onions along with a rice spiced with tumerick, a relative of saffron. We both enjoyed the flavors and textures of this dish.
We then tried the Tabouli salad. This consisted of a small amount of cracked bulgar wheat, fresh minced parsley, chopped tomatoes, and onions, lemon juice, olive oil along with salt and pepper. I thought there was too much parsley and not enough cracked wheat in the salad. The result was a salad lacking in balance with parsley overkill.
Next came the Couscous with grilled vegetables, which I really enjoyed.
Couscous is a kind of North African pasta that has a granular shape. Its versatility makes it popular in the Middle East and Marakesh does a great job with it. The vegetables blended with the couscous perfectly and the accompanying side of Humous was the perfect complement.
Finally, I tried the Gyro sandwich. Gyros (pronounced Yero) are made with a unique type of pressed meat generally consisting of beef and lamb. The Marakesh Gryo was absolutely terrific: wonderful taste and very tender and highly seasoned meat. Served on pita bread with onions, lettuce, tomato, and yogurt sauce… well, it just doesn’t get much better than that.
Overall, there was more to like than not at this cozy yet bustling spot on Congress. Just don’t inadvertently grab the order of one of those attorney types!
Marakesh is open for Lunch and Dinner, Monday thru Friday, from 11am to 10pm. And on Saturday from 12pm to 10pm. Closed Sunday.
