Mogador

[Pan]

Quietly, Mogador has become a reliable and worthwhile East Village restaurant. I've had 3 good meals there in the last few weeks, 2 by myself and 1 with a date on the evening of July 4. (We arrived that night just after the fireworks finished and the place was uncrowded and didn't fill up until toward the end of our meal.) Their couscous and tagines are tasty and accompanied by the fiery red harissa sauce that's important to me. The best tagine I've tried there so far was one with the spicy green sauce whose name slips my mind at the moment. I also like the Tomato/Ginger soup, and their desserts are sometimes very good and perhaps the restaurant's biggest forte. Their apple tart should use tarter apples, but was accompanied by cinnamon ice cream with a powerful cinnamon flavor that delighted me and my date. My date ordered ice cream as her own dessert. I forget the flavor, but she liked it and was really pleased with the food, generally. I've had other stuff that was good, such as a special - a delicious apple/rhubarb (or was it strawberry/rhubarb?) crumbly. Unfortunately, that dessert doesn't seem to have lasted.

There is a wine list, and my date on July 4 got a Shiraz that I sipped and liked. The wine list is interesting, in that it features wines from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia (I think), and Lebanon, in addition to the U.S., Chile, Australia, and some other places I can't recall, but I have no idea how the wines on the list are, as I usually get Moroccan mint tea (and never wine) when I'm there.

Only a few years ago, Mogador was too popular for me to go there (I won't wait 20-30 minutes for a table there, especially when I'm by myself), so I hope that doesn't happen again, but if you're in the East Village and want sort of French-influenced Moroccan food, consider Mogador as a possibility. It's open late, too. Here are the hours posted on the Citysearch site:

Sun-Thu 9am-12:30am

Fri-Sat 9am-1:30am

[Elissa]

Agreed, an exceptional little spot. Their veggie couscous draws me back as if it were a lover's ghost. Went with a friend not too long ago who ordered a hamburger (that being the main staple in his diet, plus pizza). Though the burger was too highly seasoned for him, I found it the most memorable of my ten short years in NYC. Quite blew away the others I've had that are *supposed* to be so good, ie Blue Smoke's, the Corner Bistro's et cetera.

Edited July 19, 2003 by lissome (log)

[rozrapp]

Thanks for the report, Pan. Ever since Lotfi's closed, I've been looking for another good Moroccan restaurant. This one sounds excellent. Is b'steeya on the menu?

[tjaehnigen]

An excellent wine is the 2000 Clos Mogador (I know, slightly off topic, but I thought the name connection would make it worthwhile)

[anil]

Thanks for the report, Pan.  Ever since Lotfi's closed,  I've been looking for another good Moroccan restaurant.  This one sounds excellent.  Is b'steeya on the menu?

Hve you tried Zitoune ? Its on little 12th St. and Greenwitch St.

[rozrapp]

Hve you tried Zitoune ? Its on little 12th St. and Greenwitch St.

No, I haven't. Do you think it's better than Mogador?

[anil]

....

No, I haven't.  Do you think it's better than Mogador?

Try it I made a leap of faith Things other than food distracted me in Mogador -- Just as Pan eluded to ............... But then, being human and mortal, I'm easily distracted.

[Pan]

Thanks for the report, Pan.  Ever since Lotfi's closed,  I've been looking for another good Moroccan restaurant.  This one sounds excellent.  Is b'steeya on the menu?

Not by name, Roz. What is it?

[rozrapp]

Thanks for the report, Pan.  Ever since Lotfi's closed,  I've been looking for another good Moroccan restaurant.  This one sounds excellent.  Is b'steeya on the menu?

Not by name, Roz. What is it?

It's a Moroccan pie with a phyllo cover and a filling which usually consists of shredded chicken, ground almonds and spices. It's baked until the phyllo is crisp and brown, then sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. It was one of my favorite dishes at Lotfi's.

There are other spellings. A search came up with the following: bastela, bastila, bisteeya, and pastilla.