Medina

[Rosie]

Medina, 15 Park Ave, Rutherford recently opened serving French/Moroccan cuisine. The decor is lovely with red Moroccan fabric couches and pillows surrounding a low table. Exotic Moroccan music adds to the ambiance and there is a belly dancer on weekends. When seated herbed beets, carrots and olives are brought to the table. This and an appetizer of zaalouk which resembles ratatouille were the best part of our dinner. For entrees we had lamb tagine m'khaddar ($16.95) which was a lamb shank cooked with Moroccan spices served with potatoes and vegetables. The lamb had a very strong/lamby taste and there was a hint of cinnamon in the sauce. Otherwise I don't know what Moroccan spices were used. The Chicken Medina ($17.95) consisted of a breast, wing, leg and thigh in a bland sauce. The chicken looked like it had been roasted and then put into a tagine pot with some sauce. It came without vegetables or couscous. Both of our dishes were served in a very pretty tagine pot which is a flat round terra cotta dish with a rim and a cone shaped top. Lowell had American coffee ($3) and we opted not to have dessert.

[phaelon56]

We went there just this past Thursday night and out reaction was much like yours, Rosie. Very nice room with sumptuous furnishings and pleasant service but the food was not outstanding. My only reference point is a few much less fancy Moroccan places I've tried elsewhere (which were better) and Tangerine in Philadelphia (which wins hands down over Medina for romantic atmosphere, has better, more authentic food and also has much larger portions that include cous cous on the side).

Sources tell me that it's a couple from Verona who own this place - they also have an Italian restaurant in Secaucus. Supposedly they spent a few months in Morocco prior to launching this venture and I'll try it again in 6 months or so but won't be rushing back sooner. We had Harira, a garbanzo bean soup that was okay but a bit lacking in spices. Followed with Seafood Briouette (sp?), small phyllo triangles with garlic, minced seafood and angel hair pasta inside. They were good - light and not oily. The highlight was Zaalouk, an eggplant/tomato etc. puree served as a salad. It was at room temp and sort of a cross between Ratatouille and Baba Ghanouj. Very tasty and we both loved it. Entree was Lamb Tagine with onion, cinnamon and raisin sauce. It appeared to be a shank cooked in the tagine dish and was nicely done - pink enough to suit me in most parts. Again.... good but not memorable and the absence of cous cous as a side dish was puzzling. Moroccan entrees mostly run $15-19 and the french entrees run $17-26. We were not especially hungry and shared everything. For two lemonades, and one each of appetizer, soup, salad and entree it ran $50 with 20% tip. They were oddly slow in getting us the check and ringing it up when we were finished despite the small number of diners. Again - very pleasant and friendly staff and service was fine. Desserts were uninteresting to me to say the least - we walked around the corner to the Homemade Ice Cream place on Orient Way for dessert (that is not just a description - it's actually the name).

[Rosie]

Thanks for your posting. We have also been to Tangerine in Philly and it was outstanding. No comparison to Medina. I think the Italian restaurant is La Reggia in Secaucus.

[rozrapp]

Rosie and phaelon56,

Has either of you been to the Moroccan restaurant Lotfi's, on Restaurant Row in NYC? If so, how would Medina compare?

[Rosie]

Never been.

[phaelon56]

Haven't brrn to Lofti's but I'll try it sometime in the next few weeks and report back on this thread - thanks for the tip.

[rozrapp]

phaelon 56, We have been to Lotfi's several times and really like the food. They do an excellent bisteeya, but everything else we've ordered has also been well-prepared and very tasty.

Since it's in the Theater District, I would suggest that you dine after 8 to avoid the pre-theater crowd.

If you do get there and want to report, you should probably do it on the NYC board.