Lunch at Tagine (55 Preswich Street, De Waterkant) with friends and a sample of wines by the glass from their wine list.
I love Moroccan flavors. Tagine is highly recommended. We had a selection of their small plates for starters and shared one Lamb Tagine between 4 of us. Outstanding.
The service was fantastic. The manager has a great sense of humor and made our meal there very enjoyable indeed. My wife loves to interact with restaurant staff, often cracking a joke or roping them in to her light sarcasm to lighten everybody’s mood. Sometimes it falls flat, but this time it was a lot of fun when the manager played along.
I chose wines by the glass from their wine list and tried some that I’ve never had before.
With the starters I had the Idiom Wines Bianco. It has some earthy aromas like walking through a stable full of farm horses, and is slightly tart and but went well with the starters – hummus, crispy pita pieces, aubergines with spicy roasted peppers, honey and Dukkah haloumi, zatar fried chicken wings, and roasted cauliflower in Moroccan spices. All were excellent.
With the lamb tagine, I had a glass of Arcangeli Wines Pelegrini 2019 – a Merlot blend that was a great accompaniment. I chose the wine because I call my wife “Angel”, and the name of the wine resonated.
The tegine portion was more than enough for 4 people, very reasonably priced at R450. There were 2 lamb shanks on the bone and another one off the bone, basmati rice and potatoes in a sumptuous gravy that was thick and luxurious. We left there with a take-away tub full of rice.
For dessert we shared one portion of baklava with a pistachio cream, and one apple crumble with ice cream. The Baklava was crispy and not too sweet, and the pistachio cream cut through some of the sweetness. Perfect. The Crumble was delicious, just the right amount of crunch and the right amount of richness without being too sweet.
Their espresso’s were seriously bitter and a little disappointing. I would have liked a Mediterranean style coffee but Morocco is not Mediterranean, so I ordered the espresso. I didn’t enjoy it. In my opinion, that’s the only thing that could be improved.
Overall, Tagine is highly recommended. I’ll definitely be back. Go with at least 4 people if you want to try the tagines. If you’re there with fewer people go straight to the tagine (to share, of course) and skip the small plates, or choose the small plates and forego the tagine. Unless you’re a Duran Duran fan and you’re really hungry.
