Gulf countries are well known for their Kabse, Machboos, Biryani etc and Middle Eastern countries are well known for their Warak Enab, Kibbe, Tabbouleh etc but do you know what North African countries are well known for?
Today, we'll let you know more about the traditional Moroccan cuisine through our experience at Al Dar, a Moroccan restaurant located on the 2nd floor which is the last floor of The Gate Mall in Egaila.
When you get to the second floor and no matter how far you are, you will know that there is a Moroccan restaurant around when you see the Moroccan traditional Decor that is used by Al Dar restaurant.
The decor inside Al Dar restaurant is a combination between traditional Moroccan style and contemporary style.
There are three tables in the outer section if you don't want to sit inside.
We chose to sit outside since it overlooks the mall.
At first, we took a look at the menu and chose Hummus Al Dar and Batata Sidi Maarouf as appetizers and Couscous Al Dar, Lham Mashwi and Tajine Badawi as main dishes.
After ordering, they served us a bottle of water and a basket of very delicious hot fresh bread.
In addition to the bread, they also served black and green olives, the green is without seeds and the black contains seeds.
As usual, they served us the appetizers first which are Hummus Al Dar and Batata Sidi Maarouf.
Hummus Al Dar from the cold appetizers section is made up of a fabulous Moroccan Hummus mix, its color is pink and topped with white sesame, almonds and olive oil.
You must give this amazing Hummus a try.
Potato or Batata Sidi Maarouf from the hot appetizers section consists of cubes of potatoes sauteed with garlic, coriander, sweet cumin and chili pepper.and the taste is good and similar to the Lebanese Batata Harra with a slight difference.
Our first and most delicious dish was Couscous Al Dar that consists of couscous, chicken, lamb and Moroccan Mergues or stew served with vegetables.
The vegetable stew consists of courgette, potato, carrots and cabbage.
As for the couscous, it's served with meat, chicken and sausage grilled the Moroccan way.
The rounded meat has a taste similar to taste of Kafta or Kabab, the other piece of meat taste is similar to Tikka meat and the chicken pieces look like Taouk but with different taste.
The second main course was the Lham Mashwi and it is native Moroccan lamb fillet aged in Marinade of Ras El Hamout and olive oil, grilled to perfection and served with mixed vegetables.
You can choose saffron rice or French fries with the grilled meat, we chose french fries.
With this dish, they served us a sauce to add to the vegetables but we didn't like its taste because it's so sharp.
As for the meat, its taste is similar to Tikka meat and all in all, the meat, vegetables and fries made a great yummy combination.
Our third main course was that Tajine Badawi that is considered the most popular dish in Morocco and it's made up of tender chicken, Moroccan olives and potato simmered in a saffron and preserved lemon juice.
You can choose to eat this Tajine with yellow Saffron rice or Couscous.
The taste is good but the stew contains a lot of olives so you may not like it if you don't like olives or if you don't like eating lots of olives at a time.
This was our whole lunch at Al Dar, we advise you to try all these dishes and we are excited to try other new Moroccan dishes in our next visit to Al Dar.
This is just what you need after lunch, wet fragrant napkins.
Below is the receipt, you realize that the price of some dishes are much more expensive than others like the price of Couscous Al Dar but note that the portions are big.
All what we ordered is enough for 3 to 4 persons if you are sharing.
Here is the menu of Al Dar so take a look at their other dishes and their prices as well.
Their menu is divided into sections which are cold appetizers, hot appetizers, Mashwi Grills, Tajines, Bastilla, Couscous, Vegetarian, Kids menu in addition to desserts and drinks.
Our Visit to Al Dar was during The Gate Mall festival where you get a scratch and win coupon if your receipt from any of The Gate Mall shops and restaurants is more than KD 20
This photo is taken from Al Dar restaurant at the top and as you can see, the swinging Ad is also for Al Dar that started serving daily breakfast buffet.
Their buffet starts from 8:30 am till 11:30 am.
Finally, our experience at Al Dar restaurant was great whereby we felt the spirit of Morocco and tried new yummy dishes.
How interesting it is to try new things and get to know new cultures while you are just in your place.
We highly recommend Al Dar restaurant so pass by and enjoy their amazing Moroccan food and nice service with a great friendly staff.
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