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V Rating: VVVVV Entering the Moroccan Soup Bar [MSB] often requires two attempts- hungry eaters beware! The first attempt almost always involves opening the door to be met by a waitress shaking her head- you want a table? No worries, come back in an hour (if you’re lucky)*. But when you enter the second time, with the confident swagger of a diner who has a table waiting for you and your posse, it becomes clear very quickly that a table at MSB is well worth the wait. As one of a cast of ‘Melbourne Institutions’ MSB is one of those places I’ve always meant to go to since I returned to the Victorian capital. Two and a half years later, here I am with my best friend, another good friend and my best friend’s new girlfriend who I was meeting for the first time. It was a night of ‘firsts’ and all were excellent. MSB produces Moroccan-inspired vegetarian food- and it’s not always (in fact, I’m informed, not often) soup. The style and presentation of the food reflects the décor- warm and comforting with minimal fuss. The atmosphere is vibrant and noisy- it feels like your sitting at someone’s kitchen table, eating off the everyday mismatched crockery rather than the ‘good china’. The decoration is eclectic- on one side the wall is filled with shelves that hold various Moroccan-style vases, jugs and crockery. The room is brightly painted in deep shades of brown, red, aqua-green- they reverberate the warmth generated in this busy restaurant. A small glass of mint tea arrives as soon as you’re seated. It is warm and refreshing- with more bite to it than I expected. Then owner Hana Assafiri arrives. She is a slight yet commanding presence in this small restaurant- she definitely runs the show. She offers us the choice of the spoken menu (there is no written menu to peruse) or the $16.50 banquet that includes entrée, mains, coffee and sweets. Food allergies and intolerances are catered for- Assafiri checks with us if these are an issue. The banquet is recommended as the most economical option and we opt for it. We’ve also arrived unexpectedly during Assafiri’s crusade to ensure people are educating themselves and thinking about issues bigger than the immediate desire to satiate our appetites. Of four of us, two have seen An Inconvenient Truth. They are to dine for free she informs us. It’s a policy that may run her out of business- one night last week she had a restaurant full of people who had all seen it. Within two minutes the entrée arrives. A plate of flat, warm pide arrives, carved in big triangles for us to enjoy with the platter of dips and other goodies that are placed in the centre of the table. The platter includes house-made hummus, marinated carrots, olives and a cauliflower dip. It’s a generous serve and once you’ve begun it’s difficult to stop. Self-control is essential here. Around fifteen minutes later the mains arrive- all at once they are placed in the middle of the table. The banquet. Tonight’s banquet includes lentil dhal with saffron rice and a vegetable stew with spicy vegetable rice. The stew has a rich tomato-base with large chunks of carrot and zucchini through it and a little bit of heat and spice to warm us up. There is also a chick pea bake which two of my companions familiar with MSB meet with delight. It is a dish made with just-cooked chick peas (another reminder why preparing chickpeas from scratch is so much better than those from the can), slivered almonds and spices with tahini and yoghurt to bind it together. To add to the texture of the dish there are crunchy pieces of baked and crumbled oven-baked flat bread (pide) through it. Delicious. The food is generous and presented in a way that celebrates a way of eating that is about sharing good food and eating together. Much later after we have eaten more than we needed, sweets arrive. They consist of a small plate of delights (including a slice with a crushed pistachio-centre) served with a traditional cardamom coffee. They are ‘sweet’ in the subtle way of Middle Eastern treats. A perfect way to conclude a hearty meal. The MSB is an experience for any occasion (although be warned that it isn’t licensed) - the banquet can cater from two to a room full of people and the menu changes frequently. If you’re looking for somewhere informal, relaxed and intimate- MSB will hit the spot. *Luckily three doors down is a very cosy bar, Deco, where you can pass the time in a deep lounge chair, a comfortable couch or around one of the small tables that are placed through the main bar. Drinks from the bar include a range of imported and local beers and a small selection of Australian wines by the glass.
Comments:
10 Comments posted on "Moroccan Soup Bar- Moroccan Restaurant, Nth Fitzroy, VVVVV"
Cindy on November 3rd, 2006 at 11:38 am #
A lovely description of the MSB experience. I had my first about two weeks ago! Note that it is possible to book for parties of six or larger. I was able to reserve a table for the 11 people I invited with me.
kpounder on November 5th, 2006 at 8:25 pm #
What a fabulous restaurant and an awesome review. I felt like I was sitting in the room, munching on the cauliflower dip and chickpea dish. Hana sounds like a really inspirational lady. Will have to visit MSB next time I’m in Melbourne!
Garry R. on November 5th, 2006 at 8:59 pm #
Thanks for such a fantastic review! Will definitely give it a try next time I am in the vicinity…
Jackie on November 7th, 2006 at 10:26 am #
That’s a great description - I too felt like I was there with you! The proprietor sounds impressive, and I love her own style of world-changing action. I haven’t seen An Inconvenient Truth but maybe I will - and then I’ll go to MSB and tip extra large.
Sheetal Shah on January 24th, 2007 at 9:30 am #
I am a regular at MSB. Fantastic food and I agree, always worth the wait. The buffet at $16.50 a person (and you can do this even if it’s only two of you) includes mint tea, a starter plate of bread and mezzes, main meal which usually consists of a (1) dish with rice and lentils (2) dish of cous cous and vegetables and (3) their amazing chickpea dished full of almond and pine nuts. My fiance makes a version of this at home, simply fantastic! Finish with dessert, which usually includes a baklava and a jam cookie. What more can you ask for!
Diz on February 5th, 2007 at 6:55 pm #
It’s less well known, but you can also get takeaway if you take your own containers. Sometimes the wait is just too long, so I try to keep a few clean containers in the car, just in case.
Fitzroyalty on July 17th, 2008 at 12:54 pm #
It’s in my all time top 5 places to eat in Melbourne - at any price! Reviews are indexed here: http://del.icio.us/fitzroyalty/moroccansoupbar
Unsatisfied on October 26th, 2008 at 11:50 pm #
I went to Moroccan Soup Bar with friends and, for all the good reviews, we were horribly unsatisfied. The word ‘banquet’ is so inappropriately used. The pide was served cold. The food was filling but lacked flavour- too much beans and too much cream (to compensate I suppose). The waitress nor the owner even bothered to explain what they served us (is this how they want people to appreciate vegetarian fare- guess what mash is in front of you?), which is kind of essential given that there is no menu except whatever they tell us. The coffee that came with the ‘banquet’ was in a super tiny cup. The dessert they gave us was just 2 biscuits and one pastry for 3 people (and we paid $18 each!). And because there was some event in the place happening in a few minutes, the waitress took away the dessert plate and unfinished coffee with a ’sorry guys’. We had also asked the owner if we could take home our unfinished food and she gave some BS about some health regulation that doesn’t allow anyone to take it home. Then why, in all the restaurants in Melbourne, is she the only one implementing it?! I take away my unfinished food in other restaurants all the time and have never heard of anything like that. I wouldn’t recommending going to this place except for the dessert, which was the best thing there. Horrible service and not worth the price. I would rather have a main dish at Shakahari. Shakahari mains cost $20 without dessert, coffee or appetizer but that restaurant really delivers good food. I was hoping Moroccan Soup Bar would do the same but unfortunately my and my friends’ experience are greatly at odds with other people’s glowing reviews. It could have been a bad night to go (since they were busy for an event) but wow, what a bad night that was.
Leg on August 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm #
Great food, great atmosphere and experience. Its really great social thing - you share around the food. Can’t wait to go there again.
Fan on November 5th, 2009 at 3:51 pm #
Unsatisfied, you obviously can’t have read the reviews properly if you went in with the wrong expectations. Expect “informal, relaxed and intimate” Assafiri does not run the MSB like any other run of the mill restaurant. Comparing the Morrocan Soup Bar with Shakahari is like comparing apples with oranges. They’re both roundish, both vegetarian, but they’re two totally different fruits. You’d be better off comparing the MSB with Lentils as Anything. I personally find Shakahari’s way too overpriced for the quality or quantity of the servings. The last time I went in ‘08 I found the dishes to be pretty typical, and with a two course meal I left not feeling full. But if you want a more “formal” dinner its fine. On the other hand when I’ve been to the MSB, including with friends from Lebanon and Jordan, we’ve always left satisfied. The banquet has a lot of variety, rich, flavorsome dishes with different textures. Your criticism of the “super tiny cup” of coffee displays some ignorance of the cuisine. If you get arabic style coffee anywhere it’s always served in shots. It is meant to be taken black, in little sips, “super strong” so you can contrast it with the sweetness of the baklava after each bite. Sounds like you had a bad experience, but it is not typical as the abundance of good reviews show. In fact, I’m going to the MSB tonight for the first time in months. Looking forward to it. You must be logged in to post a comment. |
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