Moroccan Night

Earlier this week a big group of my friends (old and new) got together for dinner at The Sultan’s Tent in downtown Toronto. We came for good food, great conversation and of course, bellydancing.

The restaurant itself is gorgeously decorated with rich, warm colours, gauzy drapes and dark wood tables, making it very warm and inviting. After walking through to admire the setting, we were tucked into our cozy table and looking forward to our first course. I ended up sharing a bowl of Harira soup and a plate of Beef Burgogne with my friend, Al. The soup was a delicious medley of chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils (maybe I’ll make this for next week’s soup!), but it’s the Beef Burgogne that I love the most. Tender pieces of beef roasted with mushrooms, onions, carrots and celery over garlic mash potatoes. I order this every time I’m here. Its an on-going joke with Al that I cannot pronounce it, so I just call it “that French beef stew”…the waiter still tried to make me say it.

As we sat sipping our drinks, the belly dancer came out, rhythmically swaying her hips to the music. It was absolutely mesmerizing and she came over to invite us to join. We tried to convince the sole guy in the group (Hey Scotty!) to get up and join her, but he used a lame “my knee still hurts from my soccer injury” excuse. What was my excuse? I was enjoying my Pomegranate and Mandarin drink and couldn’t possible set it down to get up and dance in front of strangers. Good enough? Still, it was great to watch the show and it really set us in the mood for our Moroccan feast

Next I had a beautiful baby greens salad with vegetables dressed with champagne and pomegranate vinaigrette and marinated balsamic cremini mushrooms. I could have eaten an entire plate of those mushrooms they were THAT good. For the third course I had Chicken Marakesh, which is basically a delicious honey onion chicken breast with Moroccan root vegetables and rice. Overall the food has lots of spice and flavour to it, but not very “spicy”. I would have preferred a bit more savoury in some of the courses though.

By the time dessert rolled around I didn’t know if I could eat another bite…but the second that creamy crème brulee showed up I couldn’t say no. I first tried this about two years ago and it has since become one of my favourite desserts. I would make it all the time if I could justify it!

Overall, the food is good and the atmosphere is nice, but I think that its overpriced for what it is. I think I’ll be sticking to only coming to this place for special occasions…or when someone else is paying (just kidding!)

At the front of the restaurant they have the Café Maroc, which is basically a simple setting where you can order dishes à la carte. If I’m down at the St. Lawrence Market, I like to pop in here for some of  “that French beef stew” to warm me up.

There is also a bar on the first floor which offers an array of Moroccan inspired drinks, including my favorite, the Pomtini!

They also have the Berber Lounge downstairs, which not only boasts its own North African menu, but offers cooking classes as well.

After the feast that we had, I decided to forgo the the streetcar and take the one hour walk home to try and walk off some of that amazing meal. I slept like a baby 🙂