FW&D, LLC: November Restaurant Review

Are you looking for a dining experience that is nearby, but will make you feel like you’ve been to the other side of the world? Don’t worry, FW&D found it! Just off the corner of King Street and South Peyton in Alexandria. The name is just as fitting as it can be- Casablanca.
When you walk in, the foyer is inviting, and makes you curious about the actual dining area. You can be sure it will not disappoint. The colors, the patterns, and the lighting- the entire restaurant décor will take your breath away. Rather than sit in the center of the restaurant where we would be better able to see the Belly Dancer (which they have every night), we chose to sit in one of the booths near the wall. You can really enjoy the view of the restaurant. The couches (called divans) were comfortable with striking upholstery and pillows, and round metal tables from which to eat. Be careful though, the tables are knee-high, and cause bruises.

At the beginning of the meal, we were brought a washing basin and, one by one, we washed our hands in the water poured from the pitcher. Our server was extremely pleasant and funny as he handed each of us a towel for both drying and to use during the meal.

He soon brought us the first dish in our feast. Each dish would be served family style on the round metal table, with one plate holding the servings for the four of us to share. It’s hard to believe we didn’t get the largest meal on the menu, as hungry as we all professed to be, but there was still more than enough food and variety of flavors for us to take on, starting with the salads. There were four!
The green bean salad was the favorite, shared on the serving platter by the cucumber, eggplant, and carrot salads, with homemade serving bread (in Moroccan tradition, you eat with your right thumb and first two fingers). We enjoyed every bite. The Green bean salad was, as we said, the best, but the cucumber salad was crisp and light, the eggplant salad was rich, but not overbearing, and the carrot salad had a hint of curry that was a very nice touch.

Did I mention the homemade bread was wonderful? When you bit into it, there was a tiny bit of magic. No butter or additional spice, just a pleasant aromatic flavor. That was a good thing, considering we were using the bread as our eating utensils (they did have forks for us, but we were attempting full immersion into the traditional eating method).

On to the next truly exotic course, Bastilla. When I read the item on the menu it sounded promising. Well, I’m here to tell ya folks. It delivers. It was sweet, spicy, rich, but strange in a wonderfully flavorful way. Tender chicken and egg, mixed with almonds, onions, and parsley in phyllo dough (the really flaky stuff), but the strange comes when we get to the cinnamon and powdered sugar topping. There is nothing I have tasted that will ever make sense the way that Bastilla did.

As our first main dish, we chose the Salmon with Sharmoula sauce. In a word- perfection. The salmon was exquisitely prepared, and that sauce was not only amazing, but also well proportioned to the size of the serving. I am happy that he brought us forks for this dish. We tore into it with abandon, and you will too. There was nothing left of the fish, and even though we tried, we still left over half the rice, carrots, peas, and garnish that were piled like a mountain on the plate.

The final dish in our feast came, and we were all so full we had to fight to make room. Chicken with olives and lemon that was succulent, but not greasy. The olives were fresh and ripe, and went well to the lemon flavor that an interesting juiciness that did not disappoint. With or without forks, you will want to be sure that when you get to this dish you have your towel on your lap to catch rogue olives as they danced about the plate.

We simply couldn’t eat another bite. But we kept on, because it was just so good. At the end of the meal, our hilarious server brought each of us a glass of warm Mint Tea and a few of their homemade pastries made almond sugar and flour. Despite our fullness, we ate them. You will too.

While we relaxed on the divan, the belly dancer began her performance. It was awesome, exotic, fun, and a nice end to a marvelous dining experience.

Casablanca’s “brass and fabrics have been hand carried from Morocco to create the ambiance that we hope you will enjoy. So when we say you are the honored guest in our traditional Moroccan home, we truly mean just that. We have imported our home here to you.”