I ate at Marrakech Cuisine tonight with some friends, one of whom is Algerian, and we thought the meal was pretty good - nothing to rave about, but considering the dirth of North African options in Chicago, worth a visit.
The appetizers were the best part of our meal. Hummus was fine - really garlicky, nothing extraordinary. Much better were the briwats, filo "eggrolls" stuffed with chicken or seafood. We had both and enjoyed them equally. A lentil salad was spectacular, my favorite dish of the night. The lentils weren't split or polished, and were served warm in a buttery sauce spiked with cuman and pepper. My Algerian friend had the harira, a spicy tomato soup and said it was the best he has had in Chicago. I tried it and liked it, but was a bit underwhelmed as I thought it could have been spicier.
For mains we had a couscous dish with lamb shank, a lamb shank tagine with prunes and almonds, a chicken and couscous dish, and the bastilla, a filo chicken pie with powedered sugar and cinnamon. All were fine, the lamb shank with prunes stood out, but as a bit greasy. The bastilla was great, if a bit redundant (its kinda similar to the chicken briwats). The combination of cinnamon, powdered sugar and chicken may be off putting to some but I liked it.
The place was slow tonight. While we were there a few other people wandered in. The sole waiter in the place was fine, but occasionally forgot to bring some stuff out (spoons for our tea, water). He definitely chatter our ear off though, probably because he was bored. The owner was very gracious, and checked on us twice during the meal.
I haven't eaten much Moroccan in this city - I usually stick to Palestinian/Lebanese, but I enjoyed Marrakech and would probably go back.
"By the fig, the olive..." Surat Al-Teen, Mecca 95:1"