Tajine Casablanca

I was heading over to Lake Forest yesterday for a basketball game. As is my habit, I usually grab some lunch before the game. And that involves stopping in Vernon Hills along IL-60. My intent was to stop at Tasty Thai. It is not an exceptional place but the prices are reasonable and they have a small lunch buffet that is very acceptable.

However, when I arrived there, I noted that there was a new Indian place and a new Moroccan place in the same strip center, The Indian place was not open for lunch so I wondered over to the Moroccan place.

Tajine Casablanca is a 40 seat restaurant that has a Moroccan interior. It has normal tables, and a lot of smaller table with easy chairs chairs in front of them. The tables were a bit low. I do not know if that is a cultural thing. Other than the dining room was freezing, the decor was pretty attractive.

Unfortunately, I arrived right after a children's party of 20 was seated. This group was loud and the kids were running over the dining room. However, they finally settled down.

I waited and waited for service. I am a big guy and it is hard to believe that ANYONE could miss me for too long. However, the three waitresses ignored me for a good ten minutes. Fortunately, I had a couple of messages on my blackberry that I had to respond to. Finally, the owner showed up from the kitchen and took my order. I ordered a glass of water and a lamb tajine dish. I have to admit that I cannot remember the name of the dish.

Five minutes later, the lamb arrives in a tajine dish with a side order of couscous. The food was flavorful. However, the lamb was pretty cold and the prunes in the dish were refrigerator cold. I do not mind eating dishes cold but I have to think that the lamb was a leftover from a prior service.

By the way, I never received my beverage. And I would probably be still waiting for my check if I had not stood up and waved both hands at the waitress and the bus help.

I will not be returning to this place.

Tajine Casablanca
260 Hawthorne Village
Vernon Hills, IL



In the evening, the food was a lot better. I headed south on Sheridan, looking for something better than the Rt 60 collection. I thought I was going to Casa de Isaac but since that was out of my price range, I ended up at Buffo's in Highwood.

The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was a blast.

Buffo's
www.buffos.com
431 Sheridan Rd
Highwood, IL 60040
(847) 432-0301

It sounds like the same management of the generic Middle Eastern place that was in the space before. Slow service and carelessly prepared food.

The Indian place in the same strip mall has a pretty good lunch buffet. Good selection and good quality. It's better than the Peacock a little further East on 60. There is also a new Indian, Spicy Bites Cafe, at the corner of 60 and Aspen that I haven't tried yet. It appears to do a lot of take out for ethnic Indians.

It isn't much on atmosphere, but if you find yourself on rt. 60 in the Vernon Hills/Hawthorn (err..westfield, sorry) area and are looking for a quick, tasty, cheap meal, I'd suggest Tokyo Bowl. It's west of the main mall area and the strip mall with Tasty Thai (and El Famous, of course!), in an inconspicuous (for the area) strip mall east of Butterfield. They market themselves as healthy Japanese fast food. I can't vouch for it's nutritional aspect, but I have found it a little salty in the past, plus it's usually very tasty, which leads me to think it's not all that healthy.
I'm without menu and unable to find much info online, but menu items are basically standard Japanese comfort food fare pared down for the less adventurous American suburban palette. Options include sukiyaki, yakitori, teriyaki, and some pretty generic soups and apps. Last time I was there a large order of chicken yakitori was about $6, IIRC. You get a ton of food. I've always found the food to be filling, their noodles and veggies don't get overcooked, and it's clear the vegetables are fresh and plentiful. The sauces are passable and though they may be a bit pedestrian, so are the prices, so I'm not complaining. I'd love to give more detail on the food, but I live in the city now and it's been probably about a year since I've been and more than that since I've been there with any regularity.
There are probably four or five tables and another 4-8 counter seats, but it seems like mostly a take-out place. A lot of the patrons are parents with kids returning home from their nightly suburban rituals-- last time I was there it was a steady stream of parent with child wearing tights and tutu, parent with child wearing baseball uniform, parent with child carrying trombone case, etc. The people I've interacted with behind the counter have always been kind and accommodating.

Final summary: With moderately priced options in the area mostly limited to chains, Tokyo Bowl, while not a revelation, is a solid stand by worth a shot.

Tokyo Bowl
121 E Townline Rd
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
(847) 549-6310

There are several other places that I am looking at trying along that corridor.

Kim's Korean is one of those table-top Korean BBQ places adjacent to the old Garden Fresh store. Also, I would like to try Opa! when I have some time (and a larger budget). The food that I had there last year was quite good.

We had better success than the previous posters when we had dinner at Tajine last weekend.

The space has been remodeled since its previous tenant. Nice enough space, but it would be cozier if they installed some dimmers and turned down the lighting a bit.

We started with an excellent Chicken Pastilla. Three rectangular pastilla’s of chicken, almonds, and cinnamon wrapped up in a philo package. A great combination of savory and sweet. Next was Reghaif, a baked crushed wheat bread with vegetables which was also very good.

We had two tajines for our entrees. The lamb Marrakech Tajine had great braised lamb, prunes, and almonds in a wonderfully complex sauce. We also had the Doukala Tajine, marinated pieces of chicken on the bone, wedges of Moroccan pickled lemons, and potatoes. Not as flavor packed as the lamb dish, but still delicious. These dishes were served with a side of couscous.

Very good food at extremely reasonable prices, we will return.

jlawrence01 wrote:I ended up at Buffo's in Highwood. The food was pretty good and the atmosphere was a blast.

You can never go wrong falling back on Buffo's.