Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Comfort in a pot at exotic yet humble Dar Tajine Moroccan
North African flavors, spices and dishes have become fashionable at high-minded and far-reaching “global plates” restaurants around South Florida — if only I had a nickel for every harissa and ras-el-hanout I’ve seen on menus — but it’s almost impossible to find an actual, full-blown North African eatery.
I mean, how many Algerian, Tunisian or Libyan restaurants have you been to lately?
Thankfully, Dar Tajine Moroccan restaurant opened in Plantation last year to fill the gap. Located in the same Sunrise Boulevard strip mall as the terrific Marumi Sushi, Dar Tajine is the type of small and humble family-run eatery that makes Broward dining interesting and exotic. The place is the opposite of trendy, more like a trip to your cousins’ den — if your cousins lived in Rabat or Marrakech.
“We wanted home cooking,” says Moroccan-born owner Amal Khallouki.
The dining room is dark and cozy, with colorful rugs and lampshades all around. The spirit is gracious and earnest, although there may be some bumps and hiccups
along the way. For example, we ordered mint tea (which was wonderful) at meal’s start, but it didn’t show up until dessert. Perhaps that’s customary, but nobody explained it.
And some diners may feel out of their comfort zones, a bit disoriented by the unfamiliar. The restaurant is halal, adhering to Islamic dietary law, meaning no pork or alcohol is served. BYOB is not allowed.
I found myself completely comforted, however, when lamb shank tajine arrived.
Tajine is the showstopping, featured attraction of Moroccan cuisine, referring both to the clay pot with dramatic, peaked lid that holds the food, and the simmered, stewed and spiced contents inside. Dar Tajine offers an assortment of tajines, including chicken, seafood, kafta (ground beef balls), merguez (lamb-beef sausage) and vegetarian, but the lamb shank with prunes and almonds ($15.99) is the most traditional.
When the server lifted the lid, a sweet vapor rose to my nose. Below was a lamb shank with roasted bone protruding, perched in butter-slicked liquid with sliced almond, prunes and apricots. The darkened meat tore off easily with a fork, rich and flavorful when sloshed through the puddle of spiced liquid.
The meat was deep but not gamey. The almonds gave a crunch. The stewed prunes and apricot gave a mellow sweetness. The spices weren’t bold like a punch but gentle like a baby’s kiss.
Khallouki says she brings in spices from Morocco, including prized saffron, which is used to marinate the lamb overnight. The shank is baked in a pan at low heat for 2 ½ hours and then finished in the tajine in the oven at higher heat, to give a charred exterior. Other spices include ginger, cardamom, cumin, turmeric and black pepper, which are blended with lemon, parsley, garlic and smen, the fermented, salted Moroccan butter that is similar to Indian ghee.
Khallouki, originally from Rabat, says she developed the recipes for the restaurant, where numerous relatives now work. Her mother, Naima El-Kachani, cooks. Her cousin, Hasna El-Kachani, works the front of the house. Khallouki and her Haitian-born husband, Michael Innocent, a financial broker, opened the restaurant in February 2018 after seeing the lack of Moroccan cuisine in South Florida.
“Some Moroccan places have come and gone, but they were all very highpriced,” Khallouki says.
“We don’t have a big space, we don’t have belly dancing. We just want to make really good, traditional food.”
At the beginning of the meal, flat, ciabatta-like Moroccan bread called khobz is served with spreads and pitted black olives. Then diners can order the family-size Royal Salad platter ($9.99), featuring traditional Moroccan starters including zaalouk (grilled eggplant), bakkoula (sauteed spinach, kale and olives) and beet salad, carrot salad and cucumberonion-and-tomato salad.
Finish with the refreshing mint tea, poured into small glasses from three feet above in staccato fashion, and a plate of small Moroccan sweets, and you’ll leave happy. Particularly when a check without beer, wine or cocktails arrives. For South Florida dining, that’s a foreign experience indeed.
Dar Tajine, 8281 W. Sunrise Blvd., Plantation, 954-306-2447, Facebook .com/HalalMoroccan Cuisine, open daily 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 9 p.m. Sunday.