Tajine Casablanca offers a welcome taste of the Mediterranean
I'm willing to cut independent, ethnic restaurants a lot of slack, but Tajine Casablanca, a year-old Moroccan restaurant in Vernon Hills, initially tested my patience. Each time I called, I got a different story about closing time. And arriving one day at 7 p.m., I found the place shut up tight. (It's closed on Sundays.)
I'm glad I persisted, though, because when I finally got to try it, the food was interesting, inexpensive and tasty.
Reservations at this intimate restaurant are probably a good idea, particularly if you prefer a regular-height table and chairs. Much of the seating at Tajine is at low tables on squat, cushioned benches - traditional, but meant for the spry. These fit into an attractive decor of rich reds and browns, highlighted with Eastern art and artifacts.
Owners Husan and Mayada Maki lived in Morocco for many years. Their menu shares quite a few things with other Mediterranean restaurants - you'll find familiar dishes such as hummus, stuffed grape leaves, falafel and shawarma - but also exotic items unique to such places as Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat.
The specialty of the house, of course, is tajine, Moroccan-style stew cooked and served in a special ceramic pot. The dish is named for its cookware, and its conical cover concentrates the steam and juices, returning the condensation to the food and intensifying flavors. The restaurant offers seven varieties of meat, seafood and vegetarian tajines.
I tried the savory Rabat tajine, which centered on large, fork-tender hunks of lamb on the bone, cooked with artichoke hearts, olives and green peas and lightly flavored with piquant preserved lemon. For my tastes, it could have included much more of that tangy seasoning. A beef version is also available. Alongside comes a plate of nicely seasoned, steamed couscous, studded with chickpeas and fava beans.
The menu offers several couscous-based entrees as well, and other tajines include seafood and vegetarian options as well as the Doukala, with marinated chicken, potato and pickled lemon; the Marrakech, combining lamb or beef with dried plums and almonds; and the Asila, meat with onions, apples and almonds.
Such combinations of sweet and savory are a hallmark of Moroccan cuisine, perhaps best exemplified in the chicken pastilla, a scrumptious appetizer pastry of chicken seasoned with cinnamon and other sweet spices, wrapped in crispy phyllo and dusted with powdered sugar. Tajine Casablanca does this as small rolls rather than the large layered pie I've seen elsewhere, but they're still delectable.
If sweetened chicken isn't your thing, try another traditional Moroccan starter, zaalouk, a spicy, cumin-seasoned purée of eggplant, tomatoes and herbs, served with pita bread for scooping.
The Mediterranean side of Tajine's menu fared less well on my visit. The kofta (chargrilled, seasoned ground beef) and shawarma (rotisserie-grilled sliced beef) had plenty of flavor but they'd been cooked til their texture was dry and chewy.
Many vegetarian and vegan options figure on both sides of the menu, making this spot a good choice for a mixed group. Kids' meals, sandwiches and lunch specials also feature.
Delicious desserts include milk pastilla (large, crispy phyllo squares sandwiching a light rice pudding, garnished with almonds) and slender rolls of phyllo filled with a sweet paste of dates, walnuts and fresh orange.
Fresh-squeezed lemonade, delicately flavored with rosewater and glasses of hot, fragrant Moroccan mint tea number among the beverage options, or you may BYOB.
Service was friendly but leisurely.