Aziza, the Moroccan restaurant with a modernized, reinvented, classics menu had piqued my curiosity for a number of years before my first reservation was ever made. Experience with two other, older Moroccan restaurants in San Francisco was the reason it took so long ,because there was little difference between them and what they offered on their menus. There was also the fact that I was still reeling from the loss of El Sombrero, my old standby, Mexican restaurant that had previously transformed this same building into a hacienda. It was a surprise to see the hacienda transformed into a souk with very little effort, or so it seemed.
The first item served was a small roll that reminded me of a brioche with a bagel crust and a pretzel finish of sea salt. I wanted more and was now interested in any Moroccan bread I could get my hands on. Then came the olives and blanched almonds in olive oil with herbs and red pepper. Those two items could have made a fine snack that left one satisfied, but now I was determined to try more of this delightful food.
Unfortunately the brie soup with foie gras is not on the current menu, but hopefully it will be resurrected one of these days. Soups as well as basteeyas seem to change seasonally. It was rich and made one grateful that it was a small amount, but still remarkable and every drop was savored. The foie gras was a bit overdone, but that didn’t diminish the taste. The side dish of spicy garbanzos and couscous proved to be a nice filler, but less remarkable than the other food served.
Speaking of basteeya, and I was, it’s always my favorite dish in a Moroccan restaurant. In fact, it is the primary reason I eat Moroccan food, usually wading through everything else so I could get to it. Aziza doesn’t serve it as part of a meal but it can be ordered separately. That should be such a big plus and push Aziza over the top as my new favorite Moroccan restaurant. However, that was not the case. This particular chicken basteeya was a real let down for me. It was really overloaded with egg and the almonds were ground so fine, I couldn’t even identify them as being one of the ingredients. There was also such a lack of cinnamon that I asked the waiter if they even used it. He assured me they did, but if that was so, the subtlety was such that it was imperceptible. I’d rather go back to El Mansour and wade through courses that didn’t interest me to eat their basteeya, rather than order this again at Aziza. That being said, the duck confit basteeya on the current menu might just get me back into the restaurant.
The lamb served three ways almost made up for the poorly executed basteeya. It was of high quality and the wine braised piece was fork tender, while the tenderloin was so beautifully rare. Each piece had a different sauce and although they all tied together, each piece was distinct and worked well on its own merit.
http://www.aziza-sf.com/philosophy.html
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