Couscous Express
1915 E. McDowell Road
Phoenix, AZ 85006
This restaurant has been reviewed by Zagat’s and
others, and unless this was an off night the restaurant is not deserving of
some of the praise that has been given it.
I was looking forward to eating at this
restaurant. I and two companions arrived for dinner at 6:00 on a Saturday
night. Parking is difficult at the restaurant and we ended up parking next
door.
The decor was reminiscent of a typical place in
Morocco, with wall hangings and hookah's along with lots of pillows being the
main decorations. We were seated immediately and were promptly brought some
very nice mint tea that was heavily sweetened. The tea was also available
unsweetened.
After a very short wait, we were brought bowls
of fava bean soup. The soup was a bit spicy, with notes of onion, cardamom,
cinnamon and possibly a touch of clove. The spice didn't come into play until
after it had been swallowed, when the slow burn started in the back of one's
throat. Companion #2 could not eat the soup because of the amount of heat. No
other soup was offered to her.
Next came a dish of two homemade pita's which
seemed to be made of whole wheat and were unlike any other pita I had ever had.
Each one was approximately 1 inch thick. Along with the pita's came a plate of
hummus. The hummus had the usual flavors of garlic and possibly tahini, but it
also had some other spices added to it that changed its character totally from
the familiar to the unfamiliar. It was o.k. as hummus goes, but the smooth,
creaminess that I crave in a good hummus was missing, and was replaced with a
grittiness that was not to my liking.
The owner came over and asked what we wanted to
order. We had no menus and none were offered, so we told him to surprise us.
This was a mistake on our part.
After a reasonable time, a tagine was brought
out with veggies and some lamb along with a dish of couscous. The lamb, what
there was of it, was flavorful and nicely cooked. However, at least half of it
was bone. We did not bother to complain because we figured that there would be
other dishes coming out and we would not be going away hungry. Another mistake
on our part.
The owner certainly surprised us by not having
another dish to serve to us. He claimed that there was 1.5 pounds of lamb in
the dish. I claim that there was.5 pounds of bone in the dish. On top of that,
he claimed that this dish was our entire dinner and there was nothing more
coming out of the kitchen.
We asked about dessert, hoping that it would
help us all fill up. We were brought a plate of small rope like pastries that
appeared to have been fried, then coated in a light semi-sweet sauce and
covered in sesame seeds. Each of us took one to eat, and we unanimously agreed
that they were inedible.
We asked for our bill, and at $56.00 were
startled at the cost, especially since we were all still hungry. Companion 1
said she wished she had stayed home.
A $5 tip was left.
2 stars for flavorful food, no star for service,
and no star for portion size.
