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Casablanca Moroccan Restaurant
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
4 reviews for Casablanca Moroccan Restaurant
My boyfriend and I have being going to Casablanca for about 2 years now, probably about once a month. Let me stress that the 7 course meal at Casablanca is what I'd choose to be my "last meal". Its consistently mouthwateringly delicious, authentic, and ridiculously satisfying as well as a good deal. We love the elaborate decor and the bellydancers, but the service must be called out. When Casablanca is not crowded (the ideal time to go) the service runs well enough; there is one guy in particular that my boyfriend and I are almost chummy with. But when it gets crowded, the service is downright abysmal, some of the worst I've ever encountered. They cannot get their act together when its packed. They overbook, avoid eye contact, bring food very very slowly, and sometimes run out of courses while youre only a few in. I would stress that you be prudent about what times to go (NEVER on a holiday-like the previous poster I also had a Valentine's nightmare here). Avoid Fridays & Saturdays around 7, 8 pm if you can.
A note about the food- its a set menu, 7 courses. Go to their website for a full description of the courses. If you like spicy food, make sure to request the spicy chicken- DELICIOUS. and we always prefer the lamb to the beef.
Please do go to Casablanca..really, its amazing. Just be mindful of when!
I'm really a fan of this place. I have been going here to get my Moroccan food fix for probably 3 years now. Food is good (better than Marakesh in Philly) and vegetarian friendly. The decor is interesting. I'm never too impressed with the belly dancing, but I suppose it is still good for the atmosphere.
Anyway, definitely worthwhile to check it out if you're in the Delaware or Philly area.
I went to Casablanca with a large group of friends for dinner last night. One of my girlfriends wanted to get everyone together for a big Valentine's Day celebration, and Casablanca seemed like the perfect place to do it -- communal eating, plenty of seating for groups, and reasonable prices. I'll start this review off by saying that if I had written it at the start of the meal, I would have given them 4 stars... but by the time we left, I was ready to give them 1. I'll explain:
The good: Casablanca is a really, really cool space. Outside it looks like it used to be some giant carpet superstore or something. But when you walk in, you feel like you're in a completely different world -- tapestries on the walls, tented ceilings, Moroccan music on the sound system... Plus the entire restaurant is a network of low sofas and cushions around small tables, accented with metallic embroidered pillows. Even though there are hundreds of people around you (again, the place is enormous), you feel like you're alone with your dining mates. Food is delivered on large plates that are meant for sharing, and people with giant baskets full of bread come around periodically so that you take take more pita wedges with which to scoop up your food (there are no utensils). At the start of the meal you're given a towel for your lap, and a giant urn of rose water is brought to the table and poured over your hands to wash them. Nice touch.
The food is really good, especially for the price. For about $26pp we got the 7-course dinner: 1. 3 different cold marinated salads (eggplant, carrot, cucumber)... 2. phyllo dough stuffed with chicken and egg and sprinkled with powdered sugar... 3. chicken (we got the spicy version, don't be scared, it's not scary spicy)... 4. roast lamb (very tender, but if you're looking for "volume" get the beef choice instead as they only serve a few slices of lamb as opposed to several skewers of beef)... 5. couscous with chicken and chickpeas... 6. bowl of fruit (and it's literally a bowl of unpeeled fruit, the oranges still had stickers on them)... 7. baklava.
now, #7 is where i get into the bad part of the review. there was no 7th course. let me back up -- when we went to Casablanca for dinner, we knew that it would be a long meal. (If you're thinking "let's eat here before we see a movie", don't. You won't make the movie. This is meant to be a long, leisurely experience.) We expected about a 3-hour meal, based on some of the party's previous experiences. However, our experience was DOUBLE that -- we arrived at 6:30pm, and didn't leave until 12:30 in the morning! 6 hours! At first, everything was great -- attentive service, a new course came out every 30-45 minutes... then after a couple of hours, everything started to break down. Bar service stopped completely, we didn't see our bar waiter (separate from the food service) for several hours. No joke. Then the food started taking longer and longer to arrive. Now, we understand that a restaurant's going to be busy on Valentine's Day, and the place was pretty much full... However, from what I could tell the slowdown wasn't due to the size of the crowd, it was the size of the staff -- halfway through the evening, all the servers we'd seen buzzing around earlier were nowhere to be seen. I'm not sure if they sent people home halfway through the shift on a packed holiday night, but we don't know where everyone went!
By midnight, we were exhausted and just wanted our final course (the baklava) so we could all head home. One of the servers finally came around with our check, and when we asked about the baklava, we were told they were out. We had been waiting almost an hour for that final course, and no-one told us! Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! That really left a bad taste in our mouths -- 6 hours in the restaurant, and then no final course. And they hadn't even offered us a substitution, or taken a few dollars off of each person's charges to compensate.
When one of our party spoke to one of the managers to complain, the manager was very apologetic and asked what he could do to make us happy, which was certainly nice. But the bottom line is, if you offer a fixed price meal and one course isn't going to come, you should proactively make it up to the customer instead of them having to ask.
Bottom line: do NOT come here on a busy day like Valentine's Day! Try it on a regular night when they can handle the workload.
Smashing place for that large family party such as BD, anniversaries and christening as well as a small wedding which we did with wonderful results for 90 guests. Also a definite maybe for Valentine's Day as the style of eating with no utensils can be sensual and the dim lighting is romantic. Ala carte menu of Middle Eastern and Turkish delights available but the reason to go is the seven course fixed menu. Been there a dozen times with groups spanning the social and economic strata with nothing but accolades. Forget the forgettable far from attractive stucco exterior, the harem-like, I think this what a harem might have looked like, interior transports you. Sumptuous couches, with magnificent hammered and tooled brass tables, and curtains and tassels everywhere. There is a stage that makes an effort not to be a gratuitous addition but rather blends as much as a stage might, a decent sound system and delightful belly dancers. The family that has run this place for years is delightful as well. Once you've decided on wine and dinner, you are offered hot wet towels for your hands then given large terry cloths for your lap, it will be stained, for the duration of the dinner. The middle eastern wines are fine and the endless glasses of sweet mint tea, poured from shoulder height with not a drop spilled works., think spearmint gum. The fixed menu begins with a vegetable plate of carrots, cucumbers etc., the centerpiece of pastilla, originally made with pidgeon but here with great results made with chicken or if you choose rabbit, your choice of beef or lamb kebob, a no brainer, the lamb duh, cous cous, plentiful fruit bowl and baklava. If we don't have an occasion we make it a point to get here once a year. Though after 2 hours in this dark and almost other worldly atmosphere stepping out onto the asphalt of the parking lot gives most an immediate tendency to turn around and go back in.