Kenza

I thought Kenza was going to be a Japanese restaurant, so I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a Moroccan den right in the financial district.

Food

I was first to arrive, and the bar area looked very inviting, and the drinks sounded so divine, that I had to order a cocktail. My Neena – rum, honey and date (£9) actually sounded much better than it tasted. The rum was too overpowering, masking all other flavours. The best thing about the drinks was that they give you this little dish of olives stuffed with carrots, with the most fantastic sweet and spicy sauce.

We decided not to go with the toptable offer of 3 courses + cocktail for £25, as the menu was very limited, with only 3 choices (1 vegetarian) of all the food, and Turkish delights was counted as a dessert. Instead we chose to have 2 meza + main and cocktail for £25, as there was more choice. There was no choice of the free cocktail, but what we were given, the Neema – passionfruit, cacchua, was actually really good. The sour and tangy passionfruit really balanced out the rest of the drink.

A plate of warm puffed bread arrived, along with a plate of vegetables (cucumber, chilli, tomato), olives and pickles. We had lots of fun filling our bread pocket with the bread and trying all different combinations.

Before we knew it, a selection of mesas arrived. I now realize they didn’t deliver 1 meza, but we were too full and too busy to notice. We had:

• Baba ghannouj - Grilled aubergine purée, tahini & lemon juice - one of the best I’ve had for a long time, a real smoky flavour. It’s coated in olive oil but it doesn’t feel oily.
• Tabboulé - Minced parsley, mint, spring onions & tomatoes mixed with cracked wheat, lemon juice & olive oil - I still don’t quite get tabboule, it’s nice, but it’s just parsley!!
• kibbe samak - Deep fried mixed fish & cracked wheat parcels, filled with onions, herbs & minced fish - not much actual fish flavour, this might be better with a meat filling.
• Halloum meshoué - Grilled halloumi cheese with cherry tomato & thyme - really really yummy. Nothing like the really salty and tough halloumi I bought from the shops.
• Makanek - Pan fried home made Lebanese lamb & cumin sausages - very oily but good lamb flavour.
• Calamar mekli - Deep fried baby squid with sesame tahini sauce - lovely light batter and really yummy dipping sauce.
• Firré - Chargrilled marinated quail with pomegranate, garlic & thyme - my favourite, the marinate was excellent, and the quail was gamey .

By this time, I was really full, especially because you just want to keep eating the meza, but I had to save room for myTagine lahem wal Barkouk - Slow cooked lamb shank with ras el hanout, prunes, ginger, saffron & roasted almonds. I love tagines, it looks great and tastes so good. The shanks were melt in the mouth. The almonds added crunch and the sweetness of the prunes complemented the lamb well. This came with some potatoes which were unfortunately not cooked enough. The others’ dishes look fantastic too. I tried a bit of couscous, and that also tastes nothing like the stuff I buy in the shops. How do they get it so fluffy?

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Besides the four belly dancers that entertained us (i.e., dancers try to get guys’ attention, guys pretend not to stare, go red if any of them get approached by dancer, girls laugh at the guys’ embarrassment) during the meal, the place was very beautiful. Our table was small though, after all the side dishes, we didn’t have too much room to move. Luckily our banquette seating allowed us to place handbags and stuff next to us. All the booths looked great, but you probably had to pay extra for them.

I love their décor, red and pink and bronze the dominant colour. There is a water feature with floating candles and rose petals, the wonderful intricate lamps, carvings and the platters and plates they use.

Rating - 3

Service

At least they had a lot of waiters, because they were quite slow and couldn’t really tell us the right information. Also, we tried to book at 7, and we couldn’t get a booking, but we left at 9:30, and the restaurant was never more than ½ full, so what was the deal with that?

Rating - 2

C-factor

We were really full at the end, but found my pet gripe on the bill, which really ruined our experience. They had actually slugged us £2 a head for the bread and accompaniment, as well as the water and the service charge. We walked out of there for £38 p.p, which is one of the more expensive meals we had for a toptable place. If they told us the charge of bread upfront, that would be acceptable, but I hate getting slugged at the end. Plus, the cocktails were expensive!!

Rating -0

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

10 Devonshire Square
London
EC2M 4YP
Phone+44 (0) 20 7403 8403
Website