Well our first dinner event of the year was a tremendous success! We all had a fabulous time at the Salon Mogador. The setting was so inviting as we sat on low sofas with those big tray like tables. A perfect arrangement to encourage relaxation, feeling of home, and mingling. The decor is very traditional as well. They really put a lot of work into it. And the sounds of Arabic music filled the air all evening at the right sound level.

I had negotiated a great deal of 4 different salads, a veggie couscous, a veal couscous and a chicken tajine with lemon and olives, baklavas and dates for dessert. They served it buffet style for our groups exclusively. I have to say everything was delicious and that is the resounding word I heard from everyone else as well.

Lots of coriander in the salads, which I love, I particularly like the beet one and the green and red belle pepper one. The veggie couscous had nice big chunks of of mixed vegetables…including squash which I love. The veal and chicken were beyond tender and so flavorful. The baklavas (ok not a traditional Moroccan thing) was one of the best I have had. The free flowing mint tea certainly helped as well.

Only complaint: the service could have been a tad more present when it came to drinks. We had to serve ourselves our water if we wanted some, more services of mint tea would have been appreciated…those small glasses get drunk fast ha ha…and they did not offer (to my knowledge at least) anything from their drink menu.

We really had a great time. I think the fact that we left around 11pm on a week night is always a sign that people had fun. I highly recommend this place to have a great evening with friends.

Entering inside Salon Mogador was like being carried far, far away into an exotic landscape that was a feast for the eyes…and the palate.

A bright splash of colour with golden accents welcomed us in, drawing us in to sit on an array of comfy sofas, where we dined like pashas, with a scrumptious buffet specially set up for our group, by our Cheap Ethnic Eatz Guru.

The Arabic music hypnotised our ears as we feasted.

And what a feast indeed.

Couscous and more couscous. A plethora of salads. Wonderfully sublimely spiced chicken tajine. Fresh fresh freshly baked baklavas we couldn’t get enough of…and they still kept coming.

And perhaps the best mint tea I have tasted in any Arabic-accented resto in town.

It was a wrench to leave this sumptuous Arabian dream and go off into the night, after our fine dining was done.

We couldn’t have chosen a better place to celebrate a friend’s bday at Mogador. First, our bday host was fashionably late (actually over an hour), and the restaurant was actually quite lenient about it.

To most people who attended the dinner were new to Moroccan food, but just about everyone loved the decor, as well as the food. As it was a Tuesday night, we had the big front corner for our group, which makes it quite intimate yet roomy. Most people ordered a variation of tajine and couscous. The mini dish olive tastings was great as well, especially the green olive as it was quite spicy and flavourful. I heard lots of praise for the royal couscous (with merguez, lamb and chicken), however the chicken tajine with olives tasted a bit blend (tastes like flavoured broth with rice wine). The best part of the dinner was the surprised bday cake. The owner surprised us with a full chocolate cake for the bday girl ! I have never been to a restaurant where a full cake is complimented by the owner. (perhaps also due to the large amount of smoke that filled the restaurant earlier during the dinner time), but what the owner did, went above expectations!

As this is my 2nd time to the restaurant, I opted for a lamb sandwich (as the usual tajine/couscous is quite a big meal). the lamb was delish which came with a big salad.