If you’re following my Instagram, you would’ve known that I went up to Liverpool over the New Years weekend with friends. I asked you guys for halal restaurants suggestions and you all pointed me towards Bold Street – so here we are! Many places were unfortunately closed due to the timing of our visit. We strolled down the street and came across this place called Kasbah.
It was their £10.95 2-course lunch menu that drew us in, plus we desperately needed to go somewhere indoors to warm up our frozen hands.
Kasbah has really put an effort to recreate the Moroccan vibe. Its entrance is this massive ornate door (looks heavy but it’s not), once pushed in it’s as if you’re instantly being transported to Morocco. The whole place has this enchanting charm to it, especially with all those traditional lights and decor. They even handed out traditional Taqiyahs (Muslim prayer hats) for customers to wear throughout their meals.
We went for the 2-course lunch menu offer and here is we ordered.
Starters: Falafels
Starting off with the Falafels, they were made with broad beans and chickpeas, and served with Kasbah’s own style of mint yoghurt sauce. It looks decent upon serving. However, as I bite into it, I find them falling apart rather easily, resulting in a comparatively messy scenario.
Falafels are always nice and you can’t really go wrong with them but I find these ones here rather mediocre. The flavours were okay with a tangy flavour but it really bugged me how the whole falafel kept falling apart and it didn’t taste very fresh either.
Perhaps the likes of Magic Falafel and Pipel in London had set the bar high up!
Starters: Hummus with Moroccan Bread
The other starter we had was the hummus, which was served with a drizzle of lemon juice, olive oil, and a sprinkle of paprika. Upon first taste, my friend’s verdict was “it’s Tesco’s hummus”. It wasn’t particularly special or impressive is how I would put it.
The Moroccan bread, on the other hand, was quite nice. It was lightly toasted and fluffy in texture.
Mains: Tagine de Marrakesh
While the starters were a bit underwhelming, the mains were better. We ordered the chicken tagine, which got chicken breast cooked in saffron, confit of preserved lemons and olives. Especially with the freezing weather outside, this couldn’t be any more perfect to warm ourselves up.
The aroma filled up the room when the waitress took off the lid, revealing the big piece of juicy chicken sitting over a bed of sauce that is sizzling and bubbling away in the tagine. The chicken was incredibly tender. The meat came off the bone neatly without needing any effort. It was aromatic and got a lovely bundle of flavours tingling around the palate. It’s even better when the chicken had soaked up all that scrumptious sauce. The Morrocan bread from the starters was perfect with the sauce too and to wipe that plate clean.
The portion of the chicken tagine was pretty big too. It’s got a generous portion of chicken and it was also served with rice on the side.
Mains: Chicken Brochettes
As for the Chicken Brochettes, it is basically grilled chicken skewers that are marinated in Moroccan spices. It is served with salad and the choice of either rice or chips – I picked rice.
The chicken was generally tender but not particularly juicy or succulent. It did get a bit dry towards the end as well. Flavour-wise, it was okay. Personally, I feel it was lacking a good kick of spice. I enjoyed the rice more, which was fluffy and well-seasoned.
All in all, our meal at Kasbah Liverpool had been an okay experience. Not that we are complaining much for paying less than £11 for a two-course lunch. The tagine was the favourite, but the rest of the dishes were a tad bit underwhelming. But then we also enjoyed the charming setting of the restaurant which temporarily made us feel like we’ve left England and arrived in Morocco (despite the cold).
RATING:
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Food
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Value
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Atmosphere
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Service
Halal Status
Halal
