Stepping into Mamounia Restaurant, one feels as if they have been transported into the world of Aladdin, with genies, flying carpets and magic lamps. Decked in opulent fabrics and furnishings, the restaurant is luxuriously cosy, with rich colours and warm lighting that invites you in. We sank into the plush seats and opened the menu, excited by the prospect of an exotic exploration of our taste buds.
A complimentary plate of crispy thin breadsticks was served to whet our appetite for the sumptuous dinner ahead.
For starters, they have the Maghreb platter and Fertile Crescent platter. The platters are meant for one person each, but of course, who’s to say that you can’t share? The vast variety of choices at Mamounia renders it practically impossible to try everything, but the platters are a great opportunity for you to have a taste of what this place has to offer. Embark on a culinary journey through the Middle East by trying a little of everything, and discover the gems hidden within each dish. The highlight of the Maghreb platter is the chicken bas’tilla – chicken braised till tender in a coriander leaf with allspice and ground ginger, shredded, and wrapped in a delicate filo pastry with an egg custard and delicious almond filling. Lamb is pretty much a staple in the Middle East, and you have got to try the lamb merguez, which is lovingly constructed from home-made ingredients and spices including harissa, fennel and cumin seeds. The Fertile Crescent platter showcases several mouth-watering dips which we particularly enjoyed. The muhammara is a walnut dip consisting of walnuts, pine nuts, charred red pepper and pomegranate molasses. Nutty with a tinge of spiciness, this is one dip that will go down well with everybody. If you like your food a little sour, try the labne. With its tart acidity, it complements the buttered naans on the side perfectly.
Mamounia offers a wide range of succulent grilled meats, and if you can’t decide which to order, we invite you to try the mixed kebab platter for two people. It gives you a good coverage of the restaurant’s most popular dishes – lamb kefta, harissa chicken, beef kebab and jumbo prawn, with butter naan, herbed couscous and vegetable shashlik on the side. The harissa chicken is cooked to a softly balanced texture, with juicy aromatic flavours of harissa salsa, pickled onion and coriander. The beef kebab is made using beef ribeye, cut into cubes and marinated with garlic, Turkish chilli flakes and ground spices. The accompaniments too, shone in their own way. Epitomizing the personality of Middle Eastern cuisine, the herbed couscous was richly flavoured in a fusion of spices that tantalized our taste buds.
Do save some space for dessert as well! The warm valrhona chocolate cake is an absolute delight. Made from 55% cocoa, the cake is dense, yet fluffy; the outside cooked and slightly burnished, while the inside is a melted warm chocolate mixture. A contradiction – which makes it inconsistently flawless.
I particularly enjoyed the Salted nuts in Katafi pastry, which is a shredded filo pastry that has an appearance likened to bird's nest, encasing a variety of nuts such as cashews, pistachios and walnuts. drizzled with honey thyme syrup and with vanilla ice cream on the side, this was the perfect dish to end our meal.
*This is an article i wrote for reserveit.sg (: Try out their online reservation service, and you can check out more articles there!
Mamounia Restaurant
12 Ann Siang Road
Tel.: +65 6221 1694
Mon-Thu: 12pm-11pm
Fri: 12pm-12am
Sat: 5pm-12 am
Closed Sundays
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