Marrakech

1413 North Ashland Avenue, Chicago
773-227-6451
Broadcast  January 28, 2005

(WBBM Newsradio 780) -- There is nothing more difficult for me or unpleasant as a restaurant critic than to find little if anything good about a restaurant, especially something that is a small storefront and the result of considerable personal effort.

But, in the case of Marrakech, at 1413 North Ashland Avenue, there is no other option if I am to be honest.  The restaurant has been open for some two months. A small gift shop in the front  is an eye catcher with its display of jewelry and art.. The décor, obviously created on a tight budget, still manages to evoke a suggestion of the exotic.

There are a couple of things to like about the food, especially desserts such as sweet baklava and not  so sweet cookies. And, from a selection of appetizers tasted on a recent evening, the falafel is passable.

But,  there are too many problems in overall presentation and creativity to ignore. We began with a vegetable salad. The salad looked pretty enough, with carrots, peas, potatoes, corn and beans arrayed around a center tub of dressing. I  expected fresh vegetables, not canned or at best,  frozen. There was no seasoning, except for the sour cream based Ranch style dressing.

As I have noted in reviews of other genuinely excellent Moroccan restaurants in Chicago, the cuisine is complex, aromatic, sensual. One would hardly get that sense from the other selections we ordered at Marrakech. The menu lists several tagines, meat or chicken stews of a sort, named for the peculiarly unique pot in which they are baked and then served. The tagine is not part of the presentation. Instead in one case, leg of lamb was set on a flat dinner plate in a thin  gruel with lemon slices, almonds and figs. An order of chicken brought a leg and thigh with carrots and what we expected to be a saffron sauce. There was no hint of that. For that matter, there was no couscous, a grain often used in tagines.

We also ordered paella, which came off similarly disappointing. It was dry to a fault, with a flat, nearly bland taste. Chunks of chicken were actually hard, a piece of fish had an off taste, and shrimp were of the canned popcorn variety.

For a similar menu, expect to spend about $50 plus tax and tip. Marrakech is at 1413 North Ashland Avenue and has a K/RATING of 12.25/20.

AMBIANCE/DECOR   3/4
SERVICE                      4.5/5
FOOD                            4/10
VALUE                           .75/1
K/RATING                     12.25/20