Yoghurt sorbet and stewed apricots
I love storytelling. I remember being 7 years old, standing up in front of a fidgety audience of 7 to 9 year olds in school and giving them my best reading of Red Riding Hood. I was clueless as to why I was doing it; all that mattered was that I enjoyed being caught up in this world of make-believe. I’d write stories in brand new exercise books, fill them with my own illustrations, and hide them in my drawer far away from my parents’ prying eyes.
Samboussek – Shanklish cheese filled pastries
Spanakopita – layered phyllo pastry and spinach with feta cheese
I love storytelling. I get my best ideas for my blog when I’m doing my daily commute from home to office, soothed into a reverie by inspiring music stored in my iPhone. I discovered recently, among Bald Eagle’s stash, the soundtrack for Avenue Q, and I have been playing it twice daily, 7 days a week for several weeks now. The music’s uplifting, but unfortunately provides very little inspiration for my blog. With songs like I’m Not Wearing Underwear Today, Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist and The Internet Is For Porn, it’s hard to translate that to child-friendly posts on this child-friendly blog. And so I am hopelessly useless today, short of telling everyone that the internet is for porn…the internet is for porn…grab your dick and double click for porn, porn, porn…
On the other hand, there’s this thing called food porn….
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Queso – Manchego, idiazabal and valdeon cheese with quince jelly
Gazpacho – white with almonds, red with tomatoes and yellow with bell peppers
Casbah. To be honest, I loathed the idea of MO’s replacement of Pacifica with a restaurant that served mezze and tapas from the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and Spain. Pacifica was in a league of its own with its fresh seafood, luxuriant decor and sheer curtains offering privacy for the romantic and delectable seafood to the ravenous. It wasn’t so much my dislike for any particular cuisine, but more a case of my affinity to Pacifica for sentimental reasons.
Dukkah Spiced Baramundi – White beans, artichokes and clams
But I visited Casbah anyway upon the persuasion of a foodie friend and mostly because I had the MO Elite Club card with its 50% discount trappings. (However, as fate would have it, our friend, Cheryl, Director of Communications at MO, happened to be there and footed the entire bill. Thanks, Cheryl!)
I was told that the cocktails at Casbah were to die for, and ordered one called Magic Mo Kool Berry Bliss. Kool? Really? As it turned out, it was a theatrical masterpiece, a cocktail made of childhood memories and adult realities. The irony is strong here as the fluffy cotton candy floss dissolved right before my eyes in a harsh pool of vodka, cranberry and lemon. It was a good cocktail.
Tagine with Lamb Merges – Cous cous, almonds and dried apricot
The food is segregated into five broad categories: small plates (vegetarian) with prices ranging from RM12 to RM25, small plates (meat) – RM15 to RM39, small plates (fish and seafood) – RM25 to RM35, large plates – RM45 to RM248, and sweet treats – RM12 to RM18. Dining is meant to be communal and tables are small enough to offer intimacy.
Stirato Bread and Tomato – Grilled rosemary bread rubbed with fresh tomato, garlic and olive oil
Chicken Mougrabia – Stewed wtih Lebanese couscous
My moderate expectations of Casbah were quashed from the beginning when I tried the grilled stirato (literally meaning “to stretch”) bread, flavoured with rosemary and topped with tomato, garlic and olive oil. Somewhat like a pizza after being stretched, it was crisp and tasty, its flavour enhanced by nothing more than the simplest of ingredients.
Queso Fonduta – Melted manchego cheese fondue with home made chorizo
The Queso Fonduta (Cheese Fondue), at RM25, and an outright favourite with me, is worth ordering. The fondue is made with melted Manchego cheese. Pieces of bread and homemade chorizo are provided for dipping into the melted cheese. The chorizo is unfortunately not pork, but its absence will only be mildly felt.
Patata Harra
Chef Mustapha Benhadou
The freshly made baklava also stands out here. In fact, I could hardly fault any of the dishes that I tried that night. Even the most ordinary of the dishes, patata harra (fried potatoes with garlic, summac and labneh) was finger lickin’ good. Perhaps MO has found its groove after all.
Turrons – Spanish nougat
Yiaourtopita – Lemon pound cake with Greek yoghurt
Baklava
Churros Con Chocolate – Traditional fried dough stick with hot spiced chocolate
Casbah at Mandarin Oriental
Kuala Lumpur City Centre, KL
Tel: 03-2380 8888
I love middle eastern delights. 🙂 Sigh, I wish my parents would share my palette… so they can bring me to casbah. My mom has the card. T_T
sounds like i might go dwnload avenue q for some inspiration..i have only got the rocky horror show and i believe doing the time warp dance dont provide me with any inspiration to write about food either.
casbah certainly doesnt have the elusiveness of pacifica but since i havent been to both, lets hope its going to stick around till i come back in dec to try.
Food porn is the best kinda porn. 🙂
(IMHO)
Michelle: Well, the card is transferable, so swipe it and go with your friends. 🙂
lotsofcravings: hahahaha. i dunno if Avenue Q is gonna be much help though! If you wanna go in Dec, lemme know coz I’ve just renewed my card. 😀
J: I agree wholeheartedly. 🙂
ahhhh but your love for and gift of storytelling hasn’t faded after nearly four decades 😀
p.s. if u ever manage to go back in time and relive that ‘little red riding hood’ session, u should read them edgar allan poe’s ‘the pit and the pendulum’ instead and emotionally scar your schoolmates for life
Sean: Pbbbthhhh! That’s for all the embedded insults. 😛 I read Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum when I was 11. Maybe that explains why I’m a little weird at 30. 😛
you’re making me hungrehhhh
i always read your blog at work..an instant adrenaline rush to beat the blues at work!!
salivating at the pictures…
KY: good! eat up, young man!
mystic: awww….thanks….now if only I could read something to beat the blues at work too! 😀
Thanks for a great post on the food, the handsome chef and of course for stating that the internet is for porn! LOL 😛
Lovely read.. I wanna go back for porn i mean food..
I love the cotton candy cocktail at Casbah. Potent stuff. I remember trying to walk straight…up the tricky staircase and out of Casbah. 🙂
wah, your school so terror one ah, got story telling and all at that young tender age. where u study ah? americah? you da man, the lighting at casbah is so horrendous i got a migraine just trying to focus…let alone take pics that are half decent, so mine are all indecent, but ironically not porn.
The stirato bread is my fave! Lovely post 🙂
I love Avenue Q! My all time favourite musical. Now if only Andrew Llyod Webber would have done Phantom and the lot in the style of Avenue Q, broadway and west end would be a more happier place doncha think?
And if you were gay, that’ll be OK too! 😛
i really missed PASIFICA…they shouldn’t replace it with CASBAH..nothing much special on middle eastern food unless you are there, may be MO try to cater those Arabian guest .. 🙁
Wow! God! These are delicious. It’s raining in my mouth! I think if i were there now, i have eaten all that you presented in pictures. Don’t know why but I think I will make a visit to you. I hope you’ll serve me with all your goodies.
hi, great review on casbah! im going on friday, can i just ask how did u acquire the mo elite club? can i call mo directly and apply for it? cheers! 🙂
Gorgeous pictures Meena! Love Mid-eastern food.. they are always so exotic but delicious. And that cocktail is cute! I almost thought you were arranging the photos the other way round when I saw the lump (which I thought was shaved ice) reducing.. lol!
Ciki: Thanks! Glad you like it. 🙂
Bangsar babe: Yeah, now that the lift isn’t there to go up, one has to walk up the stairs instead. Not good when you’re intoxicated, I agree.
Tangechi: Bloody sarky. Ptooi. Of course there was no story telling in your school lah. All they taught you was how to pushups on knuckles.
Pureglutton: Thanks!
alilfatmonkey: If you were gay, that’d be okay, I mean coz hey, I’d like you anyway! I love all the songs, but have to make sure I don’t play that CD when I’m transporting the underaged and overaged! Phantom in the style of Avenue Q? hahaha. I dread to imagine. 😛
anthony: well, I suppose they have their reasons, but do give Casbah a try. 🙂
cookiemonsta: You can drop an email to Mokul-Eliteclub@mohg.com and I’m sure they’ll give you the details about the card. 🙂 It’s RM688 per year, I believe.
iamthewitch: Thanks, Mei Yee! hahaha….yeah, it’s usually the other way around, isn’t it? 😛
Oh won’t you read “Little Red Riding Hood” to me, dear? All dressed up in the red hood and cape and all. Tee hee hee.
All childhood fairytales need their “adult” upgrading, after all. 😉
Literally salivating now 😀 I’ve been thinking to give churros a taste for a long time now. Just need to find where can I get some 🙂
Hi there! Gosh, I think I put on a few pounds just by looking at those pictures. The Queso Fonduta & the Churros Con Chocolate look amazing 😀
Hi lyrical lemongrass, a tad off-topic, but I’m spreading the word to all foodies & animal lovers about this restaurant that is inhumane towards a cat : http://verysedap.blogspot.com/2011/04/cat-abuse-madam-chiam-curry-noodle.html
Looks like I’ll know where to go when I get homesick at home away from home!!