Le Souk, 47 Avenue B (between 3rd & 4th St)

Le Souk (a Haiku)

North African food
How delicious and tasty
Why did we go to Cuba Cafe when we could have had this?

Ok, so it's not a Haiku, but seriously...we were down between Cuba Cafe and Le Souk originally, and decided to go there first. What a grave, grave mistake.

Anyways, Dave, Dave and I arrived at Le Souk about 7p on a warm Saturday evening. Upon walking in, we were ID'd at the door (weird...) and amidst some chaos by the waitstaff (there were probably about 20 employees wandering around), were seated in an empty restaurant.

After perusing the menu, we decided on some crusted shrimp with a "cole-slaw"-esque salad and the mezze plate for appetizers, and for the main course, I got the Dajage Bastilla, Chan got the duck confit, and DVH got lamb chops. (Please excuse the vagueness of the meals in this entry; the 2008 menu is not posted online and I can't quite remember everything we had.)

Our appetizers soon arrived, and if they were to shed light on how the rest of the dining experience would be, hot damn. The shrimp were incredibly seasoned, with a sort of flake on them, and when combined in a bite with the cole-slaw mixture (it had apple in it, not sure what else, didn't really taste like cole-slaw, just looked like it)....wow. I could have eaten a plate of those for dinner and been content. The mezze plate was awesome as well - an assortment of middle eastern spreads on vine leaves. Dave and Dave used the bread to dip into the spreads, however my thought was - why dilute the spreads with bread? Just eat them on the vine leaves. Incroyáble.

Soon after those disappeared, our main dishes arrived. I thought I had chosen well - with my traditional chicken pie made of thin layers of fillo pastry marinated in moroccan spices, raisins and sliced almonds, but nay, Dave's duck confit was by far the best plate at the table. My dish arrived as a square pastry, dusted with cinnamon and sugar. While tasty, and very filling (who knew dough could fill you up?), I felt like I was eating dessert. Meh.

The duck confit on the other hand....wow. We might have discovered heaven on a plate with this one. It was perfectly cooked, and came with a side of some sweet potatoes over greens. DVH claims his meal was the best (the lamb chops), and they were good, don't get me wrong - but the duck confit was superior by far.

I always complain that I never chose the best dish at restaurants where we dine. This is definitely one of those cases (but the tables will soon be turned, have you no fear my good readers). I can't fault Le Souk though, all of the dishes were incredible, and we walked out completely full and satisfied.

Lastly, the décor was very slick too - a very Moroccan feel and excellent music as well. By the time we left, the wedding party (explanation for all the waitstaff) had arrived, filling the back room, all of the tables for us normal diners were also filled, and Le Souk was about to go on a wait. I can definitely understand why.

Le Souk gets 4 / 5 forks.