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Recent ReviewsKasbah
They've moved premises since then. Nine months ago, the waitress informed me. Had it really been that long? The new place is a lot more spacious. The restaurant and bar have been combined into one with the bar area to the right as you go in. The entrance is a big heavy arched wooden door which really does give you the feel of entering another time and place as you pass through. The lighting is moody and provided by lovely Moroccan lamps shades which adorn the walls and hang from the ceiling. Giant vases break up the floor space, decorative proverbs and motifs break up the walls while ornamental screens protect guests from the glare of Arbuthnot Road on the other side of the window.
Zaalouk is an eggplant puree with onions, tomato and herbs. Cigares are cheese and mint rolled in filo pastry. Boureck, which was my favourite, were triangles of filo pastry stuffed with lamb, figs and almonds. Finally the ever popular humous. The dish is served with one piece of pitta bread though I felt it needed two to scoop up the last of the humous. I suspect if the dish was served for two people, as the menu recommends, then two pieces of pitta would be standard. For my main course I opted for the Tangines lamb ($165). Tangines actually refers to the terra-cotta dish that the food is cooked in. Essentially a stew of lamb with prunes, almonds, glazed carrots saffron and potato. It arrives still sizzling in its pot and covered with an impressive conical roof through which the foods delicious aroma escapes.
I also ordered a side of couscous ($40) but because I'd eaten rather more starter than a respectable person might have done it was surplus to requirement though I did use it to mop up the delicious sauce that was left in the dish. The waitress list several deserts, most of them were familiar names but the one that took my fancy was the banana flame. This is chopped banana, strawberries, blueberries and mint doused with a Moroccan liqueur and then set on fire briefly. It was both impressive and delicious. Last orders for food are at 11.00pm but the bar continues serving until 02.00 and you can also toke on a huge hookah though the contents are perfectly legal of course Kasbah Heaven on Earth
It's a large restaurant that is very popular with both locals and expatriates. The decor is a mix of both traditional and modern. It's not a intimate place it's a place to go with a group of friends. The staff are friendly, helpful and bilingual. So is the menu and although we did have native speakers in our group we had no problem ordering everything in English. The menu is really quite varied offering dishes from Shanghai, Sichuan and Taiwan. Our first dish was poached tomato with pomelo and vegetarian sharks fin ($40). I think we were all intrigued by the vegetarian sharks fin but after we'd had it I we agreed that it was probably least interesting part of the meal.
The shrimps were quite big for river shrimps, I thought, but they were tasty enough and were joined in the yellow wine by some green soya beans. The next dish was Po Lei tea smoked spring chicken ($98) which proved to be my favourite dish of the evening. The chicken is served with a sauce of marinated tea leaves and has one of those delicious smokey flavours. I could have happily ordered a second dish and eaten it all to myself ... but that would have been greedy. Finally we had stir fried Tianjin baby cabbage with bean sauce ($40) after which we were all beginning to feel a bit full. We did agree that we might manage a spot of dessert so we called for the menu again. We ordered two; deep fried pancakes with red bean sauce and banana puree ($35) were delicious but the sticky rice dumplings with pumpkin and peanut sauce ($36) were rather pedestrian in comparison. Heaven on Earth is a very popular restaurant reservation are recommended, especially at peak times. Basement The Pawn
I didn't give them much more thought until I passed by again the other evening. Renovations were obviously complete and there were lights and people moving about on the first floor. I had no idea what was there. I knew what I thought should be in a building like that and something in the way those people were moving made me think of waiters. The ground floor shops were still vacant and there was nothing outside to give the game away so I located the narrow staircase and up I went. To my left at the top was an old fusball table and beyond that was an impressively stocked bar.
The building itself dates back to 1888 and was formerly occupied by the Woo Cheong Pawn Shop. The staff made me feel very welcome and found me a table on the balcony. They are not fully operative yet. So far only the bar on the first floor is functional. By mid-April a restaurant occupying the second floor and the rooftop will be open. But the bar menu does include a selection of pub grub items and an good range of beers. On draught there is Spitfire and Master Brew from England's Shepherd Neame Brewery, Marsden's Pedigree and Budejovicky Budvar from the Czech Republic as well as some more familiar names. There are also bottled beers from UK, US, Australia and Belgium.
The new occupants have done a good job. They have preserved the buildings dignity whilst putting it to a new use. There are old-style pubs all over Asia most of them are very nice indeed. But no matter how talented an interior designer is, they can never create the the atmosphere of building that really is old. Watch this space, I shall be back when the restaurant opens. The Pawn |
Other reviews39a Gough |
It's been a while since I was last at the Kasbah. It was late on a Friday evening with a few good friends, whirling dervishes might have been involved. Certainly a lot of beer was.
The menu is North African and boasts flavours that come from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. I decided to start with the Mezze Platter ($160) A great dish for people who can't make up their mind. This includes four items from the starter menu.
I had to wait a few minutes for it to cool a little before I could taste it. With prunes and almonds I was expecting it to be sweet, food from this region often is. But the flavours were very well balanced and the sweetness never become overpowering.
This is a well established restaurant. There are two branches. One is in Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui, but the one that we went to is in Century Square in D'Aguilar Street.
The bean curd and preserved egg ($40) that followed was very well received though. It was served cold and garnished with dried bonito shavings and it was only the interruption of river shrimps in Chinese yellow wine ($98) that allowed it to stay on the table for more than a few minutes.
There is a group of four delightful old shophouses on Johnston Road just opposite the Southorn Playground. I must admit I thought there were due to meet the wreckers ball along with Wedding Card Street so I was pleasantly surprised, when I passed by a couple of months ago, to see that they were being renovated.
The floor is divided into sections and joined by arches. Modern light fittings are augmented by solo bulbs dangling from wires. Furnishing is simple but pleasing and there is a balcony that overlooks Johnston Road. It is a very pleasing atmosphere.
I ordered myself a pint of Marsden's ($60) and a plate of sausage and mash with peas and onion gravy ($88). The sausages were thick and tasty with herbs, the potato was smooth and creamy. I wolfed it all down in no time and then leaned back in my chair to enjoy the beer.