Restaurant Agadir, Ville Nouvelle, Tangiers

The warmth of the colors in these photos is no accident: Agadir, a small but modestly famous eatery not far from the Tangier medina, combines the intimacy of the Manhattan-style of a tiny-kitchen-behind-a-curtain, the no-fuss red tablecloths of rustic Italian dining, and the unmistakeable relaxed warmth of the Moroccan south (the restaurant is named after a southern seaside city and run by a Tafraouti from the faraway Anti-Atlas mountains).

The combination is a welcome one in the midst of the bustling and cosmopolitan border town of Tangiers, and the very best part is, of course, the sizzling smoking fantastic food. The quality of the tagines and pastilla is comparable what you’d find at your typical upscale boutique-y riad restaurant, but for a fraction of the price and with none of the fuss or unnecessary ceremony (or unece-ceremony, as I like to think of it). Al-muhim, the important thing here, is the food. Which is so good that it gives you the sense that everything is as it should be.

Highlights: the best pastilla I’ve ever had, totally bereft of heaviness or too much oil: it’s as if the chicken and almond filling is floating in the delicate warqa pastry layers somehow, so the textures and flavors complement but don’t override one another (in so many cases it seems the ingredients of pastillas coordinate well but the textures clump together too much; this pastilla has no such problems, with every component managing to stay out of the way of the others. The result: no sogginess, just airy perfection).

The chicken special is also a treat: slow-cooked tender meat (and just enough of it), dried apricots, prunes, golden raisins, perfectly toasted almonds and a sauce of sesame-honey-caramelied onion delight.

Slideshow with more photos here.

Restaurant Agadir
21 av. Prince Heritiér, Tangier
06 68 82 76 96