aziza

5800 Geary Blvd. (and 22nd Ave.)

(415) 752-2222

Moroccan in the Richmond

This restaurant has been on my list forever, and I FINALLY went there!

Ambience: very dim and intimate. It's actually bigger than it looks (2 rooms you can't see from the front room), but the seating arrangements aren't good for large parties. They have belly dancing on the weekends, but we went on a Friday. You definitely need reservations.

Service: good and attentive. They give you rose water for your hands, which I've never seen done before. Our waiter was very accommodating, yet at the same time seemed a bit arrogant (maybe because we're young?). (he did seem arrrogant. during my second visit, the hostess seemed a bit rude as well. it was true we were late for our reservations, but telling us that they would reseat the table at 7:30 and also telling us that we wouldn't have enough time to eat all the courses we wanted to order didn't make us very happy diners. instead, it made me feel rushed and even a bit stressed, not at all what i want from a night out)

Food: very good! This place is known for exotic cocktails -- I had a "fez fizz," which is basically a pomegranate mimosa, and Shinie had this lavender and honey martini -- the most interesting drink I've ever had. It's like drinking sweet flowers, which sounds gross, but was actually really good. Appetizers -- we had mediterranean spreads and the baked seafood triangles. Both were pretty good, but what stood out was the couscous that came with the triangles. Sooo good! Very flavorful. (they both were quite good. i liked the baked seafood triangles so much that i ordered it again the second time)

Entrees -- we had the lamb shank (pretty good), the rabbit (pretty good), and the basteeya (kind of like a chicken pot pie, but in phyllo). The flavors are quite varied per dish, which you don't see often in restaurants. The basteeya was kind of a disappointment -- it was extremely pretty though... but I was expecting more flavor. i also tried the azizza couscous, which is really good. you get to try a little bit of everything and its served with their very tasty couscous. the prawn tangines (i think that's what it was called) which were good as well but a bit on the salty side. the vegetables that they were served with seemed more like tomato sauce than anything else. it's true though, azziza is really good at making all their dishes tasty so that you encounter flavors that you wouldn't otherwise.

I was very satisfied with my visit here. If I went back, I'd try the couscous aziza, and I'd go on the weekend to see the bellydancing =) i don't think i'd go back anymore. it's true that the food was tasty, but i wouldn't want to go to a place with such pretentious service. maaaaybe if we were going to go see the bellydancing =]

- k - s