* Eating 52 Countries In 52 Weeks - Week 25 - MOROCCO

The decor in the Moroccan restaurant Marrakesh in Costa Mesa reminded me of Inara's shuttle from the series Firefly. Our good friends and us were seated at low seats and did not know what to do with our legs since we were not exactly on the floor or normal dining chair height. After getting situated and putting in our orders, a belly dancer appeared and danced around our giggly table for a while. Just before the arrival of our food, a guy in a large mustache and a fez brought a large deep pot onto the middle of the table and told us all to put our hands above the said pot. Then he poured warm water to wash our hands at the same time. Following the collective hand wash, we were handed black towels to dry our hands and to serve as our napkins throughout the dinner.

Our orders of tea came is gilded colorful glasses.

Our order of Marrakesh Special had many parts to it - orzo soup, salads, appetizers and grilled meats of many varieties served with rice and vegetables.

After clearing up our plates as best as we could, we were contemplating what dessert to order but the servers beat us to it and brought a mix of baklavas and syrupy cookies for us to enjoy!

Also, we were served tea again as a gesture of hospitality on the house, poured from great heights in another set of beautifully gilded glasses.

Dining at Marrakesh restaurant felt like a combination of time and space travel and we were glad we could do that with our good friends.

بالصحة (besseha)