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I was meeting my childhood friend MC for dinner during the holidays. She had mentioned a Moroccan restaurant in Montréal and I suggested we go, having traveled to Morocco with her. Restaurant au Tarot is located near the trendy Plateau Mont-Royal area. MC had the foresight to make a reservation, just in case. Lucky for us, because the restaurant was packed on a Wednesday evening.
MC had previously ordered the Couscous Royal and remembered it being much too big for two people. After looking over the menu and fretting over portion sizes, we decided to order the table d'hôte ($34.80) and pay the additional $8 to share it. This turned out to be a wise decision, because we were both very full by the end of our meal.
Our starter: lentil soup.
The table d'hôte started with a lentil soup that was very satisfying. My, I like lentil soups! Then I convinced MC to order the pigeon pastilla since she did not know exactly what it was (unfortunately, we did not have any in Morocco as we mostly had tagines). I could only tell her that it was meat in dough. The pastilla had an interesting combination of sweet and salty, with a generous sprinkling of sugar on top of the dough.
Pigeon pastilla.
The pastilla was served with large bowls of couscous and vegetable stew. The vegetables (zucchini, carrots and chickpeas) reminded of those we often found in layers in tagines in Morocco. I really enjoyed ladles of the vegetable mixture on top of the couscous with a side of pastilla.
Couscous and vegetables.
My filled plate.
Dinner ended with mint tea and dessert. Again, drinking meat tea reminded me of our time in Morocco. I also really liked the sweet treats filled with ground nuts, a perfect accompaniment to the tea.
By dessert, we were stuffed!
MC sure was right about the large portions at au Tarot. If I came again, I would want to come in a large group so I could sample more dishes. I just have to make sure I make a reservation since the restaurant was rather wee.
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