Stardate 65317.1 12:12 - Groupon makes you do silly things. I grew up in too Polish of a household not to be familiar with coupons, but Groupon is a different kind of beast. Based on a Groupon buy, a pack of us headed out to Arlington to try Taste of Morocco, a supposed authentic Moroccan place, last Saturday. Even by my standards, this place was shenanigans from the start.
First, they could not accommodate 7 people in a half empty restaurant. Second, they would not uphold the Groupon deal to its fullest so we worked out a deal to accept a few. From there, we ordered. Focus Foxies, I was craving great hummus, and I got some mediocre stuff. I still devoured the whole plate. My original intention was to share with the table, but I failed hard. My second course was a chicken bastilla. For those not familiar with Moroccan food, a bastilla is a dish with a baklava crust and a marinated chicken and almond inside with sugar and cinnamon top. The bastilla tasted delicious; it was a dessert and meal all in one. However, the meal was overshadowed by the the belly dancer. When the music turned up to blaring and the belly dancer came out, we got into it. A couple of us, including yours truly, danced with her. But after the following 30-45 minutes of her dancing, grabbing children from tables to dance with her, and soliciting donations, we just wanted our food. I know its a lot to ask...at a restaurant.
The most shenaniganny of the whole experience was the waiter/manager. He went back on the Groupon deal with made with him. He bargined with us, saying that his staff worked for free and the lights cost money to turn on "if we accept all your groupons, what do we make? Please, let us make some money." I wanted to tell him back that I have been sitting here for two and half hours, and I want to go home, please. Focus Foxies, I will tell you how this guy makes his money by charging a 22% service charge on the meal, which he did.
After almost 3 hours, we finally got out of the Taste of Morocco, but could not get the taste of bad service out of our mouths. I would not recommend this restaurant even as a take out place. It is too expensive for the food quality and too scammy to patronize.
If you like Moroccan and want a GOOD place where I've had nothing but good service with the staff, check out Casablanca on King Street. Been several times and love it each time. It'll be a long dinner as well, and the seven-courser runs about 27 bucks per person.
ReplyDeleteIf you go, take me. I'm always looking for excuses to go there - even without Groupons.