Restaurant Review: Souk Moroccan Restaurant

Last weekend, I decided to go to Souk, they call themselves a Moroccan Tapas Bar, located in the revitalized H Street Corridor. I'm a lover of all things Moroccan so when a deal for the restaurant was on Groupon, I jumped at getting it.

I made reservations for 7:30, but had to call them to let them know I wouldn't be there until closer to 8. They said no problem, which was cool for a Saturday night. We walked in right at 8 and were given the choice of sitting in the front bar area or the dimly lit cozy back room, we chose the latter. I have to say it wasn't at all what I expected. While there were random Moroccan elements such as lanterns, it wasn't at all like the Moroccan restaurants I've been to where you sit on pillows and the wait staff are dressed in their native clothing wearing a fez. But different can be good right?

As soon as we were seated, our waiter came over to take our drink orders. I was feeling adventurous so I ordered this blackberry whisky & vodka drink that our waiter suggested. When he brought it out I took one sip and was like whoa, it was way too strong. I told him I didn't like it and 2 minutes later he came back with a better, less lethal version of the same drink.

Since, I'd done my research I had an idea of what I was going to order. Although the reviews were a little shaky, everyone seemed to rave about how good the Baba Ghanouge (photo 1) was. So we went with that for starters. Truthfully, I think I like saying it more than anything. It was tasty and the perfect consistency, but when our waiter brought out the spices, that really complemented it and changed the taste completely. Needless to say, we devoured it within a matter of minutes, and it was an ample size for an appetizer.

I'd never had a shrimp dish, nor any other type of seafood, at a Moroccan restaurant so I was pleasantly surprised to see some there. They usually specialize on chicken, beef and lamb. We ordered the Harissa Shrimp for our second course. It was seasoned with just the right amount of spice. The only thing was the shrimp were really small, but at least we got a lot of them and they were fresh. (photo 2)

For the entree we wanted something different than just the usual Moroccan dishes, i.e. bastilla, chicken with lemons or beef kabobs. Once again our waiter came to the rescue and suggested we try the Mixed Grill (photo 3). According to the menu, it was a combination platter of chicken and kafta kabob and lamb merguez (sausage), served over rice with saffron-infused tomato sauce. It was dee-lish! I will say I'm not a fan of lamb so that was the only thing on the plate I didn't eat but everything else was amazing.

I'll definitely be adding Souk to the list of my places to recommend. The food was excellent and the servers were very attentive and full of suggestions. So glad I didn't listen to the reviews on Yelp.

Food A+
Ambiance B
Service A

Souk
1208 H Street Northeast
Washington D.C., DC 20002
(202) 658-4224
www.souk-dc.com/