Aziza Café Bazaar
- Average price 2 courses:
£14 (lunch)
£14 (evening meal) - BYOB: £2.50 corkage
- High point: Relaxing days and lively nights
- Low point: You may have to show off your moves – or your belly
- Food served: Mon–Sun noon–10pm
- Open since: 2007
- Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of main courses), Children's portions
This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008
– in the shops now or buy online.
This exotic multicultural café and bazaar offers the warmest of welcomes. Billowing crimson drapes, bejewelled tiles and colourful glass lanterns create an atmosphere that's part Bedouin tent, part Moroccan tea-house, part souk (with most of the décor being for sale). It's a relaxing haven in which to sink into the cushions and enjoy light snacks such as mint tea and sweet baklava, or spicy soups. The tiny kitchen, presided over by irrepressible owner Azmina Ali and her energetic staff, also manage to produce a full menu of heartier dishes, all of which are halal. For those unable to decide, mixed mezze starters allow small tastes of home-made hummus, babaganoush (blended aubergine and garlic) and falafel, while a creamy feta and olive salad also evokes sunnier climes. Earthenware tagines release fragrant clouds of steam as they reveal slow-cooked lamb or chicken in rich spiced sauces. Although it's unlicensed there is a BYOB policy with corkage at just £2.50, while outside seating provides space for shisha pipes to bubble with a wide range of flavoured tobaccos. The food is not the only draw: many special event nights showcase belly dancing. With many diners joining in, the lively atmosphere can become more akin to a relaxed house party.
Comments
- 1. shoop, Glasgow – 13 March 2008, 6:17pmReport
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We were very disappointed with our visit to Aziza. We went on a Saturday night, which meant we were charged £20 per person. Although we had been advised of this on the phone, it wasn't mentioned again (and was not on the menu anywhere). Tthe items we chose from the menu amounted to much less than £20 per person. In the end, we paid £30 a head - expensive, as it's BYOB.
We were also disappointed with the quality of the food - it wasn't Moroccan as we know it! The lamb tagine was just a lamb casserole - it even had peas and carrots in it! the only vaguely authentic taste was in the harira soup - which was tasy.
The ambience in the restaurant was good, and the belly dancer added a special feel, but we felt that it was too expensive for what we got, and we felt that the £20 per person policy was not clear enough.
We would not hurry back.
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