Dar Essalam (Moroccan)

• Restaurant website
  
• Location: Wilsonville, OR
• Price to fill up two people for dinner: About $40

There’s a hidden jewel in Wilsonville (of all places): One of the tastier Middle Eastern restaurants I’ve encountered on the west coast. I’d driven by Dar Essalam a couple of times on my way to Fry’s Electronics, and filed it under “new Moroccan restaurant” for future reference.

When I say “hidden” jewel, I mean it. Coworker Sara and I decided to try it tonight, and it proved so hard to find in Google Maps that we nearly didn’t go (google “Moroccan restaurant in Wilsonville” and see what you come up with). I’m glad we did, because it was delightful.

Dar Essalam is located in a little brick strip mall behind Fry’s and it’s not very big, only a dozen or so tables. It’s well-decorated with Moroccan knick-knacks and the husband-and-wife owners are friendly, hospitable folk. Primarily, though, this is a restaurant that’s all about the food. The owners are justly proud of their offerings, and it shows.

Sara’s wheat-intolerant, and they had no problem substituting carrot sticks with the opening hummus; they warned her not to eat the soup and brought a special salad instead. Besides the hummus, our starters included a sampler of four different salads, and pita bread.

Sara got the chicken kebab salad, which she said was delicious. I opted for the Cornish game hen tajine prepared with artichoke and lemon. Tajine–a dish consisting of meat, marinade, spices and veggies cooked in a covered clay pot–is a chancy thing to order, often dry, tough and tasteless.

At Dar Essalam, though, the tajine was exactly as I like it, fall-off-the-bone tender and rich, steeped in a tangy artichoke mix. You eat tajine with hot flatbread, and mine were absolutely fresh and flavorful. They only served a couple at a time, monitoring our bread status and cooking fresh when it looked like we might run out.

There was more food than we could eat, and absolutely no room for dessert of any kind. “Next time, you eat dinner at home and just come here for dessert. It’s very good,” said our host, and we didn’t doubt him in the slightest.

Tip: When they ask you what you want to drink, say “large pot of sweet tea.” Their version of Moroccan mint tea is delicious, a combination of green tea, rose hips, lots of crushed mint leaves and spices. It’s delivered in an ornate Moroccan-style teapot; between us Sara and I polished off three of ‘em. I would go there just for that tea.

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