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Doff my fez

I was pleasantly surprised when a friend, who spends all her time feeding dogs, invited us out to dinner the other evening. The choice of place was ours — so I delved deep into the recesses of my brain to zero in on a suitable place. I didn’t want to go anywhere far, so that ruled out all the restaurants in the remote areas of South Delhi. I didn’t want to eat anything spicy and hot, so Indian restaurants were out. The friend is a vegetarian, so the place had to have an interesting vegetarian menu. And I wanted to go somewhere where I had not been before. The friend had mentioned Greek food — and I thought that was a good idea, for the food would be light, and there would be enough vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

And then I had a brain wave. How about going to Fez, I said. It serves Mediterranean food, and is located in Malcha Marg, which is just off central Delhi. So one balmy evening we set out for Fez. This is in the Malcha Marg market, and has ample parking space. The restaurant, which opened about a year ago, has 50 covers and a nice ambience created by coloured lamps of different sizes that hang from the ceiling. We sat down and had just made ourselves comfortable when a server came bearing a complimentary dish of pita bread, lettuce leaves, olive and jalapeno served with hummus and other dips.

Fez has a special summer menu for the season. We dipped our pita bread into the rich chickpea dip and asked for a summer salad of artichoke and melon (Rs.260). This was excellent. Pieces of watermelon and muskmelon had been scooped out and shaped into small balls, and these came with artichoke and lettuce, drizzled with olive oil. I asked for tenderloin with juniper berry jus (Rs.350), which was just stupendous. The steak had been cooked medium rare, and the meat was nice and juicy while the sauce was thick and tangy. My wife had a chicken tajine (Rs.340), which was a light dish of chicken stewed in saffron, coriander, pickled lime, apricot and Moroccan spices (read cinnamon) served with rice. And the friend had an imam bayildi (Rs.325), which consisted of eggplant, chickpeas, bell pepper and tomato lightly grilled with spices.

The chicken, I was told, was perfect — light yet aromatic. And the friend insisted she was very happy with her vegetarian dish of eggplant. The servings are just right, so I had just a bit of space left for dessert. I asked for my favourite, baklava (Rs.175), which came with ice-cream. The pastry was fresh and oozed with gooey walnuts, and I enjoyed every spoonful. It was a great meal.

I must return to Fez to try out some of the other delicacies they offer. They also serve pizzas and pasta, but I want to go back there for its Lebanese food, of which there is a good selection. The place is quiet, the food is good and the service is excellent. I doff my fez to Fez.

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