Approaching Alf Lay-Lah from outside you could be forgiven for thinking it was just another takeaway in restaurant-saturated Westcliff. But this venue is like none other.
To eat in, you walk through the downstairs takeaway area, down a tiled and exotically painted hallway, to a stunning double staircase with an original stained glass window over it.
Pushing open the door at the top reveals the most amazing room.
Deep scarlet damask curtains with opulent swags mask off the views, enclosing you in a room of warm colours, deep cushions and Mediterranean-blue patterned-tiles.
Even with the rain washing the pavements outside, it was easy to believe we had just stepped into an Arabian dream.
The menu continued the effect, cous cous, falafel, spiced lamb and pastries all reflected the Moroccan heritage of the business.
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It took us ages to choose. My daughter eventually picked fatayer b'jibine, which are cheese pastries, as her starter. They were hot and creamy, the pastry flaking apart and the cheese subtly spiced. Gorgeous.
I chose harira, a traditional Moroccan spiced mutton and chickpea soup. Its flavours mingled together in a light, slightly curried effect. Warm pitta bread was served alongside. It was delicious and quite filling.
Next up, we had both plumped for meals cooked in a Moroccan clay pot called a tagine.
My daughter chose kefta, slow-cooked meatballs in a spiced tomato sauce with an egg poached on the top by the steam from the meal.
It was subtly spicy, warm and filling. Her delight was evident.
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My own tfaia tagine was filled with chicken cooked with raisins, apricot and cinnamon. It too was in a rich sauce and meat fell away from the bones. It was quite exquisite.
Both dishes were served with a plate of cous cous.
We both agreed our meals were unusual, spicy but not too hot, and very filling. In fact I didn't manage to finish my main course, which was particularly sad when we realised there was no way we could manage to sample the desserts, which included traditional Moroccan almond pastries.
We were served throughout by a charming, friendly waitress, who was attentive without hovering by our sides.
Although it was very quiet when we went early in the week, those who want a more vibrant experience, can see belly dancers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
This is an Aladdin's cave of edible jewels. I can't believe anyone would be disappointed.
What we ate
Harira £3.90 Fatayer b'jibine £3.90 Chicken tfaia £8.90 Tagine Kefta £9.90 Total £26.60
Our Verdict
(marks out of five)
service 5
decor 4
atmosphere 5
food 5 |
Ali Khalk, Tama's father and business partner, exhales after drawing on a hookah, a water pipe, which is fuelled by hot coals rather than tobacco
There is an assertion, much bandied about locally, that Southend has the highest concentration and greatest ethnic variety of restaurants of any town outside London.
Exactly where this notion emerged and who did the measuring is unclear, though it sounds an agreeable job for whatever statistician did the legwork.
Is it true, though?
Spot-checks by Business Essex in other well-fed places, such as Brighton, Bournemouth and Norwich, suggest there may well be some truth in the idea of Southend as a culinary variety act.
Name a nation, from Portugal to Malaysia, Greece to Brazil, and we've got its cooking.
There's even, if we include Basildon in the trawl, an all-Australian eatery.
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There's just one exception.
For some unaccountable reason, the whole of North Africa has been left out.
This excludes not just a huge chunk of the Earth, but also a lot of potential pleasure.
The region has a distinctive and delicious tradition of food and hospitality.
Increasing numbers of tourists are visiting places such as Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, and experiencing north African restaurants at first hand.
Some of the dishes, notably tagines, are even creeping on to the chiller shelves at supermarkets.
Yet anyone seeking the full experience had to head for London - until now.
Last summer, Tama Khalk, from Basildon, left Essex University with a degree in history and sociology, and wondered what to do with her life.
She says: "I'd always thought I'd end up running my own business at some stage, though I didn't expect it to happen right away. "
Tama looked around, and stumbled across something that doesn't occur very much in the entrepreneurial town of Southend - a gap in a market.
"I don't know why Southend didn't have any north African restaurants," says Tama, 24. "But I did know that it was an opportunity and I also knew someone who could do something about it."
The person was her father, Ali Khalk. He ran one of London's busiest restaurants, the Mediterranean Barbecue in Leicester Square.
After years of working through the week and round the clock, Ali, now 53, was thinking about taking things a bit easier.
That was when his daughter suggested a father-daughter partnership.
Ali now finds himself busier than ever. "But it's a chance not to be missed," he says. "I have been in fast food all my life. Now, something different - and healthy."
The pair found an ideal site in an old clothing store in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff.
Tucked away at the back was a splendid, but neglected wooden staircase.
"We knew it was right," Tama says. "The place was spacious and it had a touch of romance and magic about it." Picking up on the themes of romance and magic, they dubbed the restaurant Alf Laylah - the 1,001 Nights.
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Having taken the plunge, Ali and Tama have worked hard to make their restaurant authentic.
The result could have been lifted straight from the streets of Tangier or Casablanca.
The cooking style settled on was Moroccan. Ali, who himself comes from Egypt, explains: "Morocco has been a very open country. The cooking has influences from many different traditions. Jewish, Portuguese, Spanish, French. All are there, but they've melted together into something quite distinctive."
The basis of Moroccan cooking is the earthenware dish called the tagine.
The mix of ingredients is cooked inside it at low heat.
In North Africa, the desert often acts as the oven. The tagine is simply buried, to bake in the warmth of the sand. Sadly, it's a method unlikely to work on the beaches of Southend.
The other novel item of hardware on offer is the hookah, or shisha - the water pipe that is one of the icons of Arabic countries.
Ali and Tama aren't worried about the impending no-smoking ban in restaurants. The shisha doesn't actually use tobacco.
Hot coals are placed in the bottom of the shisha.
The air current passes over a reservoir of flavoured water.
The hookah-smoker is actually puffing, not smoke, but a fragrant water vapour.
Aromas of mango, mint, strawberry and apple fill the room. "It's soothing, refreshing and companionable," Tama explains. "But unlike smoking, it's perfectly healthy."
Tama and Ali have a message to spread that goes beyond just good food.
"We are Muslim," Ali says, "and we are friendly and hospitable and welcome all races and religions. We especially welcome here many Jewish people. That is a very important message."
The Khalk family set out to be a positive force in the community from the start, but even they didn't reckon on one phenomenon.
"So many people want to learn about our cooking," Ali says. In the kitchen, Ali oversees British and Polish chefs. "They want to add a knowledge of our cooking to their repertoire," he says. "Our Polish lady, when she returns to Poland, she may open a Moroccan restaurant there."
The team also plans to throw their kitchen open once a week to local amateur cooks. "They can watch and learn - though we will not pay them," Ali quips.
Along with the use of Moroccan spices, and specialised ingredients, such as the unique baby aubergines of Morocco, the trainee chefs will have to learn one other thing about the regional style.
The food just keeps on coming.
It's a display of abundance as well as hospitality, as dish after dish arrives at the table. "Moroccan food, it doesn't stop," says Ali. "It just keeps on coming, like the sea."
2:18pm Tuesday 10th October 2006
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