Oasis Lounge is on our radar! We’ve been Morocco a couple of times, but I’ll be honest we never really enjoyed the authentic food we tried there and yes we even went on a food tour with a local. So, when we heard there’s a place in London that is popping and supposedly does amazing Moroccan food, we were a little apprehensive. I have to be honest. Spoiler alert: I’m pleased to report that the authentic Moroccan food at @oasisloungelondon was absolutely amazing. It blew us away and I can say quite easily this was the best Moroccan food we’ve had.
Check them out here.
Sensational
This has to be one of the best Moroccan restaurants we’ve visited! The decor, the service and the food were all sensational. The decor will take you back to Morocco. It feels like you’ve been transported. They’ve absolutely nailed it. And the service was impeccable. We were welcomed warmly and then given some great advice when ordering. And this wasn’t just for us, everyone was getting the same treatment 👏🏼
The decor
From the outside it may seem a bit inconspicuous, but once you enter you will surely witness one of the most aesthetic eateries in London! As you enter, you will initially see the drinks counter, but you gotta keep walking to find the seating. And as you do keep walking and go past the narrow alley like entrance you will be welcomed by glorious Moroccan decor. From the flooring to the seating to the wall decor. They’ve absolutely nailed it. The colours are screaming authentic and Moroccan. Very vibrant and just by looking at them you’ll feel like booking a flight out to Morocco. They even had the traditional Moroccan slippers as one of the things on display on their walls. I was very very impressed.
The service
We were greeted and welcomed at the door promptly and with a smile. Straight away we felt like we were at someone’s home. We were told to take a seat and were attended to shortly. I like how we could see this same level of service and detail was being offered to everyone and not just us because we had our cameras out. Each table was getting the same smiles, the same recommendations, the same conversations. This is sign of great service. Recommendations were made, no, amazing recommendations were made because we didn’t regret any one of them. This now brings us onto the food.
The food
We ordered mixed briouat, which included this very interesting cheese and mint one. We also got chicken Pastilla, Moroccan salad and Zalook. For the mains we opted for pil pil tajine (shrimp tajine) and Tanjia. And dessert was mint tea with honey cake and a small plate of mixed sweets. And if you know anything about Moroccan sweets and desserts, you’d know this is top tier and it was!
Starters
The briouat is like samosa or spring rolls with a variety of different fillings including meat and chicken. But the most intriguing one was the cheese and wait for it… mint one! Cheese and mint!! It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it actually was super good. It was like a nice cheesy spring roll, but with a hint of that minty zest. Ever so slight and complimented the cheese so well. The Pastilla was something we know of, but never really had the chance to try it. We did try it this and boy it’s been months since we had this and I’m still thinking about it. It’s a pastry which had a nice generous chicken filling, but the very interesting thing is the sprinkle of something sweet on the exterior of the pastry. There were strong cinnamon flavours and this sweetness was such a surprise, but such a pleasant surprise at the same time.
Mains
The salad complimented the meal well and the Zalook, which is an aubergine dip (think baba ganouj), was also a great side for a big meal. Now the mains, we’ve had tajine before of course, but the standard chicken and lemon one, and the meat and prune one. So, we wanted to try something different. We went for the pil pil tajine, which was the shrimp tajine. We loved this. Nice flavours and it didn’t have the zesty tang others tajines have. It tasted like a nice prawn curry.
The Marrakech icon: Tanjia now available in London!
Tanjia is an authentic Moroccan dish that is native to Marrakech. Slow cooked meat served with fresh bread; you can’t go wrong. Tanjia, interestingly enough, is the name of the cooking pot and the dish. I’ve done a full blog post on this (read here), but I’m so happy that you can now get it in London too! @oasisloungelondon is serving up the iconic dish, but it’s not on the menu. So, you’ll have to ask for it. Definitely worth it though especially if you love your meat.
Moroccan sweets and desserts
For dessert we got a platter of Moroccan sweets and honey cake with soft serve. The platter of Moroccan sweets was a selection of Moroccan sweets, biscuits and sweet treats. I’ve done a full post on Moroccan sweets too (read here). They were sweet, nice nutty flavours and definitely a treat with tea. Speaking of teas, the Moroccan mint tea was served alongside these sweet treats. The honey cake is their signature dessert it seems. The most popular dessert here. It was like a milk cake, but layered and heavier. And it was complimented by the soft serve excellently. I’d come back for this alone!
Getting there
Nearest station: East Finchley
Nearest mosque: Finchley Mosque
Parking: Chandos Road – no road markings – free (I assume other nearby roads may be similar?)
Google Maps link
