Marrakech Restaurant Bar

Chicken shish kebab with roast vegetables at Marrakech Restaurant in Herne Bay, Auckland. Photo / Richard Robinson

Rating out of 10
Food: 7
Service: 6
Value: 8
Ambience: 7

Verdict: The eclectic range of dishes, and an equally unusual wine list requires careful perusal, but the results are generally good, and well priced.

Address: 234 Jervois Rd, Herne Bay Ph (09) 361 3586

Our meal: $118 for five tapas, one main, one dessert, wine and beer.
Wine list: A bit like the menu, a trip around the Mediterranean.

Isn't it irritating when you thought you knew how to spell a word and then it turns out you didn't?

Marrakech is spelt just like that. I would have put money on the fact that it was Marrakesh. And I'd have lost, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

So be it. On a cold July night it was the warmth and the welcome that mattered, not the spelling.

We settled at our table and took a look at the menu. And what a strange one it is — tapas, pizza, pasta dishes, shish kebabs, paella, tajines. Something from almost every country on the Mediterranean rim, in fact, which is how it was designed. The proprietor, an Israeli of Moroccan heritage whose name we never did catch, wanted to incorporate a bit of everything and because he could, he did.

Bill ordered Moa beer and I had a glass of sauvignon blanc from the Barkan winery in Israel. An acquired taste, I feel, reminiscent of retsina, but I persevered. We must have looked like hardened drinkers because we weren't offered water, but a dish of carrot sticks arrived, and very crisp and refreshing they were too.

Bill was in the mood for tapas, mainly because that was how he could get a fix of olives. He ordered patatas bravas (cubed potatoes with spicy tomato sauce and aioli), Moroccan cigars (mince with pinenuts and walnuts in pastry, served with chili tomato sauce), albondigas (meatballs in tomato sauce) and casa lamb, strips of grilled lamb with harissa sauce. They were all fine, he said, and tasty enough — with all that sauce, how could they not be? — but pretty standard tapas fare. At $4.50 to $6.50 a dish, it's good value.

I was fascinated by the idea of a house speciality, Marrakech chicken, which promised a chicken leg stuffed with mushrooms and minced beef, served with couscous ($27). How could I resist? The obliging waitress trotted off with our orders, clearly not needing to write anything down. Which is how, eventually, I ended up with chicken shish. To her credit, she blushed and offered to correct the mistake but the shish looked fine, and I had by then reconsidered my original choice. And the shish was excellent — moist and tender chunks of chicken accompanied by a medley of garlicky roast vegetables.

We had plenty of time to choose dessert, eventually deciding on Moroccan chocolate cake and an exceedingly strong Sahara coffee. With such diversity of choice, there's something for everyone at Marrakech. Including surprises.