Marrakesh Mediterranean Cuisine, Jacksonville, North Carolina

Warning: this review involves a completely vegetarian meal.

After my lunches at H&L’s, Martelle’s Feed House, and Old Colony Barbecue, I waddled down to Jacksonville to spend the evening and rise with the roosters for an early start at Sid’s Catering and Oakwood BBQ. I settled in to a dated Fairfield Inn and thought about where to get supper.

Jacksonville is adjacent to Camp Lejeune, the huge eastern US Marine Corps base, the counterpart to Camp Pendleton on the west coast. I looked over the restaurant options and naturally saw a lot of highly rated international options, especially Southeast Asian and Filipino. I didn’t want to do a lot of driving on a Friday evening, and it turned out that the top-rated place was Marrakesh Mediterranean Cuisine just a hop, skip, and jump away.

Marrakesh is tucked into a strip mall. Inside, it’s a very pleasant place, nicely decorated. I ordered a local IPA, and looked over the menu. I immediately locked onto the tabouleh salad,

as I’d really enjoyed my baba ghanouj at Open Sesame in Des Moines, so I ordered some.

To round out the meal, I ordered their fouel, fava beans mixed with freshly crushed garlic, jalapeño peppers, lemon juice, and olive oil.

It was all very good. I dearly love the parsley freshness of tabouleh, and baba ghanouj may be the highest and best use of eggplant. It has both texture and smoothness, as well as a sensuous flavor. No, not that kind of sensuous. And the fouel was a great counterpoint to the others, with the meatiness of the beans tamed by garlic and jalapeños, two of my favorite food groups, brightened by the lemon and muted by the olive oil. Very good.

Marrakesh was a good choice. Delicious food and a nice change of pace. If you’re in Jacksonville, hurry over.

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