Spotlight
Dish Cult Dines: Seasonality
06 Dec 2024
06 Dec 2024
Traditional Moroccan dining in Dublin
Moroccan cuisine has a long-standing history based in traditional meals from North Africa and Spain. With dishes full of spice, rich flavour, and plenty of vegetables it’s some of the most underrated food around. With Mexican, Chinese, and Indian food taking Dublin by storm, the availability of Moroccan food may have slipped under the radar. However, Dada and their team of expert chefs deliver wonderful meals in a traditionally styled Moroccan eatery.
A serene setting
What makes Dada so special is that you’re immersed in a Moroccan designed restaurant. Upon entering the red plastered room, the ambient sounds of mellow guitars and the warm lights bounce off the golden chairs, creating this homely hue across the restaurant. It’s so easy to melt away and forget you’re in central Dublin, and feel like you’ve been whisked off to a busy street in Marrakech.
Experience creates excellence
Dada’s menu is shaped by the experience in their kitchen. Head chef Jalal Belmaati has brought his team from Moroccan restaurants to Casablanca’s five-star hotels, all the way to the exclusive Herbert Park Hotel in Dublin prior to their move to Dada. The years spent perfecting Moroccan dishes shine through in the South William Street restaurant, with well-crafted staple plates that are almost unique in Dublin City.
Dada features a well-rounded lunch menu on Saturdays from 1pm and Sundays from 2pm. You can grab a two-course meal for a brilliant price of €13.90, ideal for a one-of-a-kind lunch date. Forget the traditional Irish sausage bap, try Dada’s Merguez sausage sandwich served in homemade bread alongside their signature potatoes, dusted with North African spices. If you’re in for a vegan lunch, they feature a seven-vegetable tagine and beautiful roasted cauliflower in Red Chermoula Ras Elhanout and harissa.
Before diving into Dada’s delicious dinner menu, it’s worth having a look at the early bird menu, which comes it with a brilliant price. Two courses from the dinner menu go for €22.90. If you’re in for the full early bird experience, three dinner menu courses are available for a brilliant price at €25 – it won’t disappoint! The early bird runs from 5pm – 6.30pm all week.
Dada’s staff expertise shines through in the dinner menu, with extensive options that will have you in spice heaven. We’d recommend starting out with the Pan Sautéed King Prawns served alongside red peppers and a garlic and cumin chermoula marinade for €11.95. If you’re out with friends, the share platter of mezze style appetisers go for €9.90 per person.
Moving on to the mains, Dada has a range of vegetable and meat-based tagines, cooked slowly in a clay pot. The star of the show has to be the Lamb Tagine at €21.95. Tender, slow-cooked meat with marinated roasted carrots, peas and Ras Elhanout is simply mouthwatering. For the ultimate sharing main, Dada offer a mixed grill platter, featuring the ever-popular kofta, chicken skewer, merguez sausages and wings served with saffron rice and harissa, for €26.95 – it’s a steal.
What’s more, Dada offers an extensive wine list to pair with your dish. We’d recommend a bottle of Fincas Las Moras Malbec, which compliments a lamb tagine brilliantly. If you’ve got a bottle of wine in mind, Dada also offer a €4 corkage fee.
Round off your meal with a brilliant dessert. Choose from a selection of ice creams to cool off that harissa, or if you’re feeling daring, Dada serve a stellar Baklava, served with almonds, cardamom and honey for €6.50.
