Homecooked Moroccan fare in Somerville

Moroccan Hospitality lives up to its name.

Moroccan roast chicken with onions, tomatoes, and raisins

Moroccan roast chicken with onions, tomatoes, and raisins | Courtesy of Moroccan Hospitality

The Somerville restaurant offers a warm, simple setting.

The Somerville restaurant offers a warm, simple setting. | Courtesy of Moroccan Hospitality

 

585 Somerville Avenue
Somerville, MA
(617) 623-0020 

At the rightly named Moroccan Hospitality, sisters Nouzha Ghalley and Amina Ghalley McTursh make almost everything from scratch. Traditional chicken bastilla ($5.99) is served as an appetizer, but the bundling of tastes—from cinnamon, crushed almonds, and eggs to a splash of rose water—is bold. The buttery phyllo-wrapped beef “cigars” ($3.99) hold flecks of onion, orange peel, and cilantro. Tenderly fried potato cakes ($3.99) are laced with garlic; use caution spooning on the creamy hot chili paste (harissa). For entrées, try the chicken tfaya ($13.50), roast poultry on the bone topped with a sweet and spicy mélange of caramelized onions and raisins; or a range of tagines (stews, slow-cooked in clay pots). The lamb stew has green olives and honey, while potatoes, carrots, peas, artichokes, and onions pack the vegetable version ($11.99), spiked with preserved lemon. Piles of feathery couscous with golden raisins come on the side. Last year the restaurant migrated from its original storefront in Malden to Somerville. The new environs are a healthy walk from Cambridge’s Porter Square, and offer welcome refinements: orange- and crimson-colored walls, banquettes with soft pillows, white tablecloths, and candlelight.

Related topics

You might also like

How to Cook with Wild Plants

From wild greens spanakopita to rose petal panna cotta, forager and chef Ellen Zachos makes one-of-a-kind meals.

Eating for the Holidays, the Planet, and Your Heart

“Sustainable eating,” and healthy recipes you can prepare for the holidays.

Best Bars for Seasonal Drinks and Snacks in Greater Boston

Gathering spots that warm and delight us  

Most popular

To Promote Healthy Habits in Patients, Start With the Doctors

Why Harvard Medical School is training physicians to think more like coaches

How Philosophy at Harvard Saved Itself

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Explore More From Current Issue

Ancient Egyptian painted sarcophagus with detailed hieroglyphs and a woman's face.

A rare Egyptian mummy case is on display at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.

Collage of book covers featuring various titles on a vibrant orange background.

These newly released novels, histories, and memoirs grapple with identity in all its forms.

Illustration of a phone, book, hourglass, weights, and a hand reaching for a device on a blue background.

Your thoughts on how to regulate the platforms—and stop using them so much