Algeria - Casbah-Palmeraie, NW3

Restaurant: Casbah-Palmeraie

Location: 42 Hampstead High Street, Hampstead, NW3 1QE

Date of visit: 27 February 2010

Time of visit: 8:30pm

Steve and Elle ate: Cous cous merguez (Steve) and assorted brochettes (chicken, merguez and lamb - Elle)

After such a long gap between the first and second restaurant visits (the Afghan restaurant was visited in October and the Albanian earlier in the month), we found ourselves tackling our third country within a few weeks. Given our experience of having to return to the Albanian restaurant two weeks in a row after not calling ahead, we exercised the new rule of absolutely calling ahead before committing to traveling to a restaurant! We have been lucky so far in that all three restaurants to date have been fairly local to us. Casbah-Palmeraie, our next restaurant on the list, is just off Hampstead tube station on the Northern line, on which we live.

Immediately outside the restaurant we were greeted with authenticity, with the centre-piece being a large wooden door with a handwritten Arabic sign on it (which probably just said "Push To Open", but it worked for me), large, long windows (showing a bustling, cosy scene indoors) illuminated by small LED lights.

As I pushed the door open (which felt like it was about to fall from its hinges) we were enveloped by sound, smell and atmosphere of something that definitely wasn't London. We were transformed into a bustling but comfortable and inviting North African assembly of diners. We were welcomed by a waiter and shown to a nearby table which, alongside the comfortable traditional seating, was very close to the floor. I wasn't too sure I'd be able to stay in that position for too long (there was an option of more conventional, higher seating) but as the evening wore on it wasn't an issue.

The authentic atmosphere was made even more so with the contrast in temperature between the warm and cosy interior and the icy February night outside. The wafting of incense also helped.

We were presented with hardbound (wood-bound?) menus with a detailed list of all the available options, including details of which ingredients made up each item, and from where in the Maghreb region the dishes came. The Casbah-Palmeraie is not exclusively an Algerian restaurant, but deals with dishes from all five of the Maghreb countries, so Elle and I made an effort to choose dishes that originated in Algeria.

We chose not to have a starter or side dish, although we were presented with some warm bread shortly after arrival. I opted for the Algerian dish of cous cous merguez, and Elle picked the assorted brochettes which was made up of merguez, alongside pieces of grilled chicken and lamb.

The food was presented very well, and came hot and in good portions. The merquez (basically spicy lamb sausage) had a great spice to it, but not too much of a kick. The cous cous was lush and plentiful, and garnished with traditional ingredients. The chicken and lamb were cooked to perfection, and certainly not too fatty.

Bu the time the food came, the lower seating arrangement was actually really quite comfortable, and it was difficult to imagine how we could be more relaxed. And with the attentive and rapid service, there really wasn't much to be said against the overall experience at this restaurant.

As tempting as it would be to come back to the same place when we get to Morocco, Tunisia etc, we highly recommend this gem situation in one of London's finer areas.