Of 7 Course Moroccan Meals!

Last night, Jyothi, Sankari and I decided to eat out. On Sankari's suggestion, we tried out this Moroccan place called Menara. Looks very unassuming from the outside. You enter it and whoa! It felt like I had walked into a scene from "The Arabian nights". Dim red and green lights, costumed waiters, exquisite low tables with round cushions as seats; they even had paintings of camels and deserts on the walls!

So, we tried to act dignified and not too excited and made our way to our cushions. Being a vegetarian, you have to order the Vegetarian Dinner that is an elaborate 7-course meal! We started off with amazingly soft bread and Moroccan salad. Suddenly, there was loud Middle-Eastern music and out came this exotic looking Beledi dancer. I admit, the conservative person that I am, I was a little embarrassed to be witnessing what you would conventionally call a Belly Dance, but she was just amazing! Completely lithe and graceful, it was fascinating to watch. She drew out the audience, and made everyone dance atleast for a few mins with her!She even did 2 pieces balancing a sword on her head. I then realized that maybe this was an art form with the wrong reputation. Later, on talking to Alcina (that was her name), we learnt that the name of the dance is originally Beledi that was corrupted to Belly Dance by foreign visitors/travelers to Egypt/Middle East who misinterpreted the name in their accounts and books. And what's more, by day, she works for Applied Materials! All through this, the waiter continued to serve us course after course. We finished with some excellent baklava and some sweet mint tea.

So that, my dear readers, was easily the most exotic meal I have ever had! It is similar to Indian dining in terms of eating with your hands, washing your hands before and after the meal etc. Although on the expensive side, Menara is definitely worth one visit for the experience!

So long!

PS-For everyone who has asked me how I have the time to post in this thing, that took me about 10 mins to write. And I hope other bloggers will agree, that is time well spent in documenting experiences and transferring them to family and friends! :-)