Restaurant Review: Tassili, York

Fishergate is probably not the first place you’d head if you were planning on a meal out; a detour just beyond the city walls to a somewhat unkempt street, down past Mecca bingo and the army surplus store to an unobtrusive doorway which used to lead you into to yet another average Italian restaurant. Not any more, however. For last year the long-time owner of Bella Roma decided the city had just about as many pizzerias as it could bear. Faris Boudisma closed the place down and decided it was time to go back to his North African roots. He and his French-Algerian brothers then embarked on a tour of the finest Moroccan and North African restaurants to be found on these shores and beyond. They went to Leeds, to London, to the Continent and checked out menus, decor, styles, smells. A designer friend was flown in from Algeria, along with all manner of authentic fittings from bazaars and markets across their homeland. Grandma was tapped up for a recipe or two, cooking skills were honed…and finally last year Tassili was born, rising phoenix-like from the ashes of the old pizza oven. Faris describes the place as York’s first Moroccan, North African and Mediterranean restaurant. While I can’t verify that, what I can say for sure is that this is a restaurant on the up. A new upstairs room opens this summer, doubling the size of the seating area. Further outposts are planned in Leeds and in Harrogate. This is a man with plans. He deserves to do well. Walking in off the litter-strewn street on a grey and drizzly midsummer evening is like stepping into another world. The restaurant is snug and darkly inviting, with thick curtains blocking out most of the natural light and small orange lanterns glowing on each gold-rimmed table. The smell of burning incense and the wail of Arabian-style music are the first things to greet you; the second being the beaming Faris himself, who seems to act as maitre d’, solo waiter on a fairly busy Saturday night and everything else in between. He is rightly proud of what he and his brothers have achieved in this tiny restaurant, for what it lacks in formality and finesse it more than makes it for with huge dollops of atmosphere and the warmest possible welcome. The place has the feel of an authentic North African café, with drapes and tapestries pouring off the ceiling and the walls and the beautifully ornate chairs and benches strewn with colourful tasselled cushions. There are no airs and graces – just marvellous service. A jug of tap water arrives automatically, a cheap bottle of pinot grigio quickly follows from the simple but reasonable wine list and we’re immediately working our way through the most fantastic bowl of zaalouk, a roast aubergine puree full of powerful flavours of cumin, coriander and tahini and dripping with oil as we splurge it across the toasted sesame bread. Flavour is something that Tassili does well, evidenced by the deeply fragrant chourba which follows. It can perhaps be best described as a North African minestrone soup; a once-light broth laden heavily with chick peas and vermicelli and vegetables and electrified with chillies and cloves. Sardinas en escabeche come straight from the oven, baked in a smothering of olives and onions and buried in a rich sauce of tomato, garlic and saffron, with an impressive heap of salad alongside to make for a substantial starter indeed. But whatever you do, leave room for the main course, for this is where the real magic happens in this Aladdin’s cave. Towering earthenware tagines are placed before us, Faris whipping away their conical lids like a conjuror to reveal steaming delights within. The pick of the bunch is surely the checkchouka merguez, a wonderful authentic dish containing peppers, onions, garlic and mushroom but carried off by the tiny Moroccan lamb sausages buried within, each one sumptuous like a tiny kofke kebab. I’ve certainly never seen these in England before, and Faris confirms they are made specially by a North African chef living in London who travels up to Leeds for the periodic sale. That’s not to take anything away from the terrific tagine kabadi a msharmla, a dish piled high with strips of rich lamb’s liver and served alongside pitch-perfect couscous cooked in the truly epic traditional style which apparently takes most of the day. It could certainly do with an extra vegetable or something to break up the heavy flavours of the liver but it is difficult to complain about food this warming and this rich. We finish with hot, sweet glasses of Moroccan tea, infused with mint, honey and rose petals and poured dramatically from squat silver pots by Faris in an arcing green fountain from a height of several feet. We order a tray of six sticky baklava to accompany the tea, something of a sugary overload but impossible to resist when you’ve seen them piled high on the tray nearby. My advice is to get down to Tassili before everyone hears about it. Tassili, 26 Fishergate, York. YO10 4AE. 01904 655 205. Open: Sunday to Friday, 12pm-2pm and 5pm-11:30pm; Saturday 12pm-11:30pm. Price: Four-course dinner, plus wine, tea and service, about £80.