Cafe Mogador- East Village (New York City, USA)

One of the many perks of living in Philadelphia is its proximity to other major cities. So on one rainy Philadelphia morning the Count and I decided to drive to New York to visit friends, eat and drink (but mostly eat).

So with ‘New York State of Mind’ blasting the speakers of the car we rode through the Lincoln tunnel and arrived in beautiful New York. Traffic greeted us on the other side of the tunnel along with cars honking and heads sticking out of the car yelling at the car ahead. Oh New York. I love that organized chaos that can only be offered in big cities like New York.

Upon arrival, the Count was adamant on taking me to his favorite restaurant, which he used to frequent weekly while living in New York many years ago: Cafe Mogador. I liked the name it sounded like something from a Medieval novel or Harry Potter. Expecting medieval treats we walked in walked in to a quaint restaurant when the Count informed me that Mogador served staple Moroccan dishes. Okay, so I wasn’t going to try medieval food but Moroccan sure sounded good too.

The restaurant had both indoor and outdoor seating and was full of hungry patrons at 2pm on a Saturday. Some were having brunch with your staple eggs and sausage and others were having skewers of meat and rice. The Count came with high hopes of having their famous hanger steak only to find out that they no longer offered it on the menu. He was so disappointed. He even signed a petition to bring it back (he is serious about his steak). So he settled for the goat cheese salad while I had the mixed grill plate.

The mixed grill came with a skewer of chicken, merguez sausage and lamb served over basmati rice, a skewer of vegetables and a side of yogurt dip. It was also served with a side of salad. It was one of the most delicious meals I have had in New York to date. There was so much flavor in the meats and everything was tender and juicy. Perfect proportion of food, although I am sure I could have had more if the plate was any larger.

The Count enjoys anything with goat cheese so not surprisingly he enjoyed his grilled goat cheese salad. He was still sad that he came all the way from Philadelphia to have his hanger steak only to find out it was no longer on the menu. Maybe next time we go, they will have brought it back?

Although, we only had two dishes I could tell from what everyone around me had ordered that everything on the menu would be tasty. The brunch looked fantastic- although if I had to choose between eggs Benedict and my grilled dish I would pick mine all over again.