It was been a while since I last visited the Michelin recommended Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant. And this day was a good day to visit, considering that it coincided with their latest Vancouver Magazine win during the 2026 Restaurant Awards, where they won for Best African and Diaspora Restaurants in Vancouver. Although the owner would later joke that the category is his with this recent string of wins, plus the ironic fact that traditional Moroccan cuisine doesn’t quite fit into the category.
We came as a group of three, and truth be told their food is best enjoye family style, allowing you to try as much as possible from their extensive menu. Our meal started off with Black olives from Morocco, Olive oil, and Harrisa hot sauce.
Moltaqa is well known for their table side flambés, but admittedly this would be my first time experiencing it. It was a little hard to get the full visual at our sunlight saturated window side table. However there was still enough blue flame showing that we were in awe. Free-range flambé halal duck with a glossy cherry reduction. Served on a wooden board with sides, this eats as a meal for one. The duck breast is also sliced at the table for easier eating, and in our case sharing. I liked the concept and the show, it played well with their live music and belly dancing on select nights. All of which offered a little bit of pageantry to get the appetite going. As for the way the duck tasted, the meat was tough and the flavour sweet. The benefit of the live fire was all in what little duck skin there was, offering a crispiness to each bite.
Another sweet meat dish was the Chicken and apricot. This is not available on their regular menu, but as part of a set dinner, so to be able to try it on its own like this was a treat. Given the sweet caramelized citrus I got, it reminded me of chicken l’orange. The chunks of stewed apricot were jammy like a preserve and the cinnamon spice lingered, this had me thinking of baked pie. Truly a dish unique to them.
The Shakshouka is part of their brunch offering. It is a saucy tomato dish with veal sausage and feta. We liked it for the thick red sauce and runny egg yolk, just as much as the sausage. This we enjoyed with fresh baked bread to help mop up all the excess sauce.
For me the Moroccan bread was the most memorable and it had me eating more than I thought I could, to be able to dip and drag it through all the sauces and spreads above and below.
You can also get a couple of their chicken sausages and two eggs with Moroccan bread as is, like you would with a breakfast platter.
The Chilled Eggplant Dip is charred eggplant whipped with lemon, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil, served cool with warm bread.
The Moroccan Hummus is one of their signature dishes. Silky house-made hummus from dried chickpeas, tahini, preserved lemon, and Moroccan spices. This is finished with extra virgin olive oil and is served with warm Moroccan semolina bread.
The Zalouk Eggplant is roasted, peppery eggplant and tomatoes. Described as a stew and eats like a dip, served warm in a shallow dish.
Looking for something fresh? The Beet & Orange Salad left out of place but is a great break from all the heavier stews. It is madewith roasted beets and sweet orange segments coated in a spiced citrus vinaigrette. Equal parts colourful and refreshing, we added on the feta for some additional character.
The Vegetable Pastilla reminded me of a square spring roll, especially with its filling of vermicelli, seasonal vegetables, and spices. Wrapped in a thin pancake, this was light and crispy. It tasted like a zesty dry stew, I could have used a dip to inject another flavour mid way through.
Another one of their more popular dishes is the Veal Shank With Green Beans Tagine. Served in the traditional Marrakech-style tagine pot, with the lid removed table side for a bit of a reveal. This is slow -braised boneless veal shank pieces mingled with green olives, green beans, garlic, and cumin. I found myself in search of a starch to help balance out all the additional saltiness from the briney olives. This did distract from the would-be juiciness of the savoury veal meat.
And as full as we were we couldn’t leave without trying a couple of their, just as unique, desserts. For the chocolate lovers this slice or cake had three layers, each with its own distinct chocolate type, all sitting on a crust of crumbled up cookie.
The “Jewelry” was named after its elegant and eye catching appearance. This was a tiers of crisp pastry sandwiching whipped and custard cream. Drizzled over with a caramel sauce, it reminded me of Très leche with a satisfying deep crunch.
During our visit we also got to speak to owner Nemo who gave us something to look forward to in terms of what they are doing to usher FIFA to Vancouver. They have already installed a few television sets, in order to broadcast the matches, but Nemo admits that they won’t be staying up long after. They will also be installing a projector to make available another watching vantage point.
In short, this was an adventure of a meal, with dishes that you don’t often seen elsewhere. This is truly an experience in dining.
Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant Mainland Street Yaletown
1002 Mainland St, Vancouver, BC V6B 6J8
(604) 841-1182
moltagarestaurant.ca
