Tagine

Gain entrance to Tagine through heavy wooden doors, & sit at low tables behind iron-fretwork window grilles. It seems a little far-fetched to have a patch of Morocco in sunny Balham, but the laid-back crew here appears determined to make the most of it. There’s more to the menu than the eponymous tagines, good though these stews may be. As an alternative, start with chicken pastilla, perhaps, or a mezze of hoummos, mechouia (a grilled-pepper salad) & merguez, before following with couscous & grills. The dishes are all generously proportioned & graciously served, at amenable prices. To drink, there are some wonderfully exotic non-alcoholic cocktails & copious amounts of mint tea, but also a decent beer & wine list. A new basement lounge has recently opened downstairs.