Mecca Bah

Day 2 of Miss food hunter's cousin meet up, we decided on somewhere non-asian that is close to the DFO airport and Mecca Bah sprang to mind. As our guests prefer to have share-type dishes we thought this turkish/ middle-eastern joint would be highly appropriate. As it was a public holiday, the restaurant was trading very well with big family groups, couples, girly luncheons etc. etc!

We were brought to our table outdoors and immediately, the waiter poured out glasses of water while we waited standing for him to finish before pulling out the chairs to allow us to sit. Miss food hunter thought that it was strange practice and it might just be because he is extremely BUSY! In anycase, we have been to Mecca Bah a couple of times when they first opened doors and then there was a long pause before we returned yesterday. The menu looks to be the same as before but no matter, we shall choose differently. Around a year ago, we shared grilled Meze plates, falafels and turkish pizzas with Miss food hunter's very same cousin at Ah Met's. This time we decided to share tagines instead!

But first up, we had a really big bowl of Vegetarian Harira Soup. The soup was flavourful and generous with chunks of softened capsicums and the main ingredients; chickpeas and lentils. This is a big bowl of wholesomeness and it really is too big for one!

As for the spicy morrocan tagines, we had 1st the Mussels with harissa, tomatoes and preserved lemon served atop couscous. Again, the flavours were robust and we loved the mix of thick slivers of preserved lemon eaten together with the soupy tomato-ey spiced soaked couscous.

The 2nd tagine ordered was the Lamb with preserved lemon, green olives and harissa.  Initially, Mr food hunter thought the lamb looked a bit tough and dry but once he dug in all his worries melted away :-P  It was very moist and tender and mixed perfectly with the mediteranian spices in the tagine. 

From the Grills, our 2nd guest had the Chicken Kebab with Mjaddarah and Tabbouleh. She commented that she really loved the flavours of the mjaddarah (pilaf) and the chicken was OK. She is not a fan of tomatoes so the rest of us dug into her Tabbouleh and boy it was simply lemony good!

We would like to think that Mecca Bah has been consistent with the quality of food served all these years. We were pleased with our meals except for the very long long wait for our food, but we suppose tagines take time for flavour development?? Coupled with the location and overall ambience of the restaurant, it is does come up as a good choice foy any occasion or not.


Mecca Bah
19-21 1000 Ann street
The Emporium
Fortitude Valley
Opens daily 11am till late night