R E S TA U R A N T
FOOD
Al Farid ANNA BRITTEN calls in on Exeter Cathedral’s popular, independent Moroccan neighbour Photo s by M AT T ROU N D
R
eza Habibi has been a chef for half his life and the owner of Al Farid for seven years. He oversees the menu and the kitchen, trains staff and waits tables – and has an air of unshakeable inner confidence. And why wouldn’t he? You know you’re doing something right when you thrive for that long as a non-chain in Exeter’s scenic heart, and garner almost universal praise from customers on review sites. Oh, and have that cream Maserati parked outside. . . When it comes to eating out, Al Farid is an Exeter institution up there with the best. With a striking 17th century building as its home, and Exeter Cathedral as its neighbour, it is the stuff of postcards, both inside and out – albeit postcards from very different countries. The interior (and its piped Arabic pop) transports you to a cosy Marrakesh hideaway. OK, maybe there’s a touch of the just-back-from-a-gap-year about it, with all the lanterns, shisha pipes, spangly textiles, and sundry souk wares – but so what? There are a dozen places around here you can find minimalist European chic, if that’s what you seek. Al Farid’s vibe on a weekday lunchtime is impressive: a warm buzz pervades the place, with most of the upstairs tables taken up by a wide range of clientele (you can eat downstairs too, on low settees, if you want to really feel you’re in a riad) from women sharing confidences over tagine and several glasses of house white, to retired couples between city errands, to office workers indulging in a payday treat. The menu here comprises dishes drawn from North Africa, the Middle East and the Silk Route – as in Morocco itself; it’s near-impossible to fully disentangle the different countries’ cuisines – assembled with, Reza tells us sternly, the finest local ingredients.
BY THE END, WE ARE
HOMESICK
FOR SOMEONE ELSE’S
HOMELAND
Hoping, greedily, to sample as much of it all as possible, we order a selection of mezze, which arrive oh-so-prettily presented in little terracotta dishes. We plunge soldiers of Al Farid’s own, home-made pitta immediately into the glistening baba ganoush, which is glorious – perfectly loose and slippery, humming with garlic and as smoky as hell, like the ashes of an aubergine bonfire. Teen – that’s ‘figs’ in Lebanese, not fillet of adolescent – turns out to be crispy, golden parcels of fig and goats’ cheese, sitting pert on a bed of leaves with a hint of honey, and they disappear in nanoseconds. Originating from Turkey where they’re a family favourite, the Izmir kefta are cinnamon-spiced lamb meatballs slow-baked in a sweetish, tomato and coriander sauce, until they collapse juicily in your mouth. Al Farid’s tabbouleh is the real deal, a rebuttal of the carb-y Western incarnation in that it’s more a light herb salad than it is a pile of bulgar wheat. Masses of finely chopped fresh mint and parsley, flavoured with tomatoes, and lemon, almost relegate the grain to an afterthought. Another dish significantly different to its M&S counterpart is the falafel. Normally, we’re not fans of these inexplicably popular blobs of what often tastes of nowt so much as wet cardboard – but these are some of the best we’ve ever eaten. Crunchy outside, textured inside, with a distinct nutty flavour, and spiced with coriander and cumin with a drizzle of tahini and yoghurt sauce. My favourite dish of all, Batata harrah, sees fried new potatoes in a silky, rich sauce of sweet peppers, paprika, garlic, onions, coriander and harissa. With two mezze for £6.95 at lunchtime, this place offers not just bang for your buck but something less tangible – something homely, even. By the end of our baklava and a dish of Mahalabia – vivid yellow rice pudding made with saffron and rosewater and topped with cinnamon and chocolate sprinkles straight out of childhood – we are not just homesick for someone else’s homeland, but for some one else’s mother. It’s all dangerously dreamy – luckily a stiff Moroccan coffee, thick enough to pave a driveway with, jolts us back to reality and drizzly, grey England.
DINING DETAILS Al Farid, 3 Cathedral Yard, City Centre, Exeter EX1 1HJ; 01392 494444; alfaridrestaurant.co.uk Opening hours 12noon–12midnight Prices Starters from £5.95, mains from £11.95, mezze £4.95 each, desserts £4.50 Vegetarian choice Superb Disabled access OK if you’re on the ground floor Drinks As well as a good selection of wine and beers, some fab-sounding cocktails Service/atmosphere Hospitable, homely, relaxed
www.mediaclash.co.uk I EXETER LIVING I 47