Casablanca Moroccan Restaurant — Restaurant in Rancho Cordova

Casablanca is now the only Moroccan restaurant in Sacramento, and without competition, quality and service have really dropped off. They used to wash your hands at the beginning of the meal (since you'll be eating with them). They don't do that any longer. The first appetizer is lentil soup. It was fine, but not as good as I remembered. My favorite part of the meal was always the b'stilla (fillo dough pastry stuffed with spiced chicken and egg). This time the one we got was practically empty. It was like they forgot the filling. And it's usually served piping hot. This time it was barely warm. Also, the baklava that you get for dessert was nasty. Fully bad, and not crispy in the least. I don't know what they did to it, but you can buy prepackaged stuff in the store that's much better. The flavor was just off. Not at all good. Also, where you used to get a hand-poured glass of lovely sweet mint tea at the end, now they just bring you a tiny shot glass of tea. Come on, guys. The tea is probably the cheapest part of the meal and you're even skimping on that? Now, to be fair, the good: we got spiced carrots, spicy beets (separately), and hummus as our appetizers. The carrots and beets were wonderful. The beets were even a bit spicy, which I really enjoyed, though people with a low spice tolerance may not enjoy so much. The hummus was good, nothing special there, but it's hummus. The entrees were good. The lamb with prunes is still my favorite, and it was still quite good, though the portion sizes seem to have diminished. Lastly, the service has definitely gone down. It was difficult to get drink refills, there were periods of 15-20+ minutes where we never saw our server, and at the end, we felt like we were held hostage waiting for the bill. We were just about to get up and track them down so we could leave when they finally brought us the check. Overall? Still a worthwhile night out. It's still a fun experience, and if you'd never had their previous fully excellent food and service, maybe you wouldn't notice how much both have declined. I just have such wonderful memories of how good it all used to be, so it's sad to see how far it's declined. Hopefully they will improve again in the future. I'm certainly not as eager to recommend it as before, and not as excited to bring a date here to...

It's my birthday and I was looking for something more than just dinner, I wanted to have an experience so I'm happy Casablanca exists because it is such a fabulous experience and was everything I wanted and more!

Their parking lot has like eight spaces so we parked a block over and walked to the restaurant. Yes, the location sucks but the food and ambiance more than makes up for it. We arrived around 7 on a Sunday and it was full except for two tables so there was a good energy in the tiny room that feels open because of the low tables and lack of chairs. It was fun sitting on a cushion and eating with my hands! Mom and I ordered the sultan's feast which started with the most delicious and flavorful lentil soup followed by hummus and a cumin spiced cold carrot dish that could become addictive. Next we enjoyed the bastilla with it's crunchy fillo pastry and powdered sugar cinnamon beefiness. Then came the lamb tagine which is like a stew and was seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten, so perfectly spiced and well rounded in flavors. Honey chicken and veggies couscous ended the entrees followed by two small pieces of baklava a hot tea to finish.

The food was absolutely amazing but what made the night more memorable were the people. Maurit, the owner sets the tone and everyone was having fun in a relaxed, casual environment because we had three birthdays so he puts on a birthday song while they bring out a free dessert and everyone claps and cheers. The music stayed on so the kids started dancing which led to Maurit switching the song to Billy Jean by Michael Jackson and almost everyone got up to dance it was so much fun! Afterwards we felt more open and neighboring tables started talking freely to each other it was more community like and less restaurant like. We stayed for over two hours and it will be one of the more memorable dining experiences I've had and I'm so looking forward to returning even though I know tonight probably won't happen again. So thankful for this...

Last night we went here for the first time and had a great experience!! Amazing hospitality and the food was excellent. We never had Morrocan food before and had no clue what we were doing... but the owner and his staff made our experience very enjoyable. Loved how they bring a pot to the table to wash your hands first and then each course was a new tasty experience. I absolutely loved the Bestilla and the "Honey Sauce & Almond" Chicken... the "Harira Classique" lentyl soup and other chicken kabob dishes. Even the "Kefta" spicy meatballs was delicious. Ending our meal with Moroccan Pastries and the fresh sweet mint tea was so good... plus the coffee brewed with orange blossom, cinnamon and other flavors was also outstanding. At the very end they come back to your table to sprinkle watered oil on your hands to refresh and the scent (not sure if jasmine or maybe lavender) but it was amazing! The atmosphere made you feel like your in a Sultans tent and the belly dancer performance was beautiful and fun. Our party of five had a fabulous time! We will definitely be back again. I cant get over how friendly, pleasant, & generous the owner is... plus he is very knowledgeable on his culture. He even sat with us for a bit to chit chat at our table. I do recommend making reservations because it does get packed and also another tip is that you can bring your own booze, wine, etc because they dont serve it and they allow you to bring it in.

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