Maison Touareg

Not bad, but not a restaurant a would recommend. I liked the food, but only in London I could find ten much better restaurants of this type of food. The toilets were a bit dirty, and the service wasn’t excellent. The food was ok, but they need to improve this too. I don’t think I would return.

This is one of the great restaurants in Soho. Perfectly located for a quick bite before going to the theatre or out to the clubs.
The food is authentic and tasty. We had the kibbeh pumpkin, chicken shawarma and lamb tagine on our visit. While the shawarma seems a little dry it was flavorful and the lamb was drop off the bone tender. My husband who is Lebanese loved the kibbeh, saying that it tasted just like the traditional homemade recipes of his youth.
The only problem I have with this restaurant is the hookah bar downstairs often has the door left open (it’s where the toilets are located) so you often get the smell of tobacco while eating, something I do not find appetizing.

The shisha was terrible and overpriced, i do not recommend! Cheap self starting charcoal that ruins the taste, pvc hoses and burnt tobacco. We did not try the food wich might be nice. The shisha was not though

The staff was very friendly and attentive, the reason for the low rating? The food… We tried classics, shawarma and tawook, both were served marginally warm looking like they had sat in back for some time. They was no sign of belly dancing? Perhaps downstairs in the hookah? Nope, not there either. Other all a disappointing experience.

Some of the food were. good some weren’t good at all.
Honestly I didn’t like the attitude of some of the staff.
In general the vibe was good
Belly dancing was fine
The décor was ok
They had this electric shisha for inside which was almost a jole.
However I need to mention that we were a group more than 10 celebrating my friends birthday and the staff were very considerate and helpful.
If I wanna give them a score between 0 – 100 it woupd be 65 in total.

Staff was not professional, they made us wait at the door instead of greeting us.
The couscous was dry and tasteless.
The menu was ‘cheap’, made of plastic and a bit dirty (greasy).
Table was too small even for 2, we couldn’t fit the dishes and the glasses properly.
None of the staff was moroccan and they were playing Algerian music (since they don’t know the difference).

This place turned my dislike of lamb upside down.
Although the red Moroccan deco and a view of a belly dance were the main motives to visit this place — in the end what I fell in love with was their Lamb Tagine.. And trust me — I am not a fan of lamb in general. Soft, tender, aromatic, served in a delicious gravy with black olives — was just mouth watering.
It came as a disappointment that the expected belly dance did not actually take place but the music played in the background still did the trick and took you to an aromatic, exotic place (in your imagination).
The dinner ended with delicious and refreshing mint tea.

The overall experience I would rate for ambience and food was 3 – 3.5÷5. The ambience was nice as it looked Moroccan with the dimmed light, lampshades, and red with gold colored walls and décor.
Firstly in came in with a groupon voucher which I bought for £25 for 2 people. At the end of our meal we still had to pay the 2.5% gratuity fee (about £6.90). With the groupon voucher we each got:
1. A starter or dessert
2. A main
3. A drink (white, red, rose wine or a virgin cocktail)
We opted for the starter. I got a tebbuleh which was very oily. My friend got a meat pastry which he said was verrrry good.
For the mains we got chicken skewers which were overly salty and lamb tagine which had a little more fat than expected. The cous cous was great as was the tagine stew. The fruit in the plate complimented the food perfectly.
The servers were very nice but were very slow to do mostly anything. Took them ages to bring out our drinks (which they forgot about in the start and to which we had to ask about after our mains arrived). We opted for a lemonade Virgin cocktail. They charged us twice for the drinks in the end which wasn’t great but the server was amazing to fix it right away.
With the groupon this was a great deal! Personally I found the food to be too expensive without the groupon as it would have been around £62. Even for london prices that’s too expensive for an average meal. I would come back again if the groupon deal was to ever be available again.

Very good food, great location and a definite try with the right company.
We were let down by a cancelled booking at another restaurant, looking last minute for a place for 12 to eat right in the centre of soho seemed a fairly tough task, thankfully a friend came across this place and they could accommodate us downstairs.
Given the location the downstairs is surprisingly isolated, done up like a fairly typical middle eastern restaurant, you know the type, red valour, dim lighting and a tables so low you feel like your eating off the floor?.
We opted for the set 2 course menu and were presented with a mountain of food only to be told that this was just the starter… as with most sharing meals I have no idea what I ate but it all went down a treat.
What stops this place getting a 5… The cost, 2 menu meal on a Friday night for 22.50 wasn’t the killer (in fact it’s pretty Damn good), what stung was the overall price tag, 40 a head, considering only a couple of glasses of wine between the table and 2 or 3 bottles of beer a piece.
That been said, great evening, lovely social restaurant and with good company it’s a winner.

I recently ate at Maison Touareg and found it to be wonderful! I ordered the Feast, and for 30 pounds (~$ 45) it was by no means cheap, but the amount of food wasn’t paltry either. You get 2 appetizers, an entrée, and some dessert baklava and mint tea.
For appetizers I selected the hummus and the pastilla. The hummus was literally one of the best hummuses I’ve ever had! It was perfectly seasoned and oiled. The pastilla was the only item not up to par. Pastilla (or bastilla) is a filo dough cake filled with shredded chicken and seasoned with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Before you scoff at the thought of chicken with cinnamon and sugar, trust me, it is really is a very good flavor combination. Anyway, while tasting great, the chicken in the pastilla was not shredded enough and the big chucks of breast meat caused it to be very dry. I’ve had better pastilla in NJ.
For an entrée I had the Lamb Tagine, which came in a clay bowl marinated in a sauce with cooked prunes and apricots. Very tasty and tender meat.
The entrée also came with a bowl of couscous which I only took a cursory spoonful of because I was already stuffed.
For dessert I actually took it back to NJ with me because I was too stuffed to eat it. The mint tea though was absolutely amazing!!!
Refuting some of the earlier comments on this establishment, I found the waiting staff to be better than most other places I experienced in England. Unlike other places, they seemed really attentive to our table. (No, they weren’t staring us down the whole time.) Unlike other places, they didn’t walk past our table of empty plates 4 – 5 times before finally taking our plates.
So, while not the cheapest place to eat, the portions are substantial, the food is exquisite, and the waiting staff is alert and helpful.
Great experience!

Looking for a late lunch in Soho, it’s pretty amazing how many places close around three o’clock — you would think that a city like London would be open throughout the day, but when all of our preferred lunch spots had shut their doors at this time we were forced towards Maison Touareg.
Maison Touareg is a Lebanese/​Morrocan restaurant. It looks a little touristy from the outside, and on this occasion was almost completely dead on the inside — not the most appealing start! The décor is pleasing though, in a rich, warm Arabic way. The lanterns were particularly gorgeous, I want some for my house even though they would look ridiculous in my living room!
The menu is varied with larger dishes and tapas-​style sharing dishes. We went for the later as we were planning on eating out again in the evening. The food was tasty although nothing spectacular — the favourites being the spicy sausages and the lamb kafta, both of which had a good kick to them. The portion are fairly small though, and it’s likely you will leave having spent a fair amount and still feeling a little hungry — never a good way to part from a restaurant.
The Lebanese wine we tried was reasonable, although again expensive. The waitress, once we discovered she was Spanish and tried out our language skills on her, was friendly and helpful.
It was by no means a bad experience here, but I probably won’t rush back, I’ll just have to make sure I’m ready for my lunch a little earlier so I can make it to the tapas bar around the corner!

It was after 1am and we were wandering the streets for more drinks and nibbles when we stumbled (literally) upon this place.
The décor is very intimate and in a Middle Eastern style. We were seated immediately and ordered a few drinks. I had never had Efes beer before, and it was very nice, it has a hint of honey in it.
We ordered hummos, baba ghanoush, calamari, falafel, and a chicken pastry dish. All the dishes tasted very fresh and were seasoned very well. The falafels were the best I have tried since moving to London and I would defo go back just to eat them. The staff were attentive and the service was quick. The only thing that would have improved the meal was if they dished out a few more pitas with the hummos.
It was under £20 per person including tip which is a great price for the amount of food and drink we had.

beautiful décor inside! nice food! bit too expensive! i know its soho but you can vget a good, filling meal for half the price in alot of the restaurants I’ve been to in soho… you shouldn’t use location as an excuse… just quality…

We ate lunch here on our holiday in London. The food was good. We had tagine plates. We snacked on the olives, sausages and hummus before the meal. Everything was quite good. The décor is appropriate and I would definitely return. The service was fine but there really weren’t many people in the restaurant at the time.

It’s such a shame about this place, it’s all mouth and no trousers. Or all décor and not enough food!
Yes the food is tasty.
Yes the staff a delightful.
Yes the décor looks authentic.
BUT
No the portions are not large enough.
No it is not value for money.
No I didn’t leave feeling full.
I would have given Maison Touareg only two stars if it wasn’t for the organic Beldi black soap in the bathroom! Sounds scary and it looked pretty scary too, but I love anything unusual and I was right in there (before I even looked at the sign!)
The sign above the bowl spoke of how the soap is used as part of the traditional hammam ritual. ‘It is the first treatment in oriental public bath. With a texture of butter, this natural vegetable paste based with black olives and is rich in vitamin E.’ If you want to read more, I have uploaded a photo of the literature, and a photo of the soap itself. Don’t be afraid to try it because it’s well worth it — my hand were left feeling the ladies in the Fairy advert! I might just have to hunt it down and put some in my bathroom!

We visited the restaurant on the weekend of London Pride so expected the restaurant to be busy, but we did not expect the service and food to be so terrible. Probably one of the worst restaurants we’ve been to in Soho.
The service was lousy. We were advised not to order one of the dished because it took too long to make, so we opted for chicken and mixed grills. Although the menu stated that they came with rice or cous cous, we had to ask the waitress to give us that choice and then she did so with attitude. She kept wandering off as we were ordering.
The chicken wing starter looked like it had been microwaved and was pale and pasty. The dipping sauce looked good, but tasted like brown sauce without any flavour.
The main dishes were dry, bland and tasteless. The rice was so overcooked that it had become crunchy in some parts and the salad had shriveled in the heat — surprising as the restaurant was soo busy.
The Long Island Iced tea pitcher had virtually no alcohol in it.
We complained at the end of the meal to the head waitress, who explained that our waitress was having a bad day. She offered a complimentary glass of champagne to consider coming back to the restaurant again in the future.
We were really looking forward to our meal at Maison Touareg as we all love Moroccan food, however we were very disappointed. I’d like to give 0 starts, but 1 star is the lowest i can rate this restaurant.

I loved Maison Tourag. We sat outside on the patio so we could smoke sheesha, which was delicious, and our lovely waiter gave us extra coals so we could smoke as long as we wanted. Food is nice, except the hummus was bland, as if there was no salt in it, but whatever. The inside décor and music is lovely, and every Saturday they have disco in the basement, and I think there are belly dancers and snake charmers.
I wanted to book my birthday party here, I loved it so much, especially since they have alcoholic sheesha, which apparently gets you all tipsy-​ed up. According to the waiter, the most expensive sheesha on the menu makes you «forget your family, friends, everything». I don’t think I will be trying that one, but sounds like it could result in quite a good night out if that is the sort of thing you are looking for.
However, I made a reservation for 15 people, for my birthday, and four days after I made it (and had told all my friends about it) they called and said as it was a big group, we would all have to pay a «Group» payment for a set menu. I wouldn’t have minded if it meant we were getting a deal, but it raised the price of dinner considerably. It would have been almost 27 pounds per person, which is quite expensive, given that we could have paid 12 pounds each. Anyway, I cancelled and booked at a very similar restaurant down the street. But, I would definitely return here for sheesha and dinner!

J’aime bien! Ce restaurant marocain est situé en plein coeur de Soho. La décoration à l’orientale est assez classe. Il y fait sombre, mais on s’y sent très très bien. Les serveuses sont adorables, on a même discuté avec Cheryl, une Marseillaise qui étudie à Oxford.
Même si on n’a pris qu’un dessert («Taste of Morocco», une crêpe aux amandes grillées et à l’eau de rose) on s’en est délecté! Le thé à la menthe est délicieux également, pas trop sucré. J’y reviendrai ce week-​end pour fumer la chicha (£15) au sous-​sol, joliment accommodé (banquettes-​lits, coussins, rideaux).

Pop Quiz:
At Maison Touaregue you’ll find…
a. Really delicious food
b. Really reasonable prices
c. Really great location
d. Really strange staff that stares you down with eyes of death if you don’t order a main course.
e. All of the above, really.
Answer = E
Sure, it’s romantic, but just know that ALL of the above will be included. Including being awkwardly started at throughout your order of drinks and four starters.
… They will continue to stare until you’ve left. I didn’t mind — I was so utterly involved in my delicious love affair with my cocktail and hummus that I barely noticed. Hey, they say some people are into that, right? Count me in, apparently!

I went there a few weeks back as a return customer, bringing a few more friends, and loved it all over again!
The décor, the food, the belly dancing… But mostly the food.
Couscous is a classic and very good!
I’d recommend both for groups of friends and for couples.
They have a special space downstairs where you can have mezze and possibly (not sure about this) smoke the shisha. Lovely!
Update (10-​june-​2010): Went again using the TasteLondon card. Meal portions looked ridiculously small on the plates, one of 4 dishes was completely forgotten (our friend ate after we did) and generally service, although very amicable, was slow. Very disappointed this time.

Before the smoking ban killed every ones’ fun Maison Touaregue was a shishah bar. Now it is a Moroccan/​Lebanese bar and restaurant. It is split across two quite small floors. On the first floor is a restaurant and downstairs there is a bar (though you can eat there too).
The first floor restaurant is well done, and has an authentic North African feel about it. The downstairs has low slung seats and tables with a tiny dance floor in front of the bar. I go downstairs for a fairly restrained night. The bar is a little expensive but has a wide range of beers, wine and cocktails.
The fun of the place is that it’s open pretty late, and though fairly a relaxed place later on they start playing music and people dance, and request songs. Like getting drunk round a friends house if they lived in a riad.