Rocking the Casbah: Hookah Comes to Morningside

Something happened to Morningside Heights’ sleepy little restaurant scene over the summer. Casbah Rouge, 110th Street and Broadway, opened shop, replacing the old Heights mainstay Caffé Taci.

In a neighborhood where the question “where should we eat?” often leads to a subway ride, Casbah Rouge is a welcome addition. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that this Moroccan restaurant/lounge stands to shake up the Heights’ culinary landscape for good and may just earn the type of name-brand recognition among students that Pertutti still dreams about. We’re talking ‘Stend level here, we’re talking Pinnacle, we’re talking about the prospect of a new word entering the Columbia vernacular.

Now, perhaps this praise seems exorbitant, but Casbah Rouge is a restaurant and lounge that offers great food for reasonable prices; sports a swank yet unpretentious décor (e.g. what AmCaf isn’t); turns into a bar somewhere around 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights; has an in-house DJ, and offers $11 hookahs in 15 different flavors. That’s right, Morningside Heights now has its very own hookah bar, designed by the man responsible for the famed Village hot spot, Le Souk. Do you really think that the emergence of a hookah bar practically on campus will go unnoticed? No, it’s certainly no exaggeration to say that Casbah Rouge promises to make a splash among students this fall.

Inside, Rouge resembles an elaborately decorated cave. Weathered stone walls enclose a swank mahogany bar and sturdy little minimalist tables. Cast-iron lanterns hang from the sandy ceiling, swaying above diners and glowing almost garishly. Arabic music floats through the dimly lit restaurant, and lone candles light each table. The environment is dark but not quite intimate, chic but thankfully short of clubby. This is not a quiet Italian restaurant perfect for Valentine’s Day. And, with hookahs dotting the landscape and belly dancers writhing in between the tables, this might not be the place to take your great-aunt, either.

Instead of bread and butter, Rouge places a small bowl of olive tapenade and a basket of thickly sliced pita in front of its diners. The olive paste is tangy and infused with a kick of pepper sauce. When combined with the pita, the result is simple and powerful. Rouge offers a number of traditional Moroccan appetizers and salads. The Moroccan cigars, flaky pastry rolls stuffed with chicken, lamb, or vegetables, are sweet yet huskily meaty. The Salata Khadra, a watercress salad replete with cucumber, tomatoes, romaine, pickled onions, olives, feta cheese, and, of course, watercress, is light, earthy, and earnestly organic. In addition to these standout choices, Rouge offers a wide array of other traditional Moroccan appetizers and salads.

Though Rouge can prepare any number of authentic Moroccan entrees, there’s one dish that absolutely cannot be missed: the duck confit bastella. With its thick phyllo pastry crammed with delectable, moist duck meat soaked in fat and lying atop a bed of juicy spinach, the bastella is a culinary tour de force. Moreover, Rouge offers other authentic Moroccan dishes, such as meat or vegetable tagines, lamb or chicken couscous, and a wide selection of grill plates.

Because it’s so easy to turn down a dessert menu, the house floats a dessert tray right beneath your nose. While refusing a hypothetical chocolate mousse might not be difficult, refusing the one hovering inches away from your mouth is an entirely different story. But after you sink your teeth into the lush body of the chocolate apricot mousse cake, you’ll be happy Rouge didn’t give you a chance to reject it.

Rouge is moderately priced, with entrées ranging from $10 to $15. It features live music Wednesday nights and a DJ Thursdays through Saturdays. Belly dancers perform nightly.

• 2843 Broadway at 110th • (212) 932-2222 • Lunch 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Dinner 4 p.m.-midnight, Bar to 4 a.m. Mon.-Sun. • Avg. meal $25 •