Entering through the oversized wooden door of Kasbah on Arbuthnot Road, you will find yourself in a large, opening dining room that is certainly atmospherically North African, but never kitschy. Two long tables dominate the middle of the restaurant, encouraging a more communal experience. For those craving privacy (and who wouldn’t? With low lighting and charming art painted directly onto the walls, Kasbah is a fabulous date spot), there are also more private tables located at the front and right side of the restaurant, along with comfy sofas.

Kasbah features food typical of the Maghreb, including tagines, couscous and savoury pastries. For newcomers to the cuisine, the “Festive Journey through North Africa” tasting menu (HK$800 for two) is perfect. It offers four appetisers, two main courses, a shared dessert plus cocktails and mint tea. Of the four appetisers, there are two dips. A silky smooth but bland hummus and an absolutely delicious zaalook, made with eggplants and tomatoes. The two hot appetisers are a pigeon b’estilla and lamb boureck. The b’estilla is a not-quite-flaky-enough pie-shaped pastry containing morsels of pigeon, whose flavours are obscured by the heavy-handed sprinkling of cinnamon powder on top. The deep-fried boureck’s shape is akin to an Indian samosa and is more successful, containing chunks of flavourful lamb. For mains, we choose a lamb shank with couscous and a chicken tagine. We enjoy the lamb shank with its crispy exterior and thin layer of fat separating the tender meat, but not nearly as much as we enjoyed the juicy, succulent and smoky merguez sausage that accompanied it. The chicken tagine is served with artichokes, an unexpected and pleasant surprise, as well as lemon confit. On the whole, while the flavours of both mains are good, they are tamer than expected. For many, the idea of the Maghreb may contain images of colourful and fragrant spice bazaars but this is not reflected in the mild dishes served at Kasbah. To finish, we order the chocolate crepes with vanilla ice cream, presumably a relic of the French colonial influence. While again, these are not quite the exotic North African flavours we had in mind, there is no denying that it is a simple yet tasty ending to the meal.

A whole page of the two-page wine list is dedicated to wines from North African and Lebanese wines while the second page includes a good range of wines from both old and new world. The wine list suits all budgets, from very reasonable wines from Chile to more impressive selections from Château Margaux.

The service at Kasbah is efficient and the staff are comfortable with recommendations to help you navigate the menu and wine list. The only flaw is that in this darkly-lit restaurant, it can be hard to get their attention.

A dinner for two with wine will come to about HK$1,000. While this may seem a bit much for the food, the charming atmosphere of Kasbah does make the price tag seem reasonable.