At Mazagan, a glimpse of modern Morocco

If you’ve come to the new Moroccan restaurant in Arlington expecting to sit among arches, lanterns and extravagant kilim rugs, you’ll be in for a surprise. Mazagan favors the contemporary over the customary in many of its details. Proof is as immediate as the bar, where up-to-date cocktails are dispensed, and an open kitchen that puts Riyad Bouizar, the chef and owner, center stage.

One clue to the cuisine at Mazagan is the cluster of burnt-orange tagines arranged within reach of the chef. The glazed earthenware pots with the cone-shaped tops signal Morocco as surely as fezzes and “Casablanca.” The vessels are used to cook the delicate stews, also called tagines, that deliver mini-facials to their recipients when servers lift the lids of the pots to reveal their steamy contents. Chicken stew comes with a heap of french fries on top. Ground beef tagine is distinguished by a cooked egg and a ferocious bubble that suggests an active volcano. Tender lamb with dried fruit is my standby.

Before I continue, a complaint: “DO YOU MIND TURNING DOWN THE MUSIC?” I ask of my waiter. The restaurant is minutes into dinner service, and it will be several hours until the hookah lounge in the back accepts guests. The thump thump thump of the soundtrack is inappropriate for an audience of mostly young families and seniors. The server complies, and instantly, the taste of the gratis olives gets my full attention, and Mazagan becomes a more comfortable place to eat.

As at every restaurant these days, we’re coached to order appetizers (or in this case, mezze) to share. For the seafood fan, there are tender shrimp in a dark cloak of tomatoes, biting with cayenne; meat fanciers might ease in with thin, house-made lamb sausages on a pool of soft white beans flavored with tomato, the base a nice foil to the kicky links. On a warm summer evening, a cool salad of potatoes, carrots and olives, bound with house-whipped mayonnaise, should make its way to your table. A Taste of the Middle East is as advertised: a cloud of thick yogurt, shiny stuffed grape leaves and garlicky roasted eggplant.

One of the chef’s inventions, cigars of phyllo stuffed with spinach and goat cheese, sounds better than it tastes. The stubby pastries are served with a plate of cinnamon, raisins and powdered sugar that the staff don’t bother to explain how to use. Do we dip the rolls in the condiments? Eat the raisins between bites? (“Yes,” we are eventually informed.) The result tastes more like breakfast than dinner. Shrimp and vermicelli stuffed into wontons and offered with chermoula, Morocco’s herby answer to salsa, make a more memorable splurge.

Bouizar cares about the way his food looks, evinced by the vessels that ferry his recipes from kitchen to table — black casseroles, burnt-orange ceramics, dimpled white plates. The most festive look belongs to my favorite Moroccan export, the phyllo-shrouded chicken pie known as bisteeya, its crackling cover striped with cinnamon and completed with powdered sugar. The combination of sweet crust and soothing shredded chicken (and eggs and almonds) is one I always make room for at Mazagan. Unlike with the aforementioned spinach cigars, the kitchen takes responsibility for the seasoning of the bisteeya. Plus, chicken takes better to sweet spices than do greens.

Kebabs are offered in almost as many flavors as Baskin-Robbins: calamari, pork, beef heart, chorizo, firm and tasty tuna and more. Not all the choices are created equal. Lamb chops arrive so bland and underdone, I return them for more time on the charcoal grill. The meat returns cooked to my taste but still flat, so I fill up instead on the accessories of yellow rice and glossy chopped peppers and onions. In contrast, the liver kebab is a hit — crusty, tender and accompanied by enhancers of minced garlic, cayenne, paprika and cumin. A sprinkle of any or all elevates good to great.

Is this chef tasting his food as he cooks? Harira, the familiar bowl of chickpeas, lentils and tomato, is a soup in need of more salt, and more heat. While Morocco is known for dishes that weave sweet with savory, Bouizar sometimes overly favors the former. I’m thinking now of his lamb shank scattered with prunes and almonds and set in a saffron-tinted broth made floral with crushed rose petals. A little goes a long way. For balance, I reach for some of the chef’s harissa, red peppers and garlic slick with olive oil, and tempered with sundried tomatoes.

Each visit finds some new companion for the expected baklava on the dessert list. Most recently, a small globe of vanilla custard with the frothy texture of zabaglione concluded dinner. Tiramisu in a Moroccan restaurant? It makes sense if you ask about the chef’s background: When Bouizar came to the area in 1988, his first job was at the late Luigi’s restaurant on 19th Street NW.

Mazagan borrows the name of an old Portuguese port city, south of Casablanca on the Atlantic Ocean. Bouizar, the son of a carpenter, designed the interior himself. The front bar is backed by a sand-colored mural of desert musicians, or Gnaoua; blue napkins and sleek silverware dress up the broad wood tables, some of which are raised and meant to be communal. The windows come with a distinctive Arabesque accent, carved white wood that plays the role of curtains. Watching over guests is the chef’s nephew, Reda Bouizar, every bit an asset as the design here.

Mazagan is definitely a looker. Provided you know the kitchen’s strengths, it can also be a taster.

Location: 2901 Columbia Pike, Arlington. 703-566-4173. mazaganrestaurant.com.

Open: 4:30 p.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Prices: Small plates $3.95 to $13.95; kebabs and main courses $9 to $24.

Sound check: 73 decibels/
Must speak with raised voice.