Chez Sam

Occasion: Group dinner in Essaouira
Location: Chez Sam - I really have no idea where it was, other than it was outside the medina walls. But Essaouira's small, so you should be able to find it.
Edibles: I had the shrimp and avocado salad, seafood soup, and then the sole

Musings: This place totally did not feel like it was in Morocco. The interior décor is what you'd expect to find in any old, family-owned restaurant in the midwest - dark wood panelling, tchotchkes and faded photos everywhere. They also played this bizarre retro American music mix; I remember hearing mostly motown and disco.

So, fine dining it ain't.

But the seafood was fresh and not terribly expensive. Though we mostly ordered on our own, the dishes were large enough to share. My sole dish, for example, came with three whole fish (of which the below photo shows one).

The dishes were hit and miss across the table. The sole, and most of the other fish dishes, came with some pretty sad and limp boiled vegetables as sides. My soup was bit watery and thin, but I did like the avocado and shrimp. Alice's shrimp omelet was the best of the dishes I nibbled from. If memory serves, Tony ordered a calamari tagine that he liked quite a lot as well.

Our dinner was fine but I'd have to guess that there are better restaurants in Essaouira.