by MARK SLUTSKY

The sign calls it "Le petit restaurant," and although La Khaïma isn't particularly small as restaurants in this town go, the place has a cozy intimacy that somehow makes the description apt. The resto is never too full on any given night, and you're likely to be served and cooked for by the same person, giving the place a welcoming, homey atmosphere. It's a swell place to visit on a cold autumn night, when you can ignore the chill outside and make believe you're having dinner in Morocco.

For that's La Khaïma's concept, pretty much - our waiter/cook described the restaurant's cuisine as "almost Moroccan," defining it as a mixture of Moroccan cuisine with the cookery of other Saharan West African countries. The place is decorated pleasantly in the Moroccan style, and the entire back half of the restaurant is set up traditionally - you can sit among pillows on a carpet while you sip your tea. There's also a small library of Saharan-related books (including one by erstwhile Monty Pythonite Michael Palin), and various ceramic and other objects for sale in a small boutique area.

La Khaïma is one of those restaurants where the menu's written on a dry-erase board and isn't fixed from day to day, depending on the specials (though there's a good bet couscous will be involved on most nights). On a recent visit, a lentil soup ($3) was offered as the starter - and what a soup it was. Soft, perfectly cooked lentils floated in a broth that was neither too thick nor too liquidy (though it could've been a little bit warmer). Finely chopped veggies mixed with the soft lentils to provide a lovely, smooth consistency, and the seasoning - a mix of spicy and sweet - gave the soup a comforting warmth. A delightful soup, even if it was served lukewarm.

The night we visited the restaurant had four main dishes available though, sadly, the fish was sold out. The only non-Moroccan offering on the menu was the maffé ($8), a Senegalese dish. Basically a stew of mixed, earthy vegetables (carrots, cabbage etc.) cooked in a peanut sauce, this is always a favourite of mine. Senegalese peanut sauce is markedly different than its Asian equivalent: for one, it's a rich orange, not brown, and it's a lot less sweet, with more emphasis on the peanuts' salty flavour.

What would a Moroccan restaurant be without a couscous? Khaïma offers both veggie and non-veggie ($6 and $8, respectively) versions of the dish, and vegetarians will be pleased to know that we were assured that the veggie sauce was cooked completely separate from the meat, so no risk of contamination there. The couscous wasn't the most interesting dish of the night, and the flavours didn't really leap off the plate, but this is generally a pretty basic meal anyway, and it had the filling heartiness of a good stew. The veggie and non-veggie versions were identical, save for the beef in the meat couscous, and the vegetables included zucchini, carrot, cabbage and big beefy lima beans. The couscous itself was finer than what I'm used to, with small, soft grains.

What did leap off the plate was the delicious and intriguing tajine aux pruneaux ($10). Served on a bed of rice, this consisted of soft strips of veal topped with hot prunes, all liberally sprinkled with sesame seeds. The prunes pretty much exploded with sweet, cinnamon-y flavour, and provided a very nice contrast to the earthy, mostly unseasoned veal. This is definitely worth checking out when it's on the menu.

The meal ended, of course, with sweet mint tea served in lovely patterned glasses. You can't miss the mint tea. For dessert we had the orange zagora ($3 for the table), a simple little treat, but tasty: orange slices powdered with cinnamon and confectioner's sugar. Not extravagant, but memorable, like the restaurant itself.

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La Khaïma
ADDRESS: 142 Fairmount W. (west of St-Urbain)
PHONE: 948-9993
HOURS: Tue-Sun 5–11 p.m.
BEST FEATURES: Cozy, nicely decorated atmosphere,
friendly service, and homey Moroccan food
ALCOHOL: No
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: No
NO-SMOKING SECTION: Yes
PRICE: $6–$15 per person, before tax or tip
RATING: **1/2 out of ****