I did not last long at Moroccan Soup Bar before I had to ask. “So, how is it?” I said to Fafa, a little too eagerly, after his first bite of the chickpea bake. He could not say much with a full mouth, but he nodded and smiled, and I saw the glint in his eyes. Approved.
Moroccan Soup Bar
It opened in 1998 and was founded by Hana Assafiri. No written menu, just a waiter reciting it to you. No alcohol. No meat. No bookings. A banquet you do not so much order as receive. It was also built as a workplace for women, a part most reviews skip over, and Assafiri was awarded an OAM in 2019 for her service to women and the community.
Despite the name, the food at Moroccan Soup Bar is so much more than soup.
Liz first took me here on a cold day, sometime before lockdown, back when it was still in Fitzroy North. The room was full of Melbourne hipsters, and being mistaken for one of them was, personally, a delight. I loved it so much that I made sure I brought Fafa, and later told Jik to go during her visit to Melbourne.
One last thing, as the title says. It is vegetarian. And it is the best-tasting vegetarian meal I have ever eaten in Melbourne.
A small update, because things move faster than my drafts. The St Georges Road room closed in 2022, and Moroccan Soup Bar now lives at 47-51 Boundary Road, North Melbourne, open for lunch Tuesday to Friday and dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
So if you are in Melbourne during winter (why are you doing that to yourself), go. Order everything. Do not skip the chickpea bake.
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