Karl A.
Yelp
My recent first visit to Malooga was excellent. The service was admittedly unremarkable, but some grace should probably be extended there - it was a Sunday, the day after Valentine's Day, and it was packed. During my wife's and my time there, they never had an empty table that wasn't being quickly cleared for a waiting party, and we heard people assigned considerable waits when they tried to walk in. I give the benefit of the doubt that the hectic, holiday-adjacent nature of the day we went in contributed to us not receiving mugs for the tea pot we ordered or some of the longer waits between waitstaff visits.
But the food and atmosphere? Through the roof. We were fortunate enough to have scored the coveted front window seating section, a luxuriously spacious and cushioned special seating option that only one party at a time can enjoy (all other seats are traditional chair-and-table arrangements), so we were especially high on the subject of atmosphere, but even had we not secured the ideal seating, I would have enjoyed the chill, evocative music coming from the restaurant's speakers.
The food was the main event, of course, and it delivered. We started simple, with a hummus app. The humus was great and the flatbread really stood out - ideal density, great, light crispness to the outside, soft but at no risk of being too chewy or doughy on the inside. I ordered the salmon dish, which arrived in a big, black sizzling iron bowl. The salmon and tender little potato chunks were in a shakshuka-like red sauce and paired excellently with the plate of rice, fresh raisins, garlic slivers, and carrot bits that accompanied it. I honestly don't love raisins, but this was clearly a "have faith in the recipe" situation and I really enjoyed when they would assert themselves a bit against the sauce. My wife ordered a falafel salad platter, which she was kind enough to let me try; best falafel I've eaten in a good number of years, and she agreed (which means even more than my endorsement, since she falafel much more frequently than I do).
I've eagerly recommended Malooga to friends and associates since and can't wait to get back and order some lamb!