Kasbah Moroccan Cafe Open In Old Town-Chinatown

This one slipped past us, but we wanted to let you know that Kasbah Moroccan Cafe has been serving breakfast, lunch and—if you get there before 5 p.m.—early dinner in Old Town-Chinatown since early June.

Last weekend, we visited chef-owner Naji Bouhmid, who told us that his new 25-seat counter-service cafe—which he somehow managed to open during the same week he moved from Seattle to Portland—is an all-hands-on-deck family affair.

Bouhmid runs Kasbah's small kitchen, putting out recipes he'd honed cooking in kitchens in the historic city of Fez. His wife, Maleaha Laski, runs the front of the house, while Bouhmid's mother, Zahra, bakes the pastries, with the freedom to do "whatever she wants."

Prior to moving to Portland, Bouhmid cooked at the Google campus in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood, but he says his interest in the kitchen stems from working for his neighbor, who also happened to cook for Morocco's former king.

As you can see by the menu below, Kasbah specializes in what Bouhmid says is the kind of food families cook for one another back in Fez, including tagines, fresh-baked, pillowy flatbreads, soups, salads, and bocadillos, including a tuna version, a grilled cheese version, and a version comprising harissa and Bouhmid's hand-stuffed lamb sausages, which come encased in lamb—not pork.

Coffees, teas, and soft drinks round the menu out.

Kasbah Moroccan Cafe: 210 NW Davis St., 971-544-0875; Hours: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday

Kasbah Moroccan Cafe Menu