As you order at this Moroccan restaurant in Astoria, you might wonder if you’re getting too much food. Your server will warmly encourage you to go big: “It’s the Moroccan way.” She’s right. The only thing you’ll regret about your extraordinarily comforting meal at Dar Lbahja is everything you didn’t eat. 

The restaurant is from a chef who used to be at nearby, now-closed Dar Yemma, and we're glad to have her cooking back. The tender lamb tagine, encircled by dates and sunny, golden apricots, is mandatory. Same goes for the chicken bastilla, with a shell so crisp that they'll hear you slice through it all the way over on Steinway Street. But you'd be remiss to skip dessert here, because the jahwara—delicate sheets of fried dough layered with floral-perfumed custard—is something really special.

photo credit: Dar Lbahja

photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick

photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick

photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick