Journey to Marrakesh at the Hammam Tearoom

This post is brought to you by Hammam Tearoom.

It may seem an incongruity for a successful spa business to open a dining spot, but that’s exactly what the folks behind Hammam Spa have done.

Hammam Tearoom

The spas, at both their original Bangsar location and a newer one at Publika, are the Moroccan version of Turkish baths, and are relaxing, indulgent escapes of their own. After eight years of focusing solely on the spa business, the owners of Hammam Spa have recently launched Hammam Tearoom at Publika to complement the adjacent spa. Although the tearoom can of course be enjoyed on its own, it can also complete the Moroccan experience by allowing spa customers to add a leisurely tea and meal as a follow-up to their excellent spa pampering.

Simple and Traditional Moroccan

The evocative design of Hammam Tearoom is simple and traditional Moroccan, envisioned to emulate a real Moroccan riad, a courtyard house with folding doors, local lemonwood furnishings, and a courtyard. This unique and colour-splashed ambiance serves as an ideal backdrop for a delightful and authentic Moroccan meal. Indeed, all the chefs at Hammam Tearoom are Moroccan!

Traditional Cooking Methods

Traditional cooking methods are the order of the day at Hammam Tearoom, with a real Moroccan mud oven on site and the head chef a native of Marrakesh, Morocco. We had not really experienced genuine Moroccan cuisine, so were eager to sample the offerings of the Tearoom.

Exotic and Enticing Flavours

With influences from Africa, the Mediterranean, and Spain in particular, the cuisine of Morocco is exotic and packed with unfamiliar and enticing flavours – a culinary palette neither Western nor Asian. Spices and preserved lemons are used to enhance the taste and aroma and dishes such as Tagines, Pastilla, Tangia, and Cous Cous are hallmarks of Moroccan cooking.

Avocado-and-Date Smoothie

We began simply enough, with a delicious avocado-and-date smoothie and a medley of Moroccan salads. We tried the Pastilla, a seafood filo pie stuffed with fish, shrimp, squid, rice vermicelli, and mushrooms in a lemon-based tomato sauce.

A Medley of Food

Once we got to the entrées, we were treated to a Tagine of Chicken, a vegetarian Cous Cous, a Beef Kefta, and a Tangia of Lamb, slow-cooked in a jug with preserved lemons and saffron. It was all so exotic and different, and the discovery of such new and varied flavours and cooking methods had all of us going back for “just one more bite” again and again. A new dish, Meshwi of Lamb, which is roasted in the Tearoom’s mud oven, is set to be added to the menu in September.

Moroccan Mint Tea

However, the best was really saved for last at Hammam Tearoom. Even before the Tearoom opened, the spa was renowned for serving the best Moroccan Mint Tea and Baklava in town, a particularly welldeserved reputation. Even if you aren’t feeling adventurous enough to sample some
of the tasty Moroccan cooking, the Baklava and amazing Mint Tea are on their own worth a visit!