Chameau: Morrocan Eats and Modern Digs on Fairfax

Among the many restaurants I can walk to from my humble abode (where I generally consume so much ice cream and bacon that the walking part is irrelevant) is Chameau, a funky modern French-Morrocan restaurant on Fairfax just south of Oakwood. I've been meaning to check Chameau out since I moved into the neighborhood, but I am generally powerless to resist the siren's call of pork belly sliders and vino at Animal, and scoops gelato and Jason's stellar beer advice at Golden State. Babs, Jordan and I finally made the pilgrimage to Chameau a few weeks ago, and most thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Chameau started as a tiny BYOB spot in Silverlake open three nights a week, but now serves dinner six nights a week in a cozy space on Fairfax. The BYOB has been replaced with a tightly edited wine list that performs the admirable feat of standing up to a cuisine that isn't always wine friendly. The decor is funky and eccentric – Phillipe Starck meets Marrakesh –and a backlit camel on the outer facade stands guard over its namesake. All meat is certified organic and the seafood is wild caught.

I'll get my one gripe about Chameau out of the way up front: the booth we sat in was horribly uncomfortable. The place looks great, but it was hard to linger over our meal. The booth seemed completely devoid of padding, and its hard straight back prohibited any form of slouching/reclining. That may be the main reason I was able to stay awake for the entire meal (I was practically sleepwalking after a hellish week in Detroit), but I like modern restaurant decor to be comfortable, not just visually pleasing. Next time I go, I will try sitting at one of the tables instead.

Seating issues aside, the meal was absolutely delicious. A miniature tagine of addictive, spicy marinated olives and a plate of warm, traditional flattened bread were delivered to our table before we even ordered our wine. We ate family style, sharing perfectly grilled spicy merguez sausage with couscous and market vegetables, savory-sweet duck bastilla (layers of homemade flaky pastry encasing moist shredded duck and toasted almonds, topped off with a dusting of cinnamon and powdered sugar) and fall-apart tender braised lamb tagine with artichokes that we spiked with a generous dose of Chameau's harissa. We drank a well-priced bottle of tempranillo that played nicely off the spices in the food, and our server was more than happy to pack a container of the homemade harissa for us to take with our leftovers. We were too stuffed to even consider dessert, but the menu had some intriguing choices, including a "bastilla au lait" and cinnamon creme caramel. Chameau is definitely vegetarian-friendly, with a variety of vegetable studded couscous dishes and seasonal produce that stand in stark contrast to the uninspired meatless choices offered by most restaurants.


After several sub-par and overpriced meals at Little Door (which will never have enough ambiance to make up for the bank account drain of dinner there, especially now that its reasonably priced and exponentially more appetizing younger sibling Little Next Door is serving such impeccable French fare), and the obligatory belly dancing filled birthday dinners at Dar Maghreb, I'm glad to have found a Morrocan restaurant in LA worth its harissa. Chameau is the kind of place you want to eat again and again, to try the seasonal twists on traditional Morrocan cooking the chef concocts and I intend to do so, even if I have to bring my own seat cushion.

Chameau
339 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-951-0039