DAR TAJINE

THE ONLY AUTHENTIC MOROCCAN FOOD IN SOUTH FLORIDA

Dar Tajine is the only place in the southern half of Florida serving true home cooked Moroccan food.

There have been maybe a half dozen Miami/South Beach places -- pretending to be Moroccan but really being nightclubs with lousy, overpriced food -- that have come and gone.

Dar Tajine is the real deal. Worth the nearly two hours it takes us to drive from Miami to a strip mall near Sunrise and University in Plantation.

Our meal today was under $50 including a tip north of 20%. It was an authentic Moroccan feast of:

Hot mint tea. A tiny bit sweet, but tasted just like what I've had on the road to Ouarzazate.

Lentil soup with tomatoes, garlic, onion -- perfect, less buttery than Indian dal makhani -- tasted like a stop at a Berber place in the High Atlas.

Olives, harissa and garlic sauce to go with think Moroccan bread plus salad -- good as anything I've had at La Mamounia.

Chicken Bastilla. Baked layers of thin pastry stuffed with chicken strips, roasted almonds, eggs and herbs -- covered in sugar and cinnamon. Like boneless bird dessert. First time I've had it with chicken instead of pigeon. Took me back to the poolside courtyard restaurants of the norther medina in Marrakech.

Chicken tagine -- a half bird with olives, preserved lemon, broth and a separate yellow rice. Reminded me of my first meal on a terrace watching the sun set over Jemaa el-Fnaa. Missing the French-influenced fries and carrots to soak up the heavenly broth -- but a spectacular and generous half bird for under $13.

A selection of authentic desserts featuring honey and nuts. Old school flavor like the hole in the wall I always visit when in the old souks of Essaouira.

Arabic coffee -- much more fragrant than Turkish coffee, with notes of cardamom and other spices. A generous portion, similar to what I've gotten at an oasis on the way to Aït Benhaddou.

Five stars all the way. Generous portions. Great ambiance.

Wheelchair accessible. Plenty of regular height tables. Tasteful gift shop with Moroccan products at the entrance.

Dar Tajine, 8281 W Sunrise Blvd, Plantation FL 33322  954-306-2447

https://dar-tajine.com

EXPEDIA UPDATE

EXPEDIA FINALLY RIGHTS WRONG

After more than 50 emails and direct message tweets, online shaming and four hours of my doing their job -- Expedia finally gave me the refund I deserved from Day 1.

See my April 14 blog post for full story of my booking trip, provider in Marrakech canceling and promising refund, Expedia not processing refund, Expedia team telling me it’s against provider policy to issue refund and my telling Expedia keeping money without delivering service is felony theft.

Of course, I would be promised an update and didn’t get one. When I took initiative to get an answer, the first one was always a lazy, uncaring repeat of the initial form email saying policy forbade my refund.

I kept saying if policy is to take money and deliver nothing, Expedia is complicit not only in felony theft, but in a pattern of corrupt activity because it’s a blanket policy, not a one-time thing.

Since Expedia did nothing for me, I contacted the provider directly and basically told him this was going to go one of two ways:

 A terrible mistake that he would correct with an immediate refund.

My sharing the truth about his felonious ways with my 200,000 blog readers, Twitter followers, Facebook followers and every consumer rip-off site I could find. I told him I would review him – as a thief – on every site such as TripAdvisor.

Amazingly, he said it all was a mistake and he even sent me a copy of his refund order to Expedia.

For days, Expedia claimed it got no such notice from its vendor in Morocco and that I was out of luck.

Finally, after endlessly harping on them, I got a notice of refund the other day. I also got a nominal online coupon, which I demanded to cover the four hours of time robbed from my life while I did the consumer advocacy work that Expedia should have been doing.

So, short answer, did Expedia finally capitulate and process my refund in about a week – yes.

Long answer, if you would like to work with a billion dollar firm that sends form letters blessing felony theft…if you would like to spend time you don’t have doing someone else’s job…if you would like each email exchange to start with them pretending no exchanges of info were made other than their first illogical response…if would like to be called a fraud (because you pasted in an email from the provider and they would only trust a screen cap of the exact same info)…do business with (buyer beware) Expedia.

EXPEDIA: PLEASE RIGHT A VERY SERIOUS WRONG

LAZY, INCOMPETENT EXPEDIA CUSTOMER SERVICE STAFF FAILS TO GET ME A DESERVED REFUND WHILE BASICALLY ENDORSING FELONY THEFT OF MY $$

1) Booked tour to Ait Ben Haddou through Expedia

2) Tour provider in Marrakech canceled on me -- excuse was I was only booking, so he didn't want to pay for guide, fuel etc. for one.

3) Expedia customer service staff said they contacted his provider & his policy prevents refunds, so I am out $100+ 

4) Taking my money and not providing a service is theft!

5) I have now invested more than two hours of my time begging Expedia to do the right thing and fight for my refund. I have also threatened the tour provider with exposing his scheme if he does not process the refund.

6) Unless this is resolved, I would very highly recommend NEVER booking through Expedia. They roll over and do not fight at all for the consumer that has made them one of the richest companies in the travel industry.

7) Even if I get my refund, it will be devalued by more than 50% because of the time I've wasted doing Expedia's job.