RESTAURANT REVIEW : Finding an Oasis of Moroccan Cuisine on the Central Coast : La Casbah in downtown Santa Barbara provides a unique dining experience.

We’ll go a long way in these parts before finding decent Moroccan food--before finding any Moroccan food. Between the San Fernando Valley and the San Francisco Peninsula, there has been none at all--until a couple of months ago, when La Casbah opened its doors on a corner in downtown Santa Barbara.

La Casbah has given the central coast perhaps its most unique cuisine. The place is set with low leather hassocks, brocaded pillows and benches, fabric-draped walls, ornate silver teapots, and is suffused by light from the street lights outside. This, for Santa Barbara, is different.

The dining experience begins with the waiter gently pouring warm water over our outstretched hands and handing out towels; then, he sprinkles rose water to provide a certain aroma at the table.

If you venture more than once to this transplanted corner of northwest Africa, you’ll quickly find which of the spice and flavor combinations are tastiest, which of the traditional Moroccan meat dishes can best be left behind, and which you want to just gobble down. But beware, we’re talking about a lot of food eaten from low tables, under which we Americans squirm to find a comfortable location for our legs and feet (conventional tables are available).

Entree dishes at Casbah are spacious. First, there’s the traditional lentil soup: a rich, spicy, steaming dish with either lamb or vegetables, the perfect beginning on these winter evenings. Then, the salad--a platter of cooked and marinated vegetables and salads which might include eggplant, or beautifully and lightly cooked marinated carrots or beets.

Except for the soup, most of this is traditionally eaten by using one’s hands--with pieces of bread becoming one’s utensil. (A problem with this, however, is the reluctance of the waiters to appear a second time with more bread. Rumor has it that this is to slow down our consumption--in anticipation of so much more food to come. My own preference is for more bread, either raised or the pita variety, when I want it. On one occasion, we waited--after the platter was placed on the table--three or four minutes for the bread to show up at all.)

Another appetizer on the list (all come with the entree) is b’stella, with either chicken or vegetables. Although I am a big chicken lover, I would opt for the vegetable version. This light, flaky pastry shell, surrounded and mixed with vegetables, raisins, almonds, egg and a multitude of Moroccan spices, doesn’t need the dull chicken hunks that La Casbah puts into it.

The menu, and most of the cooking, is by chef and general manager Youssef Fakhouri. He made it to Santa Barbara via such locales as Morocco, Sausalito and Lebanon, and used to be at tiny, now-defunct Picasso, also in downtown Santa Barbara.

I love Fakhouri’s menu, and much of his food, but I do have a major quarrel. Lamb, a staple of Moroccan cuisine, is not happening well at La Casbah. Lamb m’shui ($26) is an important Moroccan dish, frequently a whole lamb, roasted crisp on the outside and--supposedly--moist and tender within. Fakhouri has done a beautiful job with the seasoning, using saffron, hot red pepper, coriander and cumin, but what happened to the tenderness? Mine has been tough and dry.

I had a similar experience with lamb tagine ($22), a thick, wet dish which is almost a stew, this one with eggplant. A few tender bits, but mostly tough and dry.

But the chicken tagine ($19), with artichokes, lemon and olives, is worth savoring. The meat, on the bone, is tender and juicy, with the flavors of preserved lemon, olives and artichokes melding together. And the tagine of Cornish hen ($19), with honey and almonds, is equally good, the outside layer of sweetness crunching together with the blanched, whole almonds.

There are two especially good dishes on the Casbah menu. Fortunately--for national pride--one of them is Morocco’s national dish, cous cous. Cous cous is the heart of the wheat nugget--our semolina--steamed over a bouillon of meat or vegetables, and spices. There can be chick peas and raisins mixed in and--to be really good--it should remain moist and full of the flavors.

At La Casbah, the merguez (a small, spicy sausage) version is especially tasty ($21). It’s got carrots and onions and chick peas and sweet red peppers, and the tiny, nearly crunchy texture of the grain itself plays games with the surface of your tongue.

The other standout is the prawns chermoula ($24). The shrimp are firm and crisp, the chermoula sauce (a spicy mixture of parsley, onion, garlic and spices like red pepper, tumeric, cumin and saffron) outstanding (do I also detect vinegar or lemon juice?).

All of the entrees are followed by a plate of fresh and dried fruits and nuts and mint tea and--sometimes--Moroccan cookies are also around. If you want a really rich dessert--and if you’re a chocolate lover, it is difficult to pass up the chocolate b’stella ($4). Very rich, a flaky pastry, inundated with a hot chocolate sweet sauce.

If all of this is too much, and the course after course too rich or expensive, La Casbah has an excellent alternative. Touch of the Mediterranean ($12.50) is perfect for light eaters, vegetarians or just for those of us feeling especially virtuous.

It is a sizable platter of hummus, baba ghannouj (an eggplant mixture), cous cous salad, and artichokes marinated and served with a trace of feta cheese.

Details

* WHAT: La Casbah

* WHERE: 34 E. Ortega St., Santa Barbara

* WHEN: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday

* ETC: Reservations accepted, major credit cards accepted, beer and wine. Dinner for two, food only, $26 to $50. Call 965-3599.