The Benevolent King is a welcome addition in Maplewood

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

Visit The Benevolent King and get your vote in for the weirdest animal portrait. (Ours was for the monkey.) This spring, Ben Poremba opened the Maplewood restaurant in the former Water Street space, expanding a restaurant empire that already includes Elaia, Olio, Nixta, and Parigi. At the time, he stressed that although the traditional Moroccan cuisine of his childhood inspired the menu, riffs and improvisation could also be expected.

For such a regal name, The King is humble. (It’s named in honor of a Moroccan monarch who did much to save the lives of Jews and others during World War II.) The room holds about two dozen seats arranged around small tables that only seem smaller when plates arrive. Perhaps the mirrored wall is supposed to evoke a bigger space—but it’s really just a Jumbotron reflection of sorts. Local artist Jordan Gaunce’s eye-catching portraits of dapperly dressed animals indigenous to North Africa—a mountain goat, a fennec fox, a camel, that aforementioned macaque monkey—decorate the black walls.

A quartet of hungry diners could pretty much cover the menu’s expanse. There are roughly half a dozen appetizers, small plates, and dinners each. The last are modestly portioned, save for a whole baked branzino. A single skewer of cubed chicken is tweaked with herbs and nicely scorched on the grill. Lamb meatballs with a smoked tomato sauce are flavored with ras el hanout, a combination of cardamom, paprika, turmeric…well, basically every spice in the Middle East. It provides a flamboyant, spicy bite.

Breaded, fried shrimp are served with a chermoula dip comprising garlic, ginger, fenugreek, and lemon juice. It would make even Styrofoam chips mouthwatering but is even better on the shrimp, which have been flattened and dusted with paprika and coriander. Plump, succulent grilled scallops are served with a piquant vinegared salad. (These sweet bivalves are lovely, but a note to The King and all other scallop-selling eateries: If you can’t offer a quartet of scallops for less than $20, consider featuring some other seafood. Even perfectly prepared, the dish looks skimpy.)

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Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

The fun, however, is in the smaller plates, appetizers, and salatim (cold noshes whose translated name, “salads,” hardly does them justice). Jben, for example, is a dill-flecked pudding-like cheese that’s both light and delicate. Use the accompanying spears of fennel, dill, and cucumber to swirl up tasty globs; it’s a remarkable crudité/dip combination. S’men is salted, fermented butter with a rich, refined aroma like that of the world’s lightest blue cheese. Smeared on rustic bread from Olio’s bakery, it’s a satisfying appetizer.

M’samen are flaky, crispy, buttery-brown flatbreads served with hardboiled eggs. And z’houg is a splendidly spicy sauce of garlic, cilantro, and chilies. (Get acquainted now: Z’houg is the next chimichurri, about to become a culinary hit. Trader Joe’s already carries it.)

If you’re a lover of chunky peanut butter, masabacha is going to thrill you. This hummus variation, studded with whole cooked chickpeas and spiked with epazote (the oregano-fennel herb), is both smooth and crunchy.

Watchers of food travel shows have seen hosts extolling the delights of tarama from Algeria to Greece. Try The King’s version, called ikra, to see why. The Greeks wouldn't approve of the smoked caviar in it, but this Balkan take, a rosy purée of the eggs and olive oil in a cream cheese consistency, has a lovely smoky aroma. It's a dip of complexity and nuance and, here, and absolute must. Here, it’s an absolute must. The pastry of briouat crunches like the papery husks of Vietnamese eggrolls. It’s rolled into crispy “cigars” and stuffed with spiced sardines in a delectable example of how good these little fish can be.

And you must not pass up The King’s desserts. An array of house-made cookies—some with fig filling, others dipped in chocolate—are delightful, but malabi just might become your new favorite final course. The creamy milk custard, with a heady perfume of rosewater, is topped with…well, it’s like frayed rope cotton candy. Weird. Delicious.

The best approach to an evening at The King is to come for cocktails and a leisurely amble through these lovely mezze. Those drinks, by the way, are way above average. So, incidentally, is the noise: In decent weather, patio seating offers a more reasonable decibel level and a view of always-entertaining downtown Maplewood.

The Benevolent King’s food might not be entirely Moroccan, but it is entirely worthwhile and should become a regular meal for diners along Manchester Road’s increasingly enjoyable souk.

Just be prepared for that monkey.

The Bottom Line: Exotic small plate Moroccan-inspired specialties are served in a clubby setting with great cocktails.