Cassia

My favorite at the Hall. People working there are always super nice and one girl in particular was very helpful with my allergies (gluten, tomato, dairy, etc). I hate asking about ingredients but I have to, and she was happy to help me with it which is not a reaction I usually get.
Regardless, it’s pretty delicious, hearty, hits the spot and doesn’t cause allergic reactions which most lunch options in the area tend to do. I wish it was a little cheaper and closer so I could go every day but alas…

Meh, for a $ 16 lunch bowl (a protein, side and grain), the food was below expectation. I had the Meatballs with the bean salad and quinoa while my friend had the braised pork, brown rice and bean salad. The flavored for both dishes were pretty good, but my meatballs were super dry. I should have picked another vendor in the food hall. Oh well, live and learn.

Tried their «Braised Pork Shoulder in Chipotle Coconut Milk» and honestly didn’t notice the pork or the chipotle. Did taste an abundance of coconut milk flavor. Alas, it probably would’ve been a great dish if they allowed the «no antibiotics and free range pork» and the chipotle to shine.
Also, tried a side of the «Gigante Bean and Fennel Salad» which had – at least visibly – a lot of dill. Again, too bad that the flavor of the combination of dense beans paired with dill and seemingly nothing else in the manner of dressing didn’t work me.
It’s always really terrible that a place with high concept and possibly high quality ingredients falls short on flavor. I certainly hope they will figure out this gap and fix it ASAP!
My colleagues who had the Moroccan rotisseire chicken seemed to like their dish though!

I was reluctant to choose Cassia when I was at The Hall because their food was served buffet style (i.e. pre-​made and displayed at the counter). They only have the salads displayed up front, but it turns out their hot food is pre-​made as well, just not displayed (it took under a minute for the girl at the counter to go to the back and get the Pork Shoulder I ordered).
That being said, I did like their unique flavors and ingredients. Pretty exotic, and if I didn’t know all their food was sitting in tubs, I may not have realized it. The girl also let me get two salads after seeing how indecisive I was.
THE COST: $ 15.01 with tax & tip for a big platter of dinner.
* Braised Pork Shoulder (chipotle, coconut milk, aji limo pineapple salsa. $ 6.50) — 3.5 stars
pic:
The sauce was great. Sweet from the coconut, spices from the chipotle. The pork pieces were small and a little hard, not the slow-​roasted tender meat you might get from pork shoulder dishes at other restaurants, but it worked. The salsa added a tropical hint and mixed well to your liking with the coconut sauce. I also got the Quinoa and that tasted great in this sauce.
* Moroccan Sweet Potato Salad — 4 stars
pic:
Although the sweet potato was a little stale from sitting out, I still liked this! I love anything novel and the concept of a sweet potato salad sounded great to me. There were different types of sweet potato and the light sweet flavor was great.
* Gigante Bean & Fennel Salad — 4 stars
This had 3 types of beans and once again was so unique! The beans were cooked to the right texture, as they were cooked through without being overly starchy or soft.
Menu:

We to Cassia in The Hall on Market. Morroccan Peruvian fare sounded to interesting to turn down and I was not disappointed. I got the Meatball Tagine and it was very good. You can get it with a choice of Brown Rice or Quinoa and your choice of salad. I had the Kale and Goat Cheese Salad which was also great! Everything had wonderful flavor and tasted very fresh. I had a hard time deciding on my main so you can have each of the mains as a $ 6 side, which is a bowl full. I also got the Braised Pork Shoulder which was also really good, but I really liked the meatballs better. I’d love to know how they decided to bring these two cuisines together, but it really is a great place and I’ll gladly go back.

Tried the meatball tagine and the beet kale salad with goat cheese (side order portions), both were delicious.

Cassia is located in a little alcove that houses local vendors. The main attraction looks to be the bar with all of the local workers gathering for happy hour. Cassia serves Moroccan Peruvian Cuisine. I had the tagine meatballs with kale salad. I found the food to be fresh and tasty. The meatballs weren’t the best tagine meatballs I’ve had. I found the texture to be too dense and hard for tagine. The spices were good. The kale salad was surprisingly good especially with the cheese they used. I might try Cassia again but I’d stay away from the meatballs. It’s a bit pricey for the quality.

Every now and then there is more than sandwiches at the office. A delightful surprise in cuisine offered through a catered lunch buffet from Cassia.
I loved the healthy Moroccan Peruvian Cuisine. The Moroccan meatballs were very flavorful and went well with the rest of the items, kale salad, Peruvian chicken and rice.
I would gladly come to try more of the menu, this place seems new and I would like to see more of it.

The food (meatball, kale salad) is good, but ludicrously overpriced. Cut the cost by half and I’d come by a lot more often. As is, I doubt I’ll ever eat here again.

Morroccan meatballs were TASTY and HEALTHY and DELICIOUS. Loved the side kale salad with golden beets and goat cheese. nomnomnom