Restaurants

Restaurants

Restaurants
Expensive

Casa Lalla
Every night the candlelit patio of the refined Riad Casa Lalla is transformed into a gastronomic getaway, where the French chef serves a menu invented that day with the freshest, most succulent ingredients from Marrakech's marketplace. The intimate setting among fellow foodies adds to the dining experience, but special tables can be arranged for couples. Reservations required. 

16 Derb Jemaa, Medina
Tel: (0524) 429 757.
Website: www.casalalla.com

Comptoir Darna
Comptoir Darna is still the place to be seen and the favourite hang-out for Marrakech's beautiful people. Both cocktail bar and restaurant, Comptoir Darna segues from mellow dining downstairs to outbursts of belly-dancing and carousing by the upstairs bar as the night wears on. The Franco-Moroccan menu works well in this sumptuous, east-meets-west setting where diplomats, supermodels and minor royalty rub shoulders. 

Avenue Echouada, Hivernage
Tel: (0524) 437 702.
Website: www.comptoirdarna.com

Dar Moha
The culinary star of Marrakech has set new standards for Moroccan fusion cuisine, with combinations dreamed up daily from the souks and the imagination of Chef Mohammed Fedal. Dar Moha's menu consists of sumptuous fix-priced feasts. The best seats in this former family home are around the petal-strewn pool in the garden, where musicians play in the evenings and a grill house emits tantalising aromas by day. Reservations necessary. Serves alcohol. 

81 Rue Dar el-Bacha
Tel: (0524) 386 400.
Website: www.darmoha.ma

La Maison Arabe
The restaurant of Marrakech's famed hotel offers a selection of traditional Moroccan dishes and local specialties, including a few vegetarian options. The restaurant has a plush interior with hand-painted woodwork and some tables spill over into the pretty, shaded courtyard. Good for lunch as well as dinner, but dinner is accompanied by excellent Arab-Andalusian music. Serves alcohol. 

1 Derb Assehbe, Bab Doukkala, Medina
Tel: (0524) 387 010.
Website: www.lamaisonarabe.com

Al Fassia
Al Fassia has become a local legend for hearty yet elegant dishes from the Middle Atlas and Fes. The restaurant is run by a group of sisters who recreate their own family recipes with top-notch ingredients and a sharp all-female staff. The menu is à la carte and the décor plush, modern Moroccan. A wide selection of savoury meat dishes, tagines and couscous are on offer, but the array of nine salads alone is enough to satisfy a vegetarian. Serves alcohol. 

55 Boulevard Zerktouni (at end of pedestrian passage), Guéliz
Tel: (0524) 434 060.
Website: www.alfassia.com

Café du Livre
Tucked away in the Ville Nouvelle, Café du Livre is an inviting space away from the crowds. Appealing to expat tastes, this Marrakech restaurant offers French-flavoured fare for lunch, tapas in the evening and big breakfasts all day. Bookworms and Wi-Fi fans will position themselves in front of the open fire during winter and never emerge.

44 Rue Tarik Ben Ziad
Tel: (0524) 432 149.
Website: www.cafedulivre.com

Le Grand Café de la Poste
Once a sorting office and colonial hotel, this deco Casablanca-style eatery is where Mediterranean flair meets top-notch Moroccan ingredients on the inventive seasonal à la carte menu. Among the potted palms in the dining room, ordinary mortals mingle with movie stars on a break from filming desert scenes. With ample vegetarian options, salads, and dishes light on the sauces, it's easy to justify dessert. 

Boulevard El Mansour Eddahbi
Tel: (0524) 433 038.
Website: www.grandcafedelaposte.com

Terrasse des épices
Chic and sleek, the Terrasse des épices offers a smart space for meeting and eating north of Jemaa El Fna. Offering a tantalising mix in Moroccan and continental cuisine it also tempts with a fabulous line in desserts. Dine alfresco or in attractive private nooks. Post-business, this is one of the city's liveliest spots at night.

15 Souk Cherifa, Sidi Abdelaziz
Tel: (0524) 375 904.
Website: www.terrassedesepices.com

Café de France
A local institution and one of the most famous cafés in Marrakech, Café de France is popular as a meeting place for those with business in the medina. The street-level terrace is good for watching the comings and goings in the square, while the roof terraces have superb views. The menu offers unexceptional but serviceable fare and decent coffee at a reasonable price; what you're paying for here is the location and convenience factor. 

Jemaa el Fna

Chez Chegrouni
A better option for delicate stomachs and vegetarians than the food stalls in the Jemaa el Fna but still within the square, Chez Chegrouni is a hugely popular restaurant with tourists and locals alike. It offers all the usual dishes and has a small terrace at the front to watch the nightly antics. Unlike many of the other budget restaurants in Marrakech, this place does not use meat stock for non-meat dishes, so vegetarian dishes are just that. Although it's small and basic, it's very clean and well run, and a justifiable favourite. 

Jemaa el-Fna
Tel: (0665) 474 615.

Jemaa el Fna
For the most authentic Moroccan dining experience, join the crowds and eat within the Jemaa el Fna itself. As twilight falls, over 100 food stalls are set up and clouds of smoke drift over the square as all manner of meats are grilled and served with cooked vegetable salads as sides. Wander around until you see ingredients that look the freshest, then squeeze onto one of the benches. Bread is used instead of cutlery and orange juice is brought from one of the many juice stalls. A word of warning - although the food is well cooked, ask for food to be served on paper instead of hastily rinsed plates, and drink OJ from your water bottle instead of reused cups. 

Jemaa-el-Fna

Pizzeria Venezia
Good selection of pizzas, pastas and salads, all made with the freshest ingredients, but the real draw is the view from the roof terrace. From here you can see the sun setting over the Koutoubia Mosque and watch the cars, bikes and pedestrians jostle along the busy avenue. Cool breezes on hot summer evenings make the experience even more pleasant. 

279 Avenue Mohammed V
Tel: (0524) 440 081.