Over the past few years, Marrakech has become my escape to warm and sunny weather. Being only a three-hour flight away from London, I find myself booking a flight there every time I miss the sun. Because you know, sunshine is almost guaranteed in Marrakech. Over these trips, I ate at different restaurants and slowly built a list of my favourite places to eat in Marrakech.
When it comes to where to eat in Marrakech, many people wonder about the safety of the food in Morocco. Let me reassure you, that I never got sick in Morocco, and I am very adventurous when it comes to food. From enjoying snails in the souks to fine dining in Gueliz, I’ve tried a lot of restaurants in Marrakech. And in this article, I’m going to tell you which are my favourite ones.
Where to Eat in Marrakech
There are so many restaurants and cafes in Marrakech. It’s enough to open Google Maps to get overwhelmed with the selection. And I’m not going to lie, many of them are great. But, as everywhere, you will also find tourist traps and greedy owners that will charge you more but serve less and pretty mediocre food. Did it happen to me? Of course, but I won’t recommend you these places. So let’s dig in, and I hope you’re hungry for some excellent traditional Moroccan food.
Breakfast and Cafés
Dar El Bacha Café
Unfortunately, Dar el Bacha café has become an Instagrammers spot recently and it’s very hard to get a seat, especially because they don’t take reservations. Your best bet is to come here at 9:30 and wait until the museum opens, at 10.
You may wonder if it’s worth it. Yes, a very big yes. Leaving all the Instagrammers aside, here you will find probably the largest collection of coffee in the world. The menu is literally a book-lined with coffee names and flavours for each occasion. Even the decaf section is impressive.
When it comes to food, they offer an elegant selection of pastries, sandwiches, and cakes – which I highly recommend ordering. Don’t just come for coffee, as the food is exceptional as well. On my first visit here I ordered the goat cheese-filled croissant which was served alongside a fruity chutney and a walnut-dressed salad. The second time, my sweet tooth decided on the passionfruit and mango cheesecake which was served with gold foil on top. Tasting it, it quickly climbed into my top 10 best cheesecakes I’ve ever eaten.
The interior of Dar el Bacha is dreamy as well – imagine enjoying your coffee inside a palace, with mosaics on the walls, carved wooden ceilings, and large exotic plants decorating the interior.
Just a note, if you don’t want to visit the museum, you will have to pay a 20 dirhams entry fee to access the café. I visited the museum, which costs 60 dirhams, and it’s well worth it. You can enjoy the coffee first, and see the museum afterwards.
Terrasse Des Tienturiers
I discovered with small rooftop terrace after enjoying a long session at the hammam. I was searching for a place to have a cup of tea and stumbled upon this café. And when I say it’s small, imagine they only have three tables on the rooftop.
They had a special offer, Moroccan sweets and tea for only 30 dirhams, which I ordered. I received a full pot of mint tea, alongside two different almost based pastries, from the local bakery. Just what I needed.
Patisserie des Princes
Located just a few steps away from the main square in Marrakech, this bakery serves the most impressive cakes, which can easily rival the ones in Paris. The selection is so large that it is very hard to choose.
The bakery has a café also, so you can sit down and enjoy the cakes here. I was in a hurry though so I opted for one to go because I just couldn’t stop myself from all that sugar. I chose the Conversation cake, which was filled with jam and had a crunchy walnut and egg white topping. So indulging!
My Kawa
My Kawa is a great small café just across the street from Jardin Majorelle. You can wait for your turn in the queue, in the sun, or cross the street and enjoy a cup of mint tea alongside a cake, here.
As a pistachio lover, I just had to go for the pistachio and raspberry cake, which was divine. Not too sweet, nutty, with a delicate sharp raspberry cream balancing the flavours. At this café, you can also order a nous-nous, which is a typical Moroccan coffee consisting of half espresso and half milk, served beautifully layered in a glass.
Lunch and Dinner
Le Jardin
Le Jarding is a pure oasis away from the noises of the Medina. It’s a bit hard to find and easy to miss because it’s literally just a door in a bland and inconspicuous wall. Once you are inside though, you will find yourself inside a garden with tall palm trees, exotic plants, and a very intimate atmosphere. The tables are laid in between the plants, which create space and separate guests from each other.
Looking at the menu, I ordered the cheese brioats and the beef meatballs tagine. The brioats are traditional Moroccan pastries filled with either salty cheese or meat wrapped inside crunchy filo pastry. I always order them when I see them on a menu because they are so good.
The meatball tagine had a rich tomato sauce and was topped with a fried egg. It was delicious.
Café Clock
I keep finding myself going to Café Clock, not only for its delicious food but also for its educative programs that see a cultural event happening most evenings. When you walk through Jemaa el-Fnaa at night you will notice people gathered around a man talking and gesticulating. But you won’t understand what is happening, because it is all in Arabic. It’s storytelling. Jemaa el-Fnaa used to be the meeting point of caravans going down to the Sahara or up towards the Mediterranean Sea. They would stop here overnight, and the people would sing and dance, and talk about the stories from the road. The caravans going south knew that this was the end of life – there was only sand ahead. The caravans going north knew that the pain was over, and life was ahead.
If you want to do a unique thing in Marrakech, At Café Clock you can experience the Moroccan storytelling in English, every Thursday. On other days of the week, you can attend traditional Moroccan music concerts, such as Oud or Gnawa.
Their menu is quite interesting as well, with platters of traditional Moroccan dishes, as well as the famous camel burger, which you can only get here, in Marrakech.
Zeitoun Kasbah
I’ve wanted to go to Zeitoun for a while now but only made it here on my most recent trip to Marrakech. They are located in the Kasbah, just across the street from Saadian Tomb. They have a lovely terrace in front, where you can dine under olive trees – Zeitoun means olive in Arabic.
Here I tried the cheese-filled pastilla, as well as the lamb tagine, both being exceptional. They also have an extensive drinks menu, most of which consist of fruit energy boosters. You may know that Morocco is a dry country, and in Marrakech, inside the medina especially, it will be hard to find restaurants serving alcohol. But these mocktails, as they call them, are much better than cocktails and come with a health kick. I went for the Marrakechi mocktail, which included orange juice, banana, lemon, and rose elixir.
Mechoui Alley
There is no other place to be at lunchtime than the Mechoui Alley. Hidden behind Jemaa el-Fnaa, this is the place for the best lamb in Marrakech. Whilst most tourists will go to the famous Chez Lamine, I recommend trying any other vendor on this small alley – the lamb is all the same. In the morning, they lower whole lambs inside their underground ovens, and slow cook them until lunchtime. The meat becomes so tender, falling off the bone.
The price for lamb is per 100 grams. You can pick any part of the lamb, and the seller will cut it into small pieces for you. The lamb is served with salt and cumin, alongside fresh bread. You don’t need anything else, maybe just a cup of mint tea at the end.
The best time to come to the Mechoui Alley is just before 1. Later in the afternoon, the lamb finishes, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.
Bistrot la Saveur
If you happen to explore Marrakech beyond the Medina and the Kasbah, I highly recommend Gueliz. This is the new Marrakech, very different from the Medina, filled with great restaurants, cafes, and shopping malls.
One of these restaurants is Bistrot la Saveur. Here I had one of the best fish dishes in the entire Morocco. Delicate, cooked with an indulgent prawns sauce, beautifully presented on the plate with an edible leaf.
I had dinner here with a larger group, and every single dish looked and tasted amazing.
Bazaar Café
Bazaar is one of those very few places in the Medina that actually serves alcohol. I stumbled upon this place accidentally, when my friend and I needed a break. We noticed they had happy hour, which included a cocktail and a plate of Moroccan “tapas” for 70 dirhams. They have a lovely rooftop terrace, so we decided to take aken them up on the offer.
What came next was hard to finish. There was so much food, a selection of Moroccan bread topped with zaalouk, hummus, muhammara. The other food coming from the kitchen looked very good as well, so it’s a place I will definitely return to, to try more of their dishes.
Yazel
Yazel is a Lebanese restaurant with a very small but well-executed menu. It’s a small restaurant, with a cute terrace overlooking a main alley in the souk.
From their mains, I only tried their hummus, which was very good, but I did order their traditional Osmaliyeh dessert, which looked a bit like a Kunefe. It consisted of cheese topped with a string pancake drenched in orange blossom, topped with pistachios. So, so, so good!
Extra:
Jemaa el-Fnaa Food Stalls
As the evening comes, Jemaa el-Fnaa Square transforms into a large food market. It’s enough to walk through the stalls and you will be inundated with requests to sit down at one place or another.
Now, the food at the stalls is not bad. But it’s not great either. You will notice plenty of locals enjoying bowls of Harira soup, or deconstructing an entire lamb head. As a tourist though, you will be served tiny portions of food, and most likely, overcharged, even if the price is right in front of you. The server will smile, talk to you, take the wrong order and bring you more dishes than you ordered, and most likely give you the wrong change.
But I won’t call these stalls a tourist trap because the prices are still small, less than what you would spend at a restaurant. I would call eating here an experience that you should try if you want to have some fun. Just make sure that whatever you are ordering is cooked in front of you and served piping hot – because I have no idea how long the fish or the meat on their stalls has been standing in the heat.
Juice Stalls
The juice stalls in Jemaa el-Fnaa are all very good. You can buy a large glass of freshly squeezed juice for just 20 dirhams, which is less than £2. I always order a combination of pomegranate juice mixed with orange, which cuts through the sweetness.
For more similar articles about Morocco, check out my recommendations below:
- My perfect 10 days in Morocco itinerary
- What to drink in Morocco
- Jaal Riad Marrakech Review
- A relaxing weekend in Marrakech
Like it? Pin it!
Disclaimer: Some of the links on this website are “affiliate links.” This means that if you click on the link and do a purchase, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost for you. This helps me keep my website running and continue to share my travelling knowledge with you. I thank you for booking your flights or hotels using the links on my website. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.
These all look amazing! I had to laugh when I read the intro tho – you are almost guaranteed sun in Marrakech. I went years ago and we got two of their rare rainy days and it rained so much I actually had to throw my shoes away 🤣 But I would go back for some of these restaurants!
I’m embarrassed I have never heard of Marrakech.. I have friends who travel to London all the time and I’m sharing this post so they can take a detour.. and bring me back ALL those pastries and desserts!
This was a nice post to read, I will save it for my Marrakech trip arriving soon, I hope !! Also, your photos make me want to taste everything!!
WOW! This looks like a grand adventure! The food looks fabulous too! The roof top happy hour terrace sounded like a gem of a find!
I wish that I’d had this a year ago when I went to Marrakech, because I actually had a hard time finding good food haha. I did visit a juice stall and it was fabulous!
Dar el Bacha café looks amazing! These all look like great spots.
What beautiful photos and detailed descriptions. Thank you for so much helpful and inspirational information.