Chefchaouene Restaurants

The owner's son of our hotel took us to this restaurant which is on the road leading down from the Parador hotel.

It was nicely decorated and the food was OK although I don't recommend the Chefchouen couscous which was a bit bland and sparse on ingredients (couscous,onions, cinnamon and milk which you can add in!). It seemed clean enough and we didn't get ill afterwards which is a great sign!

I liked the little booth type areas which give you relative privacy.

Favorite Dish: I enjoyed the Tajin Kefta which is a meat dish. It is basically little flavoured meat patties in a tomato sauce.

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This is one of the resturants in Outa Al-Hammam area. A meal should cost less than 40 DH. Food was good and the menu has the typical coscus, Tagine and the Salads. It is a nice place to sit relax andf watch people.

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It is one of the many restaurants on the Uta el- Hammam square where the mosque is.

This one caught my eye as it was decorated with my favourite material which is vibrant stripy blue.

The menu and prices were the average: 30 dm a dish for cous cous or tagines.

On the down side you have to use the public toilets which are across the square (this goes for all the restaurants in the plaza) and it is filled with naughty cats that jump up beside you.

On the plus side we didn't get ill after eating there.

Favorite Dish: The chicken tagine and the beef cous cous were good although the other tagine we got was a bit bland.

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If you are in Plaza Uta el -hamman with your back to the Al Kasbah take the first little street to your left, right there on the right hand side you will see a restaurant with tables outside and some Arabic material covered 'booths'. you know if you have got the right place if you walk in and see a shoe smith to your right.

The menu wasn't more expensive than other places though the food was a little better than the tourist trap places on the square. The service was good too and what is even better, you don't get ill afterwards!!!!!

Another thing I really liked were the clean western toilets with paper and nice smelling pink soap!

There are several photos attached of the food, tea, place and er... us too!

Favorite Dish: The menu is the SAME as all the other restaurants: Couscous or tagine of chicken, lamb, fish or veggies.

The two most expensive a nice looking restaurants in chaouen are Aladin and Casa Hassan.

Aladin is on Plaza Utal el-Hammam and is directly in front of the Kasbah. It has serveral floors and a large out door terrace at the top. It is nicely decorated and clean looking.

The menu was something like 80 dm (8 euros) and 45dm (4.5dm) for each dish. This is slightly more expensive than a 60-70 dm average in other places for a menu and 30 for each dish.

Casa Hassan is just round the corner to the left if you are looking at Aladin. The restaurant looks nice and big and the food looked good too. The prices are about the same as the Aladin.

Favorite Dish: As with all other places you can choose from tajines and couscous of chicken, vegetable, lamb, beef or fish.

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This restaurant is one of the more expensive in town. The major plus point to this place is the view of the main square, although the restaurant itself has rather nice surrounds. While the terrace overlooks the square, the entrance is around the back of the building, clearly signposted. La Lampe is set over three floors, painted in deep blues, mirroring the blue streets of Chaouen.

After 8pm the place fills up a bit more, otherwise it's a little bit on the empty side. The Moroccan feel to the place is lost a bit on the odd music that is piped through. Service is very good, we were served by a very smiley but quiet waiter. The food also came out fairly fast.

Pity that the tables are too low for the dining chairs that you're seated on, because it means your stopping to eat your meal, a bit bad for your back if your lanky like me.

Favorite Dish: We had the 'menu completo' of three courses for 75 dh. Some of the dishes, those with shrimp, were unavailable. I had a tagine of meat (lamb) with prunes. This came with much less in the way of accompanying stewed veg than I'd had in other places and was nothing too impressive. 'Pastilla', a Moroccan specialty of chicken in a pastry square with icing sugar over it and a hint of cinammon, got the thumbs up.

The best thing here actually was the Moroccan soup, which we both had and was one of the better that I had while in Morocco. Nice and spicy.

The desserts are a little dull, although I enjoyed my crepe with chocolate. All in all, a safe tourist bet if you don't mind paying a little more, but in comparison to Restaurant Tissemlal which is round the corner and at the same price, but much tastier and better value.

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This is the second of the two more expensive tourist aimed restaurant options in the Medina, the other being La Lampe Magique and I'd say that this is streets ahead. While our first impression was that it lacked atmosphere due to the cold glare of energy saving lightbulbs, the comfy seating and decidedly smokey at times) open fire downstairs changed out initial view. The guidebook notes that this place is 'enchanting' which would be a bit over the top but it is a nice option for a more special meal.

The restaurant is basically set around an enclosed and roofed internal courtyard. Staff were polite and friendly enough. We were grateful to them as we'd initially gone to sit upstairs but they found better seats downstairs for us without us even asking.

In the background is a tape of Andaluz guitar music. The restaurant is probably well aware that it has a decent reputation, as a framed article from Conde Nast Traveller attests but it doesn't seem to be sitting on its laurels.

Favorite Dish: We went for the 'menu completo', three courses at 75 dh. Plenty of bread and olives arrived and then we both started the meal with a warming Moroccan soup. Then I had a really tasty, sizzling meat ball tagine with egg in a rich tomato sauce. Andrew had a meat tagine which wasn't quite as special but still passed muster.

Desserts were tastier and more imaginative than most menus. Fresh pomegranate and honey went down refreshingly well on a full stomach, while the tarte limon, basically cheesecake, was lovely, rich and with hints of the goat's cheese the area is known for.

This place is good value for a restaurant in its class and I'd recommend a visit. Service is included automatically with a 5 percent addition to your bill. Total for two people including soft drinks was 174 dh.

While originally looking for 'Restaurant Chefchaouen' featured in LP, we found this nice place right next door, that seemed a little newer, a little younger, just a bit more interesting.

This place has a funky interior for you to lounge around on, with three sections for you to eat your meal by candlelight in the evenings. We ate here on different days and the food was consistently good quality and value for both lunch and dinner.

The place seems to be a family affair with two teenage lads working the tables and cooking if mother isn't around. They really worked rather hard one night in particular, but nevertheless were really polite and friendly. In particular one ran out to get me cigarettes when I asked where the nearest kiosk was, which was totally unexpected and well beyond the call of duty.

Oh, and some good Arabic pop playing too!

Favorite Dish: As well as being really friendly, the food was also notably tasty. The chicken brochettes at 30dh were so nicely marinated that both of us actually commented on them and came with delicious home-made chips, lovely rice and great bread too in fact.

Moroccan salad was also great, both to look at and to eat, with a ratatouille style sauce and local goat's cheese. Coffee was good, as was a mint tea that we were given for free on our first visit.