Places to eat in Marrakesh

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Stylia is housed in possibly the grandest home you will be allowed to in to dine in Africa. The history of this amazing building dates back to the 1400’s and has been described at a mine Royal Palace and the original home of an important judge. Every surface in this building is a work of art. Beautiful fountains bubble away in grand rooms with amazing white Tadellakt plaster walls. Amazing chandeliers reflect onto amazing wooden doors, interior balconies and beautiful carpets. As if highly decorated walls were not enough, there is an amazing amount of colour from multi-colored glass work embedded in the walls and ceilings. The final touches are the amazing Zellij tiles that just top of the absolute feeling of grandeur while you listen to the musicians and enjoy your meal.

I accidentally found Le Stylia in 1998, but they were fully booked. They did let me in to see the wondrous interiors before the first guests arrived. I found them again when I was showing my Mum around Marrakech in 2010. We were able to book a table for the next night and really enjoyed our experience. I had some nice beer, a samosa like starter, Lamb and Zucchini flavoured with cinnamon and of course – couscous.

The food is above average. For some reason this makes people give poor reviews. That would be to miss the point. Your surroundings are the real treat! This is an amazing palace and you get to enjoy great service in a grand style. The tables are laid with fine china, tablecloths and crystal. Your musicians are both talented and soothing. The food is good, the beers cold and the coffee is great afterwards.

My own Mum said – while we were still dinning – this is a once in a lifetime meal.

That’s right – my Mum recommends you dine here !

If you are here for a few days, stop by in the early afternoon, knock on the door until someone arrives, and get booked in.


Open only for dinner - Monday to Sunday From 08:00 PM To 12:00 AM

We had eaten street foods for several days and have to admit that the foods were starting to all taste the same and we were struggling for something unique. Also, the noise of the streets and/or the busy cafes can be a bit overwhelming at times.

That's when we found the inner courtyard at Narwama. The Moroccan~Thai fushion restaurant is set back in the quiet courtyard near the central market areas. The tables are set with white linens and there is a properly themed contemporary oriental music playing softly. The open air courtyard has a fountain that has both tumbling water, but also a live flame.

It may be a pricier than the street and slightly more than other cafes, but the food was wonderful and the overall experience well worth it.

Favorite Dish: After eating tagines for days on end, I was skeptical that we'd find one that surpassed our previous experiences, but we did. The pear mutton tagine was fantastic.

The couscous and Thai noodles were also very good. If you care for wine, they do serve but prices are a bit high.

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Lunch time one day found us close to the Saadian Tombs and all of the guidebooks recommended Nid'Cigogne. Ok, so that doesn't mean that it would be a good meal, but hey, it was close and we were hungry.

The thing that appealed to me about Nid'Cigogne was that you could apparently dine with a great view of some nesting storks - and the books were right. We sat up on the 3rd level of the restaurant and our table looked right across at a nest with two storks who put on quite a show for us during our meal with their dancing and beak-clacking performances.

So, the restaurant is split over 3 levels, and there are a couple of flights of stairs to access it from the street. We got a lack lustre welcome on arrival and very slow, disinterested service throughout the meal.

Favorite Dish: The menu consisted of light meals like sandwiches & salads, and some more traditional fare such as tajines and couscous.

We ordered a Beef Tajine and some Chicken & Vegetable Couscous to share. The couscous was ok, with some big pieces of vegetables on top, but the tajine wasn't very good.

Summing up, the food was disappointing, and expensive by Moroccan standards, but it was worth it for the storks!

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Cafe Bougainvillea is a tourist friendly cafe that was located close to our Riad. After several hours of exploring the souqs we were in dire need of a nice cup of mint tea and an escape from the craziness, and this seemed like a good option.

The cafe is located down some stairs from the street, in a Riad. The main seating area is in the bright central courtyard, and there is another seating area off to the side with comfortable looking lounges for a relaxing evening meal.

Favorite Dish: The cafe serves up a range of food - from pizza to Moroccan classics. We just wanted to have some afternoon tea, so both ordered some Mint Tea and one serve of the Petit Fours to share. The tea was refreshing and the little biscuits/cakes were the perfect size snack.

Cafe Bougainvillea is an a good place to escape from the masses for a while, though may be a bit touristy for some people.

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A busy morning of sight-seeing meant a dire need for a mint tea. We walked by a posh Riad that I had read about and I remembered that they had a tea room inside that was open to the public.

La Maison Arabe started out as a fancy restaurant back in the 1940’s, and is today also a luxury hotel. The hotel runs cooking courses and also offers morning and afternoon tea to guests and passers-by.

We were seating in a lovely, cosy sitting room while our morning tea was prepared. It was so peaceful – a world away from the goings-on outside the Riad’s door.

Favorite Dish: I had a mint tea and Alison had an espresso. They also bought us out a plate of delicious looking and tasting biscuits/pastries, which were the perfect accompaniment.

This was a pretty expensive way to have morning tea by Moroccan standards, though still only a couple of pounds per person. Well worth it to have a look inside a luxury Riad.

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On our first night in Marrakech we had dinner at our hotel, Riad L'Orangeraie. We had to tell the Riad prior to our arrival in Marrakech that we would like dinner that evening.

There is no restaurant as such, you just choose where you would like to dine within the Riad grounds - be it in the courtyard by the pool, on the roof terrace, or in the lounge area, for example. We chose to eat sitting in the small seating area just off the courtyard, opposite our room.

The table was laid out for us with scattered rose petals, and a large bottle of water. We sat back and relaxed, waiting for our meal to arrive.

Favorite Dish: First up were the 'salads', which were not your traditional salads, but instead were three hot vegetable dishes, all really delicious. There was grilled capsicum/pepper rolled and stuffed with a fruit chutney; Broad beans in a tasty sauce; and char-grilled eggplant/aubergine with tomato and cheese.

Next up was a Chicken Tajine and a big plate of couscous, though we were already nearly full from the salads and couldn't eat it all. We had purchased some wine duty free, so enjoyed a glass with our meal.

There was also dessert - orange slices served with cinnamon and dates. I wasn't a big fan of this, but Alison though it was great.

Marrakech has excellent restaurants with a variety of cuisines. The most dominant are Morrocan (of course) and French. Below is a list of restaurants I tried. I will attempt to expand the tips at a later date.

Favorite Dish: MORROCAN:
- Chez Chegrouni (lunch), Jamaa el Fna, Médina de Marrakech

- le Tobsil (dinner), 22 Derb Abdellah Ben Hessaïen, R'mila Bab Ksour, Médina de Marrakech, +212 524.44.40.52

- Dar Moha (dinner), 81 Rue Dar El Bacha (Médina), +212 524 38 62 64
www.darmoha.ma

- Café Argana (tea/coffee), Jamaa el Fna, Médina de Marrakech

FRENCH:
- Le Grand Café de la Poste (dinner in Gueliz), rue Imam Malik/Blvd El Mansour Eddahabi, Marrakech Guéliz, +212 524.43.30.38
www.grandcafedelaposte.com

FRANCO-MORROCAN:
- Le Foundouk (dinner), 55, Souk Hal Fassi, Kat Bennahïd, Médina de Marrakech, +212 5 24 37 81 90
www.foundouk.com

ITALIAN:
- Catanzaro (lunch in Gueliz), 11 Rue Tarik Ben Zayad, Marrakech Guéliz, +212 524 43 37 37

This is described as a Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant. We opted for traditional Chinese food, which was plentiful and tasty.
A wide selection of dishes, many that I have never tried before. The service was slick despite being very busy the night we were there. Four of us ate there in our group and everyone enjoyed their meal.
The atmosphere was comfortable and relaxed. Like most of Morocco, nothing is hurried. It takes longer to see the bill than be served.
If you like Chines food, this place comes well recommended.

Favorite Dish: We all had fairly simple dishes, but well presented and they tasted good. Chicken with ginger and spring onion with egg fried rice was my choice and after trying various more adventurous dishes over the the last few days, I was ready for something I would recognise.