Eating, drinking and dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Marrakech.
Restaurants
Le Foundouk
Guided by men in cloaks and a lantern, down a dusty alley, you'll find this chic purple-hued dining den: a riad eaterie with a cosmopolitan feel, good cocktails and tasty Moroccan/Mediterranean fusion food. Try the grise wine, a very light Moroccan rosé, with Harira soup and seafood, or grilled sardines and tagines with a robust bottle of something red. Nab one of the highly sought-after tables on the first floor overlooking the giant wrought-iron candelabra, and it feels a little like you’re sitting in an art installation. If you’re in a group, swap the super-comfy leather tub chairs for one of the banquette-style cubbies – great for people-watching. Closed Mondays.
55 Souk Hal Fassi, Kat Bennahïd, Medina, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 378190)
Villa Rosa
The latest addition to Marrakech’s hip dining scene has live DJs, a fashionable Hôtel Costes vibe, Parisian decor with plenty of red velvet and dark corners, and a European menu. Get one of the tables for two facing the terrace through the French windows, or in the library for a more intimate evening. Open till 02h.
64 Avenue Hassan II, Guéliz, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 449635)
Le Comptoir
This place is well-known among Marrakech’s in-crowd. With less-than-demure belly-dancers and skilled musicians, it has a fantastic energy, making it a great place in which to eat trad Moroccan or international options with a group of friends. (The bar is fun for a pre-dinner drink, even if you are not dining there.)
37 Avenue Echouhada, Hivernage, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 437702)
Le Tobsil
This traditional restaurant is one of the best-known for multi-course Maroc cuisine, so there are lots of tour-group types and, unless you have an enormous appetite, the set menu works out as a bit of an extravagance. Prices include wine and aperitifs, and performances by traditional gnaoua groups.
22 Derb Moulay Abdellah Ben Hessaien, Bab Ksour, Medina
(+212 (0)24 444052)
Dar Moha
Another trad-Maroc option opposite the walls of Dar el Bacha, set in what was formerly the house of Pierre Balmain. Good, delicately aromatic Franco-Moroccan cuisine: alongside well-balanced tagines and pastillas, there are fusion dishes such as baked scallops and saffron sorbet. Try to get a table in the walled garden by the pool; reservations essential.
81 rue Dar el Bacha, Medina, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 386400)
Kosy Bar
Set on the palm-lined Place des Ferblantiers, this trendy sushi and Maroc-Asian fusion restaurant and bar near the Mellah district is spread across three floors. Whether you’re in the mood to lunch on pasta and salad or feel like picking at Japanese for dinner, if it’s balmy, definitely get a ringside spot on the roof terrace overlooking the square. The cigar/piano bar on the ground floor can be a romantic setting at night, and is usually rocking a jazzy soundtrack.
47 Place des Ferblantiers, Kzadria, Marrakesh
(+212 (0)24 380324)
Dar Yacout
Fine Moroccan dining at a splendidly grand restaurant that is part of the Marrakchi night scene and has entertained the King of Spain and Will Smith; this place is all about the architectural wow factor. The set tasting menu costs €70 a head, including drinks.
79 rue Sidi Ahmed Soussi, Arset Ihiri, Medina, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 382929)
La Maison Arabe
Originally a restaurant dating back to the 1940s, and now a hotel, this is still a quiet, grown-up spot for lunch: excellent stock-drenched couscous, tender tagines, fresh juices and fantastic coffee. Get a table in the courtyard or in the little ante-room.
1 Derb Assehbe, Bab Doukkala, Medina, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 387010)
Dar Zellij
Up in the Sidi Ben Slimane quarter, this small, intimate, relaxed Moroccan restaurant is set in a 17th-century riad. Set menus consist of salads, briouats, pigeon or fish pastilla, chicken, lamb or vegetable tagine, then desserts and mint tea with traditional sweets. It’s also open for Moroccan brunch from 10.30h–15h (www.darzellij.com).
1 Kssour Sidi Ben Slimane, Medina, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 382627)
Dar Marjana
Fun, long-established Moroccan restaurant built around a plane tree in the centre of a courtyard more than 25 years ago and still run by the same family. No reservations? No chance – book well in advance or see if your concierge can wangle one for you. Wave after wave of Moroccan food, a great atmosphere and traditional belly-shaking, foot-stamping gnaoua entertainment. Although increasingly a tourist hangout, locals still have a soft spot for Dar Marjana.
15 Derb Sidi Ali Tair, Bab Doukkala, Medina, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 385110)
Lolo Quoi
If you’ve tired of tagines and can’t face couscous anymore, you can get oven-fired pizzas and pastas in this modern lounge bar cum restaurant.
82 Avenue Hassan II, Guéliz, Marrakech
(+212 (0)72 569864)
El Fassia
Rather uniquely for Marrakech, this traditional Moroccan restaurant is run entirely by women, and serves up spot-on tagines and fluffy couscous.
232 Avenue Mohammed V, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 434060)
La Tanjia
This stylish brasserie on Derb J’did in the medina has excellent tagines, couscous and fish dishes. The rooftop terrace is a great place to relax at sunset with views over the ancient alleyways.
(+212 (0)24 38 38 36)
Cafés
Jardin Majorelle café
Inside the Yves Saint Laurent-owned Majorelle plot is a chic little Bougainvillea-curtained garden café with sage-green Parisian-style metal chairs. Try Thé Vert 1001 (green tea with rose petals) or an Infusion Parfum de Sultan (rooibos with orange zest). You’ll have to pay the entrance fee to gain access, but if you go around midday, you’ll probably get the gardens to yourself and can nab a table for lunch afterwards. Alternatively, have breakfast before you tour the plants.
Jardin Majorelle, off Yakoub el Mansour, Guéliz, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 301852)
Le Grand Café de la Poste
This Parisian-style bistro is popular with Marrakchi businessmen and European expats, and is a handy stop-off if you're shopping in Guéliz. Have a citron pressé, or a café au lait, and muse over how much the old outskirts of Marrakech have changed since the café's 1920s sorting-office heyday.
Corner of Boulevard El Mansour Eddahbi and Avenue Imam Malik, Guéliz, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 433038)
Bars and clubs
Bô Zin
Mojitos, delicious Thai and French fusion food, leather banquettes, cala lilies, moody lighting and minimalist fireplaces – you could almost be in New York. Almost. The elegant, slightly could-be-anywhere decor is the natural result of an aesthetic born in Marrakech, farmed out to stylists in London and LA, and flown back.
Douar Lahna, Route de l’Ourika, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 388012)
Pacha Marrakech
Go for lunch and lounge by the pool, or for dinner at one of the two restaurants (pierced-lantern lit Jana for Moroccan food; deco-fabulous Crystal for international fusion), followed by drinks and dancing at the club (www.pachamarrakech.com).
Nouvelle Zone Hôtelière de l’Aguedal, Boulevard Mohamed VI ex Avenue de France, Marrakech
(+212 (0)24 388400)