Restaurants in The Atlantic Coast
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outdoor
One of Essaouira's best food experiences is the outdoor fish grills that line the port end of Pl Moulay Hassan. Just choose what you want to eat from the colourful displays of fresh fish and seafood outside each grill, agree on a price (expect to pay about Dh40 for lunch) and wait for it to be cooked on the spot.
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Rick’s Cafe
‘Here’s looking at you kid!’ Cashing in on the Hollywood hit Casablanca, this beautiful bar, lounge and restaurant is run by a former American diplomat, with furniture and fittings inspired by the film, and serving a taste of home for the nostalgic masses. Lamb chops, chilli, hamburgers and American breakfasts as well as a few excellent French and Moroccan specialities are all on the menu. There’s also an in-house pianist, a Sunday jazz session, wi-fi access and, inevitably, souvenir T-shirts. It’s a stunning setting and a good place for late-night drinks. You can watch the film again and again on the 1st floor.
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Elizir
The best restaurant in town by far, this place was temporarily closed at the time of research, but will hopefully reopen soon. The Elizir serves a perfectly cooked mix of Moroccan and Mediterranean dishes with an innovative twist. The owner of this old house just off the main street is super-friendly, and loves to talk about where he found all the iconic 1950s and ’60s furniture he has collected from local junk markets. The decor is sublime, and if it were in London or New York, it would be voted the hippest place in town.
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Café Maure
Nestled in the ochre walls of the sqala, an 18th-century fortified bastion, this lovely restaurant is a tranquil escape from the city. Choose to sit in the rustic interior or the lovely garden surrounded by flower-draped trellises and enjoy the wonderfully relaxed atmosphere and friendly service. The menu favours seafood and salads, although meat dishes are also available, and the exotic fruit juices are simply sublime.
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La Fibule
Subtle lighting, warm colours and an elegant decor give La Fibule an inviting atmosphere. The food is a mixture of well-prepared Moroccan and Lebanese, served at low tables overlooking the ocean through large windows.
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La Scala
Excellent Moroccan restaurant, popular with wealthy Moroccans, Arab tourists and Westerners, which makes for a pleasantly cosmopolitan atmosphere. The food is elegant and fresh, and beautifully presented.
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Pâtisserie Driss
For morning croissants or an afternoon pastry the best places to go are Pâtisserie Driss (which has a hidden seating area) and Café Faid, both near Pl Moulay Hassan.
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Snack Amine
Tucked between the chicken rotisseries by the Marché Central, Snack Amine serves up big plates of simple but tasty fried fish, and platters of the freshest seafood.
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Via Veneto
Small, intimate trattoria that serves the best Italian fare in town, including excellent pizzas baked in a wood oven and a great selection of fish.
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La Siciliana
A bustling little trattoria, this hits the spot with a long list of good wood-fired pizzas.
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Sqala Restaurant
Nestled in the ochre walls of the sqala, an 18th-century fortified bastion, this lovely restaurant is a tranquil escape from the city. The café has a rustic interior and a delightful garden surrounded by flower-draped trellises. No alcohol is served, but there’s a good selection of teas and fresh juices. It’s a lovely spot for a Moroccan breakfast (Dh70) or a selection of salads for lunch (Dh68). Tajines are a speciality (the goat tajine with argan oil being particularly good), but the menu features plenty of fish, as well as a selection of meat brochettes.
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La Brasserie la Bavaroise
Locals and expats like to hang out in this upmarket brasserie behind the Marché Central, partly for the French cuisine, partly to see and be seen. It offers a good selection of fish as well as French classics such as veal, steak and pheasant cooked to perfection. Meat is grilled on a wood fire. It has a pleasant atmosphere and a friendly welcome. Every month the menu features specialities from a different region of France. The same owners also run La Bodega next door, a great tapas bar.
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Restaurant du Port de Pêche
This authentic and rustic seafood restaurant in the middle of the fishing harbour is packed to the gills at lunch and dinner as happy diners tuck into fish freshly whipped from the sea and cooked to perfection. The fish and tangy paella are some of the best in town. The decor is very 1970s with red-and-white gingham tablecloths. Service is professional and swift. Book ahead as this place is very popular with Casablancais from all walks of life.
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Le Mystic Garden
Giant glass walls swathe this sleek, two-storey restaurant-cum-bar in light. Downstairs leads onto a garden; upstairs overlooks the ocean. It’s an ultra-cool hang-out for Casa’s well-heeled youth but the Mediterranean menu is well worth sampling. Dinner is accompanied by low-key sounds that morph into a full-on disco beat later in the evening, and for once on this strip the beer isn’t astronomically priced.
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Chez Nada
West of Bab al-Kasbah, this is a quiet modern family-run place, famous for its excellent and good-value tajines, including one with pigeon. There’s a male-dominated café downstairs, and main dining room on the 1st-floor terrace with great views over the gardens. Food is home cooking and excellent. Pastilla (pie) and couscous (Dh60 to Dh95) should be ordered a couple of hours ahead.
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La Maison du Gourmet
This upmarket gourmet restaurant serves an inventive menu of the finest of French and Moroccan cuisine, run by a couple, he French, she Moroccan, both trained by Paul Bocuse. Specialities include a heavenly pastilla with confit of duck and foie gras. The elegant surroundings, excellent service and exceptional food make this the perfect address for a special occasion. Book ahead.
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Restaurante Les Alizés
This popular place, run by a charming Moroccan couple in a 19th-century house, has delicious Moroccan dishes, particularly the couscous with fish and the tajine of boulettes de sardines (sardine balls). You’ll get a very friendly welcome. Book well ahead as it fills up every night, both with Moroccans and visitors. It’s above Pension Smar.
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Paul
The French chain of bakery and patisserie has arrived in Casa, in the gorgeous art-deco Villa Zevaco. There is a constant flow of people here, coming as much for the food and decor as for the pleasure of being seen in this trendy hang-out. Excellent breakfast is served, and there is also a menu of salads, snacks and other Mediterranean delights.
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Yacht Club Restaurant
Also known as Restaurant du Port, the fish couldn’t be fresher at this modernist waterfront restaurant situated inside the commercial fishing port. The lighting and decor are plain, but the food, particularly the freshly fried and grilled catch of the day and calamari, is reliable and the service hassle-free. There’s a terrace for warm days.
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Le Rouget de l’Isle
Sleek, stylish and charming, renowned for its simple but delicious and light French food, Le Rouget is one of Casa’s top eateries. Set in a renovated 1930s villa, it is an elegant place filled with period furniture and contemporary artwork. The impeccable food is reasonably priced though, and there’s a beautiful garden. Book in advance.
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Taverne du Dauphin
A Casablanca institution, this traditional Provençal restaurant and bar has been serving up fruits de mer (seafood) since it opened in 1958. This is an old-fashioned family-run place, and one taste of the succulent grilled fish, fried calamari and crevettes royales (king prawns) will leave you smitten.
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Jnane Soussia
A delightful restaurant, a short walk from Bab Zorgane, with tented seating areas set around a large pool in a garden adjacent to the ramparts. The house specialities are a mouth-watering mechoui (whole roast lamb) and pigeon pastilla, which have to be ordered in advance, but everything here is good.
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Les Blancs
The best-located restaurant in Agadir by a long way. At the very northern end of the beach and at the entrance to the new marina development, Les Blancs is a chilled, elegant, white-tiled bar, lounge and restaurant. A Spaniard runs the kitchen serving a mix of Andalucian and Moroccan dishes. Service can be slow.
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Le Refuge
The wonderfully wild coastline north of Safi, with its dramatic cliffs sheltering gorgeous sandy coves, makes a great drive. The first stop is the headland of Sidi Bouzid, where you’ll get a great view back over town. It’s a good spot for lunch at the popular fish restaurant Le Refuge.
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A Ma Bretagne
Locally promoted as the best restaurant in Africa, this self-consciously cool establishment is all modern lines and superb food. Although seafood tops the bill here, you can opt for some other French delicacies, cooked by the maître cuisinier (master chef) André Halbert. It’s 5km out of town.
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