Restaurants in The Mediterranean Coast & The Rif
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Café Clock
In a restored townhouse, this funky place has a refreshing menu with offerings such as falafel, grilled sandwiches, some interesting vegetarian options, a monstrously large camel burger, and delicious cakes and tarts. Better still, their ‘Clock Culture’ program includes calligraphy and conversation classes, a lecture program and sunset concerts every Sunday (cover charge around Dh20), attracting a good mix of locals, expats and tourists.
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La Maison Bleue
Reservations are necessary at this elegant riad restaurant. The setting is intimate and romantic, with diners serenaded by an oud player (replaced by livelier Gnawa song and dance at the end of the evening). You’ll be treated to an array of cooked salads, tajines, couscous and bastilla (savoury pastries), plus filo pastry desserts. Top marks for presentation and atmosphere.
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Thami’s
Of the cluster of pavement restaurants leading from Bab Bou Jeloud to Talaa Seghira, this small corner place under a mulberry tree probably ranks as a favourite. The food is good and comes out bubbling hot, with filling kefta (spiced meatball) tajines, fried fish and bowls of stewed beans. Eat, then sit back and watch the medina parade pass before your eyes.
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Dar Roumana
The menu here takes cues from the riad’s name – house of pomegranates. Mediterranean with a Moroccan slant, including some interesting seafood dishes such as swordfish with pomegranates. It all works fabulously, and you eat in the courtyard or in fine weather up on the wonderful terrace. Alcohol is served.
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Chicken Mac
Chicken Mac quickly serves up generous plates of rotisserie chicken, bowls of harira (soup) and other cheap, filling meals.
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Palais de Poulet
Looking down from the Hôtel Rif towards Ave Hassan II, this is one of several good and cheap rotisserie places where you can fill up quickly on chicken, chips, bread and salad. Although you order from the table, pay at the counter inside.
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Riad Saada
This is a classic Moroccan experience, from the endless plates of food (soup, couscous, tajines, salads, kebabs, grilled cakes) to the entertainment (belly dancing, traditional musicians) to the superb setting, including a spectacular open ceiling with an enormous pendulum lamp, two golden throne chairs for weddings and beautiful carved plaster walls. Enter via Bab el-Okla, turn right immediately, take second left at Optique Seffar, and you will see the entrance, a very long tiled corridor.
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Majestic
You’ll need to grab a taxi for this upscale place, although if you make a reservation the restaurant offers a pick-up and drop-off service. The stylish open-plan layout looks to London- and Parisien-style magazines for inspiration and pulls it off, while the menu is distinctly French-leaning, with some Mediterranean influences (the fish is a high point). Service is excellent, and there’s a good wine list that adds to the evening out, but pack your wallet well before dining.
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Restaurant Tissemlal
The restaurant inside the Casa Hassan is another sure-fire bet for a fine meal in enchanting surroundings. Always hospitable, this place is especially welcoming on a chilly evening, when a fire roars and warms the bones. The open kitchen is another draw, allowing guests to see the chefs at work. The menu includes the Moroccan standards with a few twists. Don't miss the fresh goat-cheese salad, a local Rif speciality.
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Le Kasbah
On several floors opposite the cheap hotels at Bab Bou Jeloud, this restaurant occupies a prime spot: the top floor looks out over the medina, making it a good place to relax over food. The menu itself isn’t overly exciting – tajines, couscous and meat from the grill, but fair value. Be warned: if you only want to linger for views and a pot of mint tea – the cost of drinks is double if you’re not eating.
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Palace Bouhlal
A sumptuous palace with plush couches, wall rugs, intimate dining spaces (especially upstairs), gurgling fountains and a grand Moorish arch complementing the usual four-course meal. Follow the lane north around the Grande Mosquée and look for signs directing you down a tiny alley. Be sure to duck into Les Secrets des Plantes first, on the right just before the entrance, where 670 spices line the walls.
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DARNA, The Women’s Association of Tangier
The yellow building opposite La Terrasse is DARNA, the Women’s Association of Tangier, a small complex offering an inexpensive restaurant, a boutique shop with women’s clothing and a sunny courtyard, making it a popular stop for lunch or just to relax. Since 2002, DARNA has served as a community house to help local women in need, such as those suffering the after-effects of divorce.
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Populaire Saveur de Poisson
This charming little seafood restaurant offers excellent, filling set menus in rustic surroundings. The owner, a self-described Popeye lookalike, serves inventive plates of fresh catch with sticky seffa (sweet couscous) for dessert, all of it washed down with a homemade juice cocktail made from 15 kinds of fruit (have a look at the vat in back). Not just a meal, a whole experience.
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Dar El Ghalia
Eat on the terrace or in the salon at this lovely guesthouse. Choose from the set menus or à la carte: there are salads, excellent harira, grills, fresh fish, tajines and couscous. Order in advance if you'd like to try pigeon trid (baked dough stuffed with meat) or mechoui (roast lamb). Wines and spirits are available. A 10% tip is added to the bill.
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Kiotori
Come to Fez and eat sushi? Why not? With a Japanese chef at the helm, and suitably minimalist surroundings, Kiotori carries off the challenge with aplomb. Choose individual sushi or tempura (battered seafood or vegetable) dishes from a wide selection or grab a mix through the set menus. Some Fassis shun it because it doesn’t have a liquor licence, but that doesn’t mean you should.
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La Lampe Magique
This magical place overlooking Plaza Uta el-Hammam serves delicious Moroccan staples in a grand setting. Three bright-blue floors include a laid-back lounge, a more formal dining area and a roof-top terrace. The menu – featuring favourites like lamb tajine with prunes and some great cooked salads – is better than average, but this place is really about atmosphere.
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Restaurant Zitouna
In the heart of the medina, this grand establishment offers the same palace restaurant style you'd find in Fès. Its ornate covered courtyard is done up with zellij and stucco, with several small salons for more restrained dining. Traditional Moroccan dishes are naturally the order of the day, with pastilla being something of a house speciality.
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Les Trois Sources
If pressed, locals in the know will 'fess up and say that this cosy French restaurant in the Country Club is their favourite place to eat in Fez. The food is excellent, the wine list is well balanced and the atmosphere is extremely welcoming. The restaurant will collect you from your medina hotel and return you after dinner at no charge if you call in advance.
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Al-Kasbah Restaurant
This place has a great flavour, with its central dining area and series of secluded booths decked out as Berber tents. Well-cooked Moroccan standards are the order of the day (individual courses can also be ordered), plus a paella that's worth the extra wait. Eat quickly though, as dishes tend to appear while you're still finishing the previous course.
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Restaurant el-Korsan
One of Tangier’s top restaurants, this chic and classy place inside the El-Minzah offers a smaller, more intimate version of the palace restaurant theme – without the bus tours. Well-presented Moroccan classics are served to soft live music, and often traditional dancing. Reservations are necessary, including one day prior notice for lunch. Dress well.
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Auberge Dardara Restaurant
This is the best kitchen in the area, and worth the 10-minute drive from town (to Bab Taza, Dh5). The Tangerine owner forgoes the tajine and couscous routine for cosmopolitan spice and the freshest ingredients, most grown on site, and others, like the anchovies, imported from the coast that day. The succulent goat cooked with sweet figs is a marvel.
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Restaurant Bouayad
Just inside Bab Bou Jeloud, this restaurant is more popular with tourists than locals, but still turns out a good range of Moroccan dishes – the fish tajine is particularly good. The interior is nicely cool in the hot summer months, although staff build up enough of a sweat, as the small kitchen can get overwhelmed when the place is packed out.
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Cafés
Unsurprisingly, it's hard to get past the Cafés on Plaza Uta el-Hammam for a long juice or a relaxing mint tea. From mid-afternoon, hawkers do the rounds of the cafés carrying trays laden with sticky pastries for sale. In the back rooms, local men play cards and smoke kif - worth a look, although women won't feel particularly welcome.
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Chez Vittorio
This dependable favourite covers the rustic Italian restaurant angle well, right down to the candles and checked cloths. The food is good value, and while the initial service can be a bit creaky your meal tends to arrive in a trice. Go for the pizzas or steak, as the pasta often disappoints. You can also enjoy a glass of wine with your meal.
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Annae e Paolo
This is the top Italian bistro in the city, a family-run restaurant with Venetian owners that feels like you have been invited for Sunday dinner. Expect a highly international crowd, lots of cross-table conversations about the events of the day, wholesome food and a shot of grappa on the way out the door. Watch your head on the way upstairs.
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