Marrakesh Roundup

We did all the things in Marrakech, but which ones bear repeating? Here’s our list of places we still harken back to – and would go back to. And when you go to Marrakech, you should check them out to.

Tops

• Cafe Atay – We stumbled into this café while I was hangry and low on caffeine one day. It was an emergent situation, and we were barely aware of our surroundings. It wasn’t until the 3rd employee suggested we’d be happier on the rooftop that we finally took the bait. And WOWZA, did this place rank. The coffee was tops. The food was as good as any café we visited. And the views…. wow. With multiple terraces to pick from and a chilled mist coming off the shaded covers, this was the perfect place to grab lunch, enjoy a coffee or spend an afternoon with a book.
• La Sultana – You may have heard us talk about our High/Low travel style. This falls into the high category and we had the MOST amazing lunch there. (On Fridays, they bring in fresh seafood from their sister property in Oualidia, and we ate it ALL). But whether you’re grabbing a coffee, a drink or a splurge of a meal, their rooftop is not to be missed.
• L’Mida – You’ll notice a Rooftop theme in our recommendations. This is another one that didn’t disappoint. The view was tops, and I also enjoyed the food and count this as one of our better dinners.
• Le Foundouk – This restaurant has a rooftop, but we didn’t eat on it and it was charming nonetheless. Higher end than some of our other meals, gets points for romantic ambiance and awesome service. And olives, always. J remembers his chicken rice thingy as the most delicious meal he ate in Morocco, so there’s that too.
• M Heritage – This wasn’t our original destination. When we arrived at El Fenn, lunch had ended and they recommended M Heritage as an alternate. Not only were they were kind enough to call and see if there was space, but rather than telling us how to get there, they sent someone to collect us and walk us over. We had a lovely lunch on their unexpected patio, and recommend you do same.
• Drinks at Barometer – In a mostly dry city, this was a welcome find. The drinks were delicious, creative and included real, actual booze! And the bar itself was a find – and a little hard to find, too. Look for a large B at street level and a large bouncer at the top of the stairs down. We sat at the bar and watched the bartenders work their magic. My favorite drink was made with Mahia, a fig-based local liquor; enjoy it while you’re there, because we couldn’t find any to take home .
• Pergola Jazz Bar was another fun spot to grab a drink. It was a happening rooftop down an elaborate set of alleyways. The main floor restaurant (Bistro Arabe) also looked like a pretty fun spot. The cocktails were liberal and the spicy popcorn bottomless. Even though it seemed like the most happening place in town, last call was still 11pm.
• Mazel was one of a number of good-looking spots in the main Square in the Mellah. It was a quick and healthy spot for falafel bowls, shwarma and the like. Extra points for some good lemonade, and a lovely shady, misty patio. We recommend it, but don’t make it your destination – more importantly, see the Mellah area that surrounds it!
• Marrakchiya restaurant was a fairly basic eatery, that could easily be put in the category of ‘cheap and cheerful’ – a label which would underserve this delicious gem! Some of the best food we ate, at some of the best prices we paid. And the rooftop view was nothing to sneeze at either.
• Restaurant and non-profit, Amal – this one made the list by a hair. Was it the best meal we ate? No. Was it the prettiest patio? Also no. But did we feel good about contributing to this great organization? Yep. And we still talk about the tart and frothy mint lemonade they served.

Hyped

(we tried these so you don’t have to)

• Dar el Bacha Coffee Shop. This might have been a great spot before Instagram ruined it. Now, it’s a coffee shop with an admission fee, a +2 hour wait and a courtyard full of wavy haired, sundress wearing content creators. Show up the minute it opens and beat the show, or skip it and get a cuppa elsewhere.
• Nomad is on many ‘must’ lists, though we would put it on the ‘must not’. We first heard about it when the couple next to us at another restaurant were discussing it as a let down; Apparently it was home to a new chef, and the food now sucked. Having eaten there, we can’t disagree. It was trendy and the menu was appealing, but the food was bland and unspecial. The service was also among the worst we experienced.
• Sister restaurant to Nomad, +61 is a trendy spot in Gueliz. Compared to other places we ate, it was fine but didn’t warrant the raves it seemed to garner. I can’t recall a single thing we ate, and the food came out at lightning speed (after giving us a hard time about availability, they could have had us fed and out the door in 20 minutes, tops). Like Nomad, they serve wine, so it did make for a nice evening out in Gueliz, and if you’re heading to Barometer for a drink, no one will fault you for choosing to eat at +61 on the way… but there’s no need to make this a destination.
• El Fenn rooftop bar – After a lovely lunch at M Heritage, we doubled back to grab a drink here. It was a lovely spot, but we weren’t sorry they hadn’t been able to seat us. It felt more like a rooftop pool bar than anything else, and as noted above, there are much nicer rooftops to be had.
• Jardins de La Medina – perhaps not the most popular destination, this might not make it to your list anyways. But, given how close its name sounds to so many other restaurants we encountered, best to be sure. This was exactly the kind of place that you should eat if you are jet-lagged, wanting to stay in your hotel and hopefully expensing your dinner. Live music on Thursdays includes hits from Air Supply and notable crooners. If this doesn’t sound like your scene, avoid.

Sights and Spas

Here’s some of the other things we did and random commentary to help you decide how to spend your time.

• If you’re in Morocco, get yourself to a Hammam. We spent a blissful afternoon at the Alphais Spa and would totally recommend it! The scrubbing left us smooth, the massage was firm and effective, and the mint tea in the lounge afterwards was poured from just the right height. 5-stars.
• We debated about whether to visit any of the local gardens and were glad in the end that we made it to Jardin Marjorelle Sure, the walkways were clogged with posers trying to capture just the right light, and there were lineups at some of the familiar spots (see: anything that’s a cover image online), but it was legit beautiful, and breakfast in their café was among the best breakfasts we ate.
• When we asked our cab driver what sites were a must in the ‘Kech, Madras (School) Ben Yousef was his top pick. And he was right – it was spectacular. The tiles… the angles… the symmetry… it made for some good picture taking across corridors and through tiny classroom windows. (But… not more than 10-15 minutes worth, which makes for a poor value equation on the 150 dhr price of admission. It was a pretty, but pricey stop).
• The Jewish cemetery in the Mellah area might not sound like a ‘must see’ but it is.
• You may want to take a cooking class, we did. We looked hard for a small group class that would start at the market, and enjoyed meeting Chef Asma, and the 3 other participants that day. We made some tasty food and picked up some good tips. But, while Chef Asma was a good host, we had bought Chef Laila’s teachings, not her daughter Asma’s. We also never got the recipes to take home. Chef Laila’s Cooking class is #12 of 241 in the area, and while we enjoyed our day, I’d suggest checking out #1-11.
• We were super psyched for this Marrakech by night tour from Guru Walks. It started off well enough, but quickly devolved into a tour of our guides personal areas of interest, and his homemade facts. It was a free tour, so no loss and we gained a few laughs. You might have better luck with one of their other guides and routes.
• I’m not sure the Yahya Lighting store was meant to be a tourist stop, but we treated it like a Gallery stop, and the staff didn’t seem to mind one bit. We roamed around imagining where in our Superyacht we’d have space for one of these stunning pieces. In the end, we decided not to purchase anything LOL, but it inspired some of our shopping in the Souk (and gave us decor ideas for our future Superyacht!).
• You might read the list above and wonder what we did with our time that WAS well-spent? Importantly, none of the above were a waste of time. They were all fun experiences and gave us great stories to tell. But the one adventure that never got old and never dissapointed was getting lost and found in the Medina* . Even when we were taking a wrong turn, jumping out of the way from motorcycles, or trying to discern hospitality from harassment in the Souk, it was the highlight of our trip. Cheers to vacationing in the funky Old Medina!
  *if you click through the link, you’ll see a 3.5/5 rating. Not sure what governing body rates the Medina, but this is wrong. 5/5 all day and night.)

Thanks for reading, and happy travels! We’ll see you on the road…