Francis Pearce explores the souks and alleys of this Moroccan city in search of the best eating experiences, some of them in cool courtyards scattered with rose petals

Though it is less than three hours away by plane, Marrakech is deeply and fascinatingly foreign. Few places are more immediately and hypnotically alien than the great, broad Place de Jamaa el Fna in the walled Medina with its snake charmers, teeth-pullers, conjurors, snail sellers, beggars, donkey drivers and water carriers, and the narrow, noisy, crowded souk at its margins.

With the Atlas Mountains hanging like a curtain on the horizon, the city’s draw is also in its food, influenced as much by trade with Asia and Moroccan style...

To dine for…Le Yacout
A long-time favourite of expatriates (mainly French), this was designed by American architect Bill Willis, who, the story goes, was sent over by the billionaire Paul Getty to find a home to add to his collection, and couldn’t leave. It is an enormous house with walls of marble-like tadelakt or stucco and huge Berber lanterns, created to encapsulate everything Marrakech.

Here you’ll find glazed filigreed plasterwork, carved wooden doors, seductively low-cushioned banquettes, fountains, candles, and the bluesy Ganaouan music of the Sahara played on a three-stringed guimbri and metal castanets.

The food is traditional Moroccan and includes festive dishes such as the classic djez makalli (chicken with preserved lemons and olives). We began with an array of cold dishes that included chillied olives, peppers with thyme and lemon, spiced puréed veal liver, and lamb spring rolls.

These were followed by a succulent pigeon pastilla dusted with fine sugar, a tangy slow-cooked lamb tajine, soksou (cous cous with seven vegetables), and a dessert of tooth-achingly sweet crispy pastilla with milk.

Dinner costs from £30 per person plus wine. You will need to book. Le Yacout, 79 Sidi Ahmed Soussi
(00 212 44 38 29 29).

French connection...Le Pavillon
Beautifully restored, this 19th-century riad is located outside the Medina with fig and olive trees and a candlelit pool at its heart. Chef Laurent Torridec gained two Michelin stars at Les Mouscardins in Saint Tropez.

The restaurant offers an enticing mix of Moroccan-influenced French and classic local cuisine including pastillas and tajines. A subtle backwash of culinary influences has resulted in the sweet/bitter combinations of fruit and spices that characterise Moroccan food, adding an extra layer to dishes such as the succulent carré d’agneau en croûte d’herbes et noisettes, or herb-crusted loin of lamb with hazelnuts, and the turbot served with carrots and cumin. Lobster ravioli with a sublime sauce estragon is a regular on the menu, which changes daily.

These were followed with a melting magret de canard with quince, and then a spicy ginger soufflé, an echo of Torridec’s menu in Provence. To round off, we drank mahia, or fig eau-de-vie, under the branches of a fig tree and a starry sky.

A three-course meal à la carte costs around £36 per person plus wine.
You will need to book. Le Pavillon, Derb Zaouia, Mosquee de Bab Doubkkala, Medina (00 212 44 38 70 40).

Taste for adventure…Casa Lalla
A rare and rewarding gourmet experience awaits those who manage the difficult feat of actually getting into the place. Double Michelin-starred chef Richard Neat has retreated from a helter-skelter business life in France and Britain to build a creative oasis in Marrakech. Casa Lalla is on the roof of his hotel, the Riad Zitoune Lakdime where a stay involves first dibs on an invitation to dine at eight precisely. The set price tasting menu depends on the inspiration and ingredients Neat finds each morning. The 14-cover restaurant reluctantly turns away about 30 people a day. ‘Casa Lalla is meant to be our home, with residents and diners who “participate” in the environment of such a place,’ says Neat. ‘Some people come here expecting a similar level of “props” and “accessories” found in a Michelin-starred restaurant and miss the point entirely.’ If you are not staying, you will need to book three months ahead. Bring your own bottle.

Dinner costs about £30.
Casa Lalla, 16 Derb Jemaa, Riad Zitoune Lakdime (00 212 44 42 97 57).


Party food…Pasha
This nightclub complex outside Marrakech is destined to be the hub of the nouvelle zone hôtelière with some 7,000 hotel rooms, being built over the next seven years. If that puts you off, then you are probably not one of the 3,000 young rich that architect Miguel Cancio Martins designed Pasha to entertain each night. Its clients are said to be more sophisticated than those of the original Pasha in Ibiza. Many are wealthy partying Parisians or cocktail-set Casablancans with a bit of style, hence the ambitious inclusion of two new restaurants, both aiming for the top tier. Jana offers Moroccan cuisine in riad-like surroundings, with traditional music and less traditional belly dancing, and serves superbly executed classic Moroccan dishes including tajines. Crystal offers mainly French cuisine with direction from the multi-Michelin starred consultant chef Alain Ducasse, along with ‘nouvelle cuisine Marocaine’: dishes such as lamb with rice and tomato marmalade with menthol.

Pasha (Jana and Crystal), Nouvelle
Zone Hôtelière De L’Aguedal, Ex
Avenue de France (00 212 44 38 84 00).

Where to stay
Riad Zitoune Lakdime, 16 Derb Jemaa (00 212 44 42 97 57) has eight simply decorated rooms ranging in price from £68 to £85 per night, b&b. Casa Lalla is upstairs.

Dar Donab, 53 Dar El Basha-Bab, Doukkala (00 212 44 44 18 97)
describes itself as a ‘guest palace’. It is indeed sumptuously decorated and built around a beautiful and tranquil tiled courtyard, but the royal suite is affordable, costing around £200 a night in high season (depending on the exchange rate).

Riad Lotus Ambre, 22 Fhal Zefriti, Quartier Ksour-Medina (00 212 44 44 14 05) is a beautifully restored, cosy and charming but chic little riad in the Medina with Moorish décor and the latest electronic gadgets in the rooms. Breakfast on Moroccan pancakes under the orange tree. Its funkier sister, Perle, is aimed at the Pasha crowd, with a three-storey mirror on one side of its courtyard and a central swimming pool. Rooms available from about £125 for Ambre and £170 for Perle.

Kasbah du Toubkal, Imil, Asni (00 212 44 48 56 11) is a guest house close to Toubkal, the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains. It offers stunning views, Berber food prepared by the people of the adjacent villages, and accommodation ranging from £24 a night for a dormitory bed to £480 a night for a two-bedroom house. Francis Pearce flew to Marrakech
with Atlas Blue.

Other places to try
Dar Marjana, 15 Derb Sidi Tair, opposite Dar El Basha (00 212 44 38 51 10) has a palatial courtyard where rose petals are strewn liberally throughout. Flowers float in the fountain and there is lute music under the cypress trees. Dining rooms can be shuttered off for les amoureux. Dinner costs £40 including all drinks.

Dar Moha, 81 Rue Dar el Bacha (00 212 44 38 64 00) was once owned by Pierre Balmain and offers fusion décor and modern Moroccan cuisine with seasonal changes, including sea bass tajine and cous cous with melon and thyme honey. The fixed menu costs about £32 plus wine.

Narwama, 20 Rue Katoubia (00 212 44 44 08 44), a favourite of Moroccan royals and patronised by the likes of Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie, offers two cuisines, prepared under different chefs, Moroccan and Thai. The Moroccan dishes include a fish tajine, and soksou, both priced at £11.