Food specialties to try out in Marrakesh

There are so many food specialties to try out in Marrakesh, so I’ve made you a list of the most famous and tasty ones !

If you are coming to Marrakesh, you cannot miss the food culture there.

Whether it is couscous, tajine or Morrocan pastries, I’ll list here what specialties you can find and where to try them.

First of all, the tajine is a must to try. It’s a North African dish, named after the cone-shaped clay pot in which it’s cooked. The Moroccan tajine are usually slow cooked stews with meat, vegetables, dried fruits and most importantly many spices !

Another specialty is the couscous. The base consists of semolina and is typically served with meat and vegetables. It is also made with lots of spices.

My favorite savory moroccan specialy is the pastilla. It’s a pie made of thin layers of puff pastry, filled with chicken (or pigeon), eggs and almonds. This mixture of sweet and savoury flavoured with cinnamon is the perfect snack !

We also got to try Hssoua, a semolina soup. It’s usually served for breakfast and consists of a soup with very very fine semolina and milk.

I also recommend trying a pita bread at the Mazel Cafe. Their lamb or falafel pita bread are amazing. The service is fast and very nice as well.

If you go in the souk, you can try olives, spices, and many other specialties like their flatbread.

You simply cannot come to Morocco and not try their famous Corne de Gazelle and other sweets !

The best places I’d recommend trying sweet pastries is La Patisserie des Princes. It’s 2 minutes by foot from Jemaa el-Fnaa and the choice available as well as the quality is unmatched. Beware of streets vendors because you don’t how long those pastries have been on their carts.

There’s a lot of cute cafés as well in the souk (mostly hidden, you have to be curious) with great rooftops. The second picture was a shop at first glance, but it had the most lovely rooftop area.

If you wander in the souk, you can try dattes, they are quite big and really sweet.

My love of mint tea began in Marrakesh so that says a lot ! It is a specialty there and you will get the chance to try it almost everywhere you go ! You can find it in cafés, restaurant, food stalls, they even offer you a cup of mint tea in some shops !

Morrocan breakfast are sweet in general. So you will get an opportunity in your Riad to try some pastries, sweet bread and tea as well.

• As I mentionned earlier, you cannot miss when going to Mazel Café to try their pitas. The atmosphere is really nice as well.
• La Patisserie des Princes is the go-to place for sweet morrocan pastries.
• Le Café des Epices is a really nice café restaurant in the medina.
• We also really enjoyed dining in the food stalls at night at Jemaa el-Fnaa. Be careful of raw vegetables that may have been washed with tap water. I would focus on grilled meats there but the vibrant atmosphere and warm welcome of vendors is to be discovered at least once during your stay !
• We didn’t drink tap water, neither tried juices at Jemaa el-Fnaa as they maybe use tap water as well for the ice cubes. If you do buy a juice, maybe throw out the ice !

We had a wonderful time trying all the best food specialties in Marrakesh and I’m sure you will too !

If you plan on visiting Marrakesh any time soon, check out my 4 days itineray in Marrakesh, or this article if you are looking for some tips before coming.