Most popular
Private Morocco travel
Moroccan food is not one cuisine — it changes between the Atlantic coast, the imperial cities, the Atlas and the desert south. Here is what is genuinely worth planning a day around, how to drink mint tea properly, where alcohol fits in a Muslim country, and how to eat well without spending a day unwell.
Start hereThere is no such thing as "Moroccan food"
There is Fassi food from Fes — refined, sweet-savoury, the pastilla and the stuffed pigeon, the closest thing Morocco has to a court cuisine. There is Marrakchi food, blunter and better: tanjia, mechoui, grilled everything. There is coastal food in Essaouira and Casablanca that is basically Atlantic fish an hour off the boat. And there is Amazigh mountain food, which is what I grew up on in the High Atlas — barley, butter, dried meat, and bread that carries the whole meal.
Standard tours feed you the same three dishes in six cities. That is the part of Morocco most worth fixing, and it costs nothing to fix: it is a matter of who books the table.
What to eatThe dishes worth planning a day around
1
Tagine — and why yours is probably boring
A tagine is the pot, not the dish. Slow-cooked over charcoal, the conical lid returns the condensation so nothing dries out. The versions on tourist menus — chicken with preserved lemon and olive, lamb with prunes — are genuinely good and served everywhere, which is exactly the problem. Ask for kefta tagine with egg, or the vegetable tagine in a Berber village where the vegetables were grown fifty metres away, and it becomes a different food.
2
Tanjia — the one to order in Marrakech
Marrakech's own dish and the one almost no visitor eats. Lamb or beef with preserved lemon, cumin and saffron sealed in a tall clay urn and traditionally left in the ashes of the neighbourhood hammam furnace for hours while the men are at work. It is unctuous, deeply savoury and completely unlike a tagine. Order it a day ahead where possible.
3
Couscous — on Friday, and not from a restaurant
Couscous is Friday food, eaten after midday prayers, and properly made it is steamed three times over the broth until the grain is separate and light. Any restaurant serving it on a Tuesday is reheating it. The best couscous you will eat in Morocco will be in someone's home, and arranging exactly that is one of the more useful things a private operator can do for you.
The rest of the list
- Pastilla (bastilla) — layered warqa pastry, traditionally pigeon, now usually chicken or fish, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar. Sweet and savoury at once, and the dish that tells you Fes was a court city
- Harira — the tomato, lentil and chickpea soup eaten to break the fast in Ramadan, and comfort food year round
- Bissara — fava bean purée with cumin and a lick of olive oil, eaten for breakfast in winter for a few dirhams. One of the best cheap things in the country
- Mechoui — whole lamb slow-roasted in a pit oven, sold by weight. Ask for the shoulder
- Rfissa — shredded msemen bread under chicken, lentils and fenugreek. Traditionally fed to new mothers; wildly good
- Zaalouk and taktouka — smoky aubergine and roast pepper salads that arrive before everything else. Do not fill up on the bread
- Msemen, baghrir and harcha — the flaky, honeycomb and semolina breakfast breads, with butter, honey or amlou
- Amlou — almonds, argan oil and honey ground to a paste. Morocco's answer to Nutella and considerably better
- Sfenj — fresh doughnuts fried in the street in the morning and sold on a loop of string. Eat them within ten minutes
What to drinkMint tea, and the pour
Green gunpowder tea, a fistful of fresh mint, and more sugar than you are comfortable with. It is poured from a height — that is not showmanship, it aerates the tea and builds the head of foam that tells you it was made properly. It arrives at the beginning of a negotiation, the end of a meal, and any time someone wants you to stay longer. Refusing the first glass is fine; refusing all three is a small unkindness.
Ask for it bla sukkar (no sugar) or light on the sugar and no one will be offended. In the Sahara you may be given it with a pinch of saffron; in the mountains, with wormwood in winter, which tastes medicinal and works.
- Nous-nous — literally 'half-half', espresso and hot milk. The default Moroccan coffee order
- Fresh orange juice — pressed in front of you on Jemaa el-Fna and across every city, for very little money. Genuinely one of the pleasures of Morocco
- Avocado smoothie — avocado, milk, almonds, dates. Sold as a drink, closer to a meal
- Almond milk and sharbat — chilled, floral, non-alcoholic, and often what you will be offered at a celebration
PracticalitiesAlcohol in a Muslim country — the honest answer
Alcohol is legal in Morocco and available, but it is not part of public life. Licensed hotels, riads, and mid-to-upper-range restaurants serve wine and beer; Morocco makes decent wine of its own, mostly around Meknes. Supermarkets in the new cities have a section for it. What you will not generally find is alcohol in medina restaurants, in small towns, or anywhere near a mosque, and drinking in the street is not done.
Two practical notes. During Ramadan, service to Muslims stops and many venues suspend alcohol entirely — if that matters to your trip, ask us before you book those dates. And if you want a riad with a bar or a wine list, say so at the enquiry stage; it genuinely narrows the list, and it is easier to filter for at the start than to fix later.
Yes, we can work with itIf you have dietary needs
- ✓Halal — the default everywhere. Nothing to arrange. See halal Morocco tours
- ✓Vegetarian — easy. Vegetable tagine, zaalouk, bissara, lentils, msemen. Say 'no meat and no chicken' explicitly, since chicken is sometimes not counted as meat
- ✓Vegan — workable with notice. The obstacles are butter, honey and egg rather than meat, and we brief kitchens ahead of arrival
- ✓Gluten-free — the hardest, honestly. Bread is structural to a Moroccan meal and semolina is everywhere. It is entirely doable on a private tour where we brief every property, but it is not something to leave to chance at a roadside stop
- ✓Nut allergy — take it seriously here. Almonds and argan are in pastry, tagines and amlou. Tell us the severity and we will carry it in writing, in Arabic and French, to every kitchen
- ✓Kosher — requires specific arrangement, and we work with certified providers in Casablanca and Marrakech. Common on our Jewish heritage itineraries
Straight adviceEating well without losing a day to it
Most visitors are fine. The ones who are not usually made one of four mistakes, and none of them involve street food.
- Drink bottled or filtered water, and use it for teeth. Tap water in the cities is chlorinated and locals drink it, but your gut has not spent twenty years getting used to it
- Eat the busy stall, not the quiet one. Turnover is the whole story — a grill with a queue of Moroccans has been cooking for four hours, not four days
- Be careful with salads and cut fruit at buffets rather than in the street, because the risk is the rinse water, not the food. Fruit you peel yourself is always fine
- Go easy on day one. The oil, the spice and the sheer quantity are a change even when everything is impeccably clean. This is the real cause of most 'food poisoning' on day two
- Carry rehydration salts. Pharmacies are excellent, everywhere, and Moroccan pharmacists are well trained — but have a sachet in the vehicle rather than needing one at 11pm
OrientationWhere to eat, by city
- Marrakech — tanjia and mechoui, the Jemaa el-Fna stalls at dusk, and one proper dinner in a Gueliz restaurant where the cooking is Moroccan and the room is quiet. See the Marrakech guide
- Fes — the sweet-savoury Fassi repertoire, pastilla, and a rooftop dinner in a riad. Book, don't wander
- Essaouira — grilled sardines at the port, an hour off the boat, eaten at a plastic table with your hands
- Casablanca — the best restaurant city in Morocco and almost nobody realises it. Fish at the Corniche, and the Habous quarter for pastries. See the Casablanca guide
- The High Atlas and the south — the simplest food and often the best. Bread from a wood oven, butter, vegetables, dried meat, and tea. Ask to eat where the driver eats
Food fits naturally into a wider route — see things to do in Morocco for how it sits alongside the rest, and the culture guide for the etiquette around a shared table.
Most popular
Top rated
Family friendlyGood to knowFAQs
What food is Morocco famous for?＋
Tagine, couscous and mint tea are the three everyone knows. The ones worth seeking out are tanjia in Marrakech, pastilla in Fes, bissara for breakfast, and rfissa. Couscous is traditionally Friday food, so a restaurant offering it mid-week is reheating.
Is it safe to eat street food in Morocco?＋
Yes, if you choose by turnover rather than appearance. A busy grill with Moroccan customers has been cooking continuously for hours. The genuine risks are rinse water on salads and cut fruit, and simply eating far more oil and spice than you are used to on day one.
Can I drink the tap water?＋
City tap water is chlorinated and locals drink it, but visitors should stick to bottled or filtered water, including for brushing teeth. It is not a hygiene problem so much as a different mineral and bacterial profile than your gut is used to.
Can you get alcohol in Morocco?＋
Yes, legally, in licensed hotels, riads and mid-to-upper-range restaurants, and in supermarket sections in the new cities. Morocco makes its own wine, largely around Meknes. You will not usually find it in medina restaurants or small towns, and it is not consumed in public. During Ramadan many venues suspend it entirely.
Is Moroccan food spicy?＋
Aromatic rather than hot. Cumin, coriander, ginger, saffron, cinnamon and ras el hanout carry the flavour; chilli heat is served on the side as harissa. If you cannot take heat you will be perfectly comfortable, and if you love it, ask for harissa and you will get it.
Can you accommodate vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free on tour?＋
Vegetarian is straightforward, vegan is workable with notice, and gluten-free is genuinely doable on a private tour but needs planning because bread and semolina are structural to the cuisine. We brief every kitchen on your route in advance rather than relying on the conversation at the table.
What is a Moroccan breakfast?＋
Bread and pastry rather than eggs: msemen, baghrir or harcha with butter, honey, jam and amlou, plus olives, soft cheese, mint tea and coffee. Fresh orange juice almost always. In winter, bissara instead. Most riads will do eggs if you ask.
Should I do a cooking class?＋
If you like cooking, yes — a good one starts in the souk buying the ingredients, which is half the value. We would rather book you a half day with a cook in a home or a small riad kitchen than a large group class, and it costs about the same.
Tell us your dates and whether food is a priority — you will have a complete custom itinerary within 48 hours, with the tables already thought about.
Design my journeyProposal in 24–48h · No deposit to start · Unlimited revisions
Begin your journey
Reading is lovely. Going is better.
Everything on this page comes from more than twenty-five years of taking travellers there. Tell us what moves you and it becomes an itinerary.
Proposal in 24–48h◆No deposit to start◆Unlimited revisions
Start with the journeys or how it works.