Kosher Travel and Shabbat in Morocco: A Practical Guide

Morocco’s Jewish community is small, roughly 2,100 people according to the World Jewish Congress (2020), and most live in Casablanca. That is why kosher food is concentrated in a few neighbourhoods of Casablanca and Marrakech, and why it thins out quickly elsewhere.

Since December 2021 one body, the Commission de la Cacheroute de Casablanca, has held the exclusive right to issue kosher certificates (the teudah) and the “Label Cacher Maroc” for products and services in Morocco, under an inter-ministerial circular of July 2021. Its religious rulings come from a Beth Din (rabbinical court) of five rabbi-judges, and it supervises butchers, restaurants, caterers and hotel holiday programmes. Directories usually describe this supervision as “Beth Din de Casablanca”. Some holiday programmes also advertise a foreign hechsher (supervision mark) such as OU or Top-K.

The system is not free of disputes. In November 2022 the commission publicly warned against a Marrakech restaurant, whose owner contested the decision, and in 2022 the head of the Council of Jewish Communities of Morocco described a “war” over the label with butchers. In practice this means a certificate is only as good as its date: ask to see a current one.

The rabbi and rebbetzin who run Chabad in Casablanca have said that glatt meat, chalav Yisrael dairy and many packaged snacks are largely imported. Supply can be patchy, menus are short, and a restaurant that is open in March may have changed hands by October. Chabad’s published food lists are the best second check, and they are candid: several restaurants appear on them with the note “parve options only”, meaning Chabad does not vouch for their meat.

Casablanca is the easiest city in Morocco for kosher food, and the only one with several bakeries and shops. See our Casablanca guide for the synagogues and museum.

Restaurants with diner reviews from 2025–26. The Cercle de l’Union, a community club restaurant and caterer on Rue Abderrahman Sahraoui, has reviews into April 2026. Chabad lists it as a meat restaurant but marks it “parve options only”, so strict travellers should ask for the certificate and may prefer the parve dishes. Chez Michel, a kosher meat restaurant described as inside a Jewish community complex on Boulevard Moulay Youssef, has a diner review from April 2026; its supervision is not published and it is not on Chabad’s list.

Check before you go. The Cercle de l’Alliance and S.O.C. (Route d’El Jadida) are both on Chabad’s list as meat restaurants marked “parve options only”, with no recent reviews. Le Chandelier at Hotel Le Palace d’Anfa has advertised OU glatt meat and Beth Din of Casablanca supervision; Chabad held its Shabbat meals at that hotel in October 2026, but there is no dated proof that the à-la-carte restaurant itself is operating.

Bakeries and groceries on Chabad’s current list: Madame Fhal (parve, 63 Rue Jaber Ben Hayane, on the same street as Temple Beth-El; one guide says the family has run it since 1930), Elbaz Bakery (parve, Rue Dijla), My Little Bakery (Rue Al Morrakochi), Aroma (pizza only, and Chabad says to ask for chalav Yisrael cheese) and Sucré Salée, a dairy grocery. None has a recent dated review, so treat opening hours as unconfirmed.

Chabad also lists three mikvaot (ritual baths) in Casablanca: Mikvah David Hamelech and Mikvah Chabad for women, and a men’s mikvah. Addresses and hours are not published; immersion is arranged privately through Chabad.

Marrakech has the second-largest choice, almost all of it in the new town of Gueliz. See our Marrakech guide for the mellah and the High Atlas shrines.

Open in 2026, by diner reviews. Falafel Sababa (parve, 7 Rue Ibn Sina) is one of only two places on Chabad of Marrakech’s food list and has reviews into October 2026; it closes on Saturday. Chez Abehssera, a Moroccan-Jewish restaurant on Rue de Yougoslavie, takes reservations for a Shabbat menu, but names no hechsher. Wasabi, a kosher Asian restaurant at 17 Rue de Yougoslavie, had reviews in June 2026; its directory listing says “service cacher” without naming a certifier.

Dar Ima is a popular Moroccan-Jewish restaurant in Gueliz, with reviews into September 2026 and Shabbat meals to order, but its kashrut is unresolved. The Casablanca commission warned against it in 2022, it is not on Chabad’s list, and no dated certificate has been found. Ask for the current one before you treat it as kosher.

The other Chabad-listed address is Aperi’k Kosher Market (20 Rue Loubnane), a grocery with meat and dairy, useful if you are staying in a villa.

Check before you go. Directories also list SK Events by Sandra Kakon, a caterer that advertises weekday and Shabbat meals delivered to hotels, riads and villas under the Rabbinate of Casablanca; Schnitzel Factory; La Coupole (events and Shabbat meals by a caterer); Terraz Pashutaim at Les Jardins de Sarah (OU and Beth Din of Casablanca listed, last review 2023); and Grill and Kosh. None has dated evidence from 2025–26. The Axo restaurant at the Atlas Asni hotel, still found in older guides, is listed as permanently closed.

Chabad of Marrakech lists Mikvah Beit El for women, booked through Chabad.

Fes. The Dragon restaurant at the Palais Medina & Spa hotel in the new town was billed on its opening in 2022 as the first kosher restaurant in Fes, advertising OU, Lubavitch and Moroccan Beth Din supervision. Its latest diner review dates from July 2023, so confirm with the hotel before relying on it. The community’s Centre Maimonide near the Sadoun synagogue has served kosher meals, especially around Shabbat, but its own page was last updated in 2020; any meal there is arranged through the Fes community. A medina restaurant called “Chez Maimonide” is a different business and is not kosher. Details are in our Fes guide.

Tangier. The city’s only kosher listing is the Jewish club, Le Cercle de Tanger, under Rabbi Jacob Torjmane. Group itineraries for February 2027 schedule a lunch at “Chez Rica, Jewish cercle”, probably the same place. Meals are for pre-booked groups; ask for supervision details in writing. See the Tangier and Tetouan guide.

Rabat. Le Cercle Rabat, the community club restaurant, has disappeared from the directories that listed it, and nothing dated after 2023 was found. Do not count on kosher meals in Rabat unless the community confirms them for your dates.

Agadir. Chabad of Agadir, near the city’s synagogue, offers kosher catering, Shabbat and holiday hospitality and kosher supervision (its site was updated in September 2026). It is the practical option for Agadir and the Taghazout resorts.

Essaouira, Meknes, Tetouan and Chefchaouen have no kosher restaurant, and neither do the High Atlas valleys, the desert or the Anti-Atlas. Many of the best heritage sites are in exactly these places, so a kosher itinerary needs a food plan for every day.

The usual tools are:

Caterer meals. A certified caterer in Casablanca or Marrakech prepares sealed meals that travel with you or are delivered to your riad. Availability outside those cities is on quote and must be confirmed each time.

Packed food and groceries. Bread from a kosher bakery, packaged products with a recognised hechsher and supplies from a kosher grocery cover breakfasts and picnic lunches on long driving days.

Vegetarian and fish meals, with care. Some travellers who keep kosher at home eat fresh fruit, raw salads or simply prepared fish in ordinary restaurants; others will not eat anything cooked in a non-kosher kitchen. That is a personal and rabbinic decision, and your guide and driver will respect whichever standard you keep.

When we plan a kosher itinerary, we place Shabbat in Casablanca or Marrakech, keep nights in towns without kosher food to a minimum, and arrange the caterer and supplies before you land. Tell us your standard (glatt, chalav Yisrael, Pas Yisrael, Chabad-certified only) when you plan your trip, and we build around it.

Chabad is the main resource for visiting observant travellers. Chabad has worked in Morocco since 1950, and today there are Chabad houses in Casablanca (Rabbi Levi and Chana Banon), Marrakech (Rabbi Shimon and Rachel Lahiany) and Agadir. All three host Shabbat and holiday meals, and all ask you to register in advance through their websites. In October 2026 Chabad Casablanca’s Shabbat meals were held at Hotel Le Palace d’Anfa, with Shacharit (the morning service) at 09:45. Chabad Marrakech also asks visitors to schedule any visit in advance.

There is no eruv (the boundary that permits carrying on Shabbat) in Casablanca or Marrakech, according to both Chabad houses. Plan to carry nothing outside your hotel.

Walking distance. Chabad Casablanca publishes walking times from its house: Barceló Casablanca (5 minutes), Gray Boutique (7), Kenzi Towers (8), Onomo (10), The Casablanca (15), Barceló Anfa (18), Hyatt (30) and Four Seasons (36); it also lists Idou Anfa without a time. Chabad Marrakech lists Riad Dar Sido (1 minute), Riad Mazal and Hotel Ayoub (2), the Migdal Gueliz apart-hotel (10), Radisson Blu (13) and Les 3 Palmiers (14). Check these against your own pace and the heat before booking.

Practical points. Arrive in your Shabbat city by Friday early afternoon. If your hotel uses electronic key cards, ask for a mechanical key or for a staff member to open your door. Your driver and guide take Shabbat off, and many Jewish sites are closed on Saturday anyway, including the Museum of Moroccan Judaism in Casablanca. Active synagogues such as Temple Beth-El receive visitors by arrangement, with a security check at the door, and are not open for tourism on Shabbat and holidays.

The only fully kosher hotels in Morocco are holiday programmes: an outside operator takes over a resort’s kitchens for Pesach or Sukkot (occasionally also a summer season), under its own supervision. Outside those dates the same hotels are not kosher.

Listings for Pesach 2027 (evening of 21 April to nightfall on 29 April) include The Address Club at Le Méridien N’Fis in Marrakech (Beth Din of Casablanca), White & Blue at the St. Regis La Bahia Blanca in Tamuda Bay, Royal Events by White & Blue at The View Agadir, and Sarah Tours at the Banyan Tree Tamouda Bay and Marina Smir hotels. Osher Holidays has announced a programme at the Rose Garden Suites & Villas in Marrakech. For Sukkot 2026, programmes ran at resorts in Marrakech and Taghazout Bay.

Quality varies: one Marrakech Pesach programme in 2026 drew public complaints from participants. Our Passover and Mimouna guide explains how to vet a programme and what to ask before you pay a deposit.