"Orient at its Best!!!" a Marrakesh Travel Page by chala

Hotel Breakfast ist somteimes chaotic!

We stayed two years ago at the Royal Mirage(former Sheraton) and ist was pure Chaos and awful??

In November we stayed at the Meridien. The location , the terrace etc. were much nicer, the food looked much better, but still there was chaos. I believe the reason for this are the travel groups. They all go on tours or sightseeing and one or two busloads full have to be ready at the same time..

We went out of Meridien and just walked one Block down , theere are several cafes, we liked the first one very much(Caruso). In the buildiing around the corner is a bank, and I think Morocan television or broadcast, you sit outside, theres a fountain splashing and they do have nice breakfasts very cheap ( compared to the hotel!!!) still delicious, VERY GOOD coffee, fresh ly squeezed orange juice and you can see all kinds of people meeting there doing business, walking by, it is really fun

We do love Al Fassia, food is just wonderful, although the chairs and tables are very low and not comfortable for tall people!!! They moved from a nic elocation where they did have a garden before, a shame...

Not far from the restaurant fassia is a big cinema, I think its COLISEUM and right opposite is a nice garden restaurant i.e. the garden is a courtyard, food is quite decent
If you walk towards the main street Boulevard Mohamed, on the same opposite side of the cinema side is one more restaurant very near to the crossroads that I do not remember the name, but it has metal bars outside and some tables outside, they do pizzy in an woodfired oven and they do have a really nice courtyard. Food ios somehow mixed up international moroccan but not bad and the owner is very kind!

on the big street there just across the crossroads are some really tempting pastry shops, If you love sweets, go there. Morocan pastry is not so sweet as some turkish ore some middle eastern (baklava can be sirupy soaked)really nice and lean here

also intersting if you speak french ther is between the 2nd and 3rd restaurant recommandation a bookstore, where you have to got steps down where you can get really nice cookbooks ore used very nice interior design magazines and books for a bargain. I found a cookbook which I wanted to buy here at amazon for 29.90 Euro for abour 8 Euro... Interior morocan design magazines for half the price...

Right across from our hotel , the Meridien is a woderful place called Rendezvous, The bar ist packed and they do have live music sometimes( but the smoke...) and the restaurant inside and outside is also nice. If you have long legs, sit outside, becouse the tables do have a kind of massive column in the middle so you have to put yours legs around or beside it... Food is just wonderful, local food we did like expecially were the appetizres so called moroccan salads in reality some kind of purees sometimes served in a kind of wrought iron tree...

in the souk they sell salt-lemons , they put them in plasticbags, but if you want to take them home, take a ride to the supermarket, I think they do have only one big supermarket there, named marjane or something like it, and buy them in little sealed plastik containers, they keep longer!!!, If you like to try rosewarter , they do have gorgeous one in the supermarket and I bought a nice and nutty argan oil 600ml for about 7 Euro!!! and the pomegranate sirup (same brand as the rosewater in 250ml bottles each) is a blast!!! It is better to take theat stuff canned, it just keeps better and is safer in the luggage... The best ras el hanout ever tried I did also buy here, they did have two different kinds in the spice shelf, I took the one with rose petals in it it is just gorgeous