Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Left
Souk wares
Centre
Dining area
Right
A local serving mint tea
Shopping and Eating
!
Bargaining
&
The set meal
consider before you buy:
how well will a brass
platter the size of a
tractor wheel fit with
your furniture at home?
And would you actually
dare to wear the canary
yellow slippers and take
a stroll down a high
street at home?
Haggling is de rigueur
in the souks. If you don't
haggle, you may pay
massively over the odds.
It all revolves around the
considerable difference
between the price
offered by the seller and
the price that he will
actually accept if pushed.
Shop around and get a
few different quotes on
identical items before the
game begins in earnest.
@
The offer of tea
In the cheaper
restaurants a set meal
consists of a starter
(soup or salad), followed
by a main dish and
finishing with a dessert
(usually something like a
crème caramel or fruit).
At the more expensive
restaurants such a meal
involves more courses
than could ever be eaten.
*
Opening hours
%
For something
different
If you want a break from
the monotony of the
always busy souks and
wish to purchase some-
thing more unique but
distinctly Moroccan, visit
some of the shops that
line the medina, such as
Atelier Moro, Kif Kif and
Kulchi
(see p70)
, or
Scènes du Lin
(see p78)
up in the New City. All
these places are run by
young designers with a
very unique take on local
crafts and traditions.
^
Types of
and reservations
Many restaurants open
only for dinner, typically
from around 7:30pm until
10:30 or 11pm. You may
find it difficult to scout a
place for lunch away
from Jemaa El Fna or the
New City. Reservations
are advisable for popular
restaurants
(see pp52-3)
.
You will invariably
be offered tea as part of
the bargaining process.
Accepting places you
under no obligation to
buy. It does, however,
allow the seller more
time to draw your atten-
tion to other potential
sales. If you aren't that
interested in what he has
to offer in the first place,
then definitely decline
the tea.
£
Avoiding the
(
Alcoholic drinks
Most restaurants
frequented by Western
tourists have a license to
serve alcohol. The
Moroccan rosé wines are
perhaps the best of the
lot. In Ramadan
(see
p103)
some restaurants
that normally serve
alcohol stop selling it.
Restaurants
There are two types of
restaurant in Marrakech:
those that offer Moroccan
food and those that offer
international food. The
Moroccan restaurants
either feature an à la
carte or set menu. The
set menu meal is some-
thing you do once and
never repeat again
(see
below)
. Your next even-
ing's meal could probably
be Moroccan à la carte,
and if you're around a
third night, you may want
to dine at one of the
restaurants serving excel-
lent international cuisine.
hard sell
The sales pitches of the
souk traders are nothing
if not amusing. But if you
are not interested then
just walk on, don't res-
pond and don't catch
anybody's eye. No seller
is going to waste time on
somebody who is not
going to purchase goods.
)
Prices
It is possible to eat
well for not very much.
However, many of the
more popular and
fashionable restaurants
in Marrakech charge
European prices. The
prices given on menus
usually include all taxes,
but check if the service
is included.
$
How will it look at
home?
A souk is a seductive
place with items that
may tempt you into a
purchase. But stop to
109
The pharmacies are generally open by 8:30am and stay
shut for lunch.
