Dinner show and late bar, Moroccan, French and Thai · €€€
The nearest night out: a palace-style restaurant on Rue Haroun Errachid, a 4-minute walk into Hivernage, that runs the evening in three acts. Dinner from 19:30 is a fusion menu of French bistro classics, Moroccan dishes and Thai plates, served in lamplit patios while belly dancers, fire-eaters and live musicians perform around the tables, and from 23:30 a live band takes over until 2:00. It opens every night; book a table and dress for the evening.
Reserve aheadRue Haroun Errachid, Hivernage, Marrakech
Rooftop lunch, sushi bar and sunset drinks · €€€
The round roof of the Nobu Hotel, five minutes away in Hivernage, is the place for a lunch in the sun or a sunset drink, with 360-degree views over the city to the Atlas. A circular pool sits at its centre, with cabanas around it; the kitchen serves Mediterranean and Moroccan-inspired plates from noon, and the sushi bar offers nigiri, sashimi and maki from noon to 18:00. DJ sets start after dark, and the bar runs until 1:00, later on Fridays and Saturdays. Elegant casual, no shorts, and payment in dirhams only.
Reserve aheadNobu Hotel Marrakech, Rue du Temple, Hivernage, Marrakech
Japanese and Peruvian, Nobu Matsuhisa's menu · €€€€
Downstairs in the same hotel, the dining room serves the menu Nobu Matsuhisa made famous: black cod miso, rock shrimp tempura and yellowtail sashimi, with dishes that borrow Moroccan flavours alongside. It is the obvious change from a week of tagines, and an easy walk home. Dinner is every evening from 19:00 to 1:00, and until 2:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; from Monday to Thursday, Tanoshi Hour pairs cocktails with small plates in the lounge from 19:00 to 22:00. Book ahead, and dress smart casual.
Reserve aheadNobu Hotel Marrakech, Rue du Temple, Hivernage, Marrakech
Moroccan and Mediterranean dinner with a show, since 1999 · €€€
The Hivernage institution on Avenue Echouhada has been one of the city's set-piece nights out since 1999: Moroccan and Mediterranean cooking in an oriental dining room, with belly dancers, Gnawa musicians and DJ sets as the evening goes on. Order the pastilla, a tagine or the couscous royal, and a cocktail from the bar. The restaurant serves every night from 19:00 to 1:00, and the patio and club run until 3:00. It is much in demand, so book; the dress code is smart casual, with no sportswear, shorts or, for men, sandals.
Reserve aheadAvenue Echouhada, Hivernage, Marrakech
Moroccan fine dining · €€€€
The other palace's Moroccan dining room, behind a brass door off the blue patio of the Royal Mansour's restaurant pavilion, an 8-minute walk away. Hélène Darroze oversees its kitchen, which cooks traditional recipes at haute cuisine level: sh'hiwates, pastilla and couscous in the house style, under high ceilings to oud and lute music. It belongs to Les Grandes Tables du Monde. Dinner is every evening from 19:00 to 22:30, with a Friday couscous lunch from 12:00 to 14:30; book well ahead.
Book well ahead: tables go weeks outRoyal Mansour Marrakech, Rue Abou El Abbas Sebti, Marrakech
French classics and Moroccan dishes, Es Saadi resort · €€€
The restaurant of the Es Saadi resort, opened in 1966, keeps the old art of service in the dining room: dishes carved and flambéed at the table, a Prestige menu in the French manner and Moroccan specialities beside it. Try the briouates of foie gras with caramelised apple, honey and cider vinegar, then the sole meunière filleted at the table or a Chateaubriand with béarnaise, out on the open-air terrace in good weather. Lunch is from 12:30 to 15:00 and dinner from 19:30 to 23:00; book ahead online or by phone.
Reserve aheadEs Saadi Marrakech Resort, Rue Ibrahim El Mazini, Hivernage, Marrakech
Rooftop restaurant and cocktail bar facing the Koutoubia · €€€
A rooftop in the Medina with an open-air terrace looking straight at the Koutoubia minaret, four minutes by taxi or an 11-minute walk past the mosque. The kitchen is Mediterranean with a sushi menu from a chef trained under a Japanese master, and the bar pours cocktails, spirits and wine among palms, rattan and jungle prints. Come for a drink at sunset with the minaret in front of you; after dark there are DJ sets and live music. It opens every day from 11:00 to 2:00, with brunch, lunch and dinner; book for the terrace.
Reserve aheadKissariat Ben Khaled R'mila, 1 Rue Fatima Zahra, Marrakech
Breakfast is not included in any room rate, and the hotel gives its price on request. It is a buffet at Le Pavillon de la Piscine by the pool, every day from 7:00 to 11:00: fresh juices, home-made jams, pastries, pancakes, breads and eggs any way you like, with Moroccan r'ghaif and baghrir with honey and butter, harira and a tagine of quail eggs, and fruit, cheese and muesli. Room service serves breakfast à la carte, and the Pierre Hermé tea rooms do a lighter one of pastries, juice and Ispahan yoghurt. Outside, La Grande Brasserie at the Royal Mansour, an 8-minute walk away, serves from 7:00 every day, with Hélène Darroze's French brasserie menu.
