Dinner show and live band, Moroccan, French and Asian cooking · €€€
The nearest table to the hotel, on Rue Haroun Errachid, and a Hivernage fixture for about twelve years. Dinner is served from 7:30pm in dimly lit patios while oriental dancers, fire-eaters and live musicians perform through the evening, and from 11:30pm a live band takes over until 2am. The menu runs across Morocco, France and Asia: order the tangia marrakchia, the city's dish slow-cooked in a clay jar, or a tagine of chicken with preserved lemon and olives; there are set tasting menus of Moroccan or Asian dishes at 850 dirhams a head. Open every day; book ahead.
Reserve aheadRue Haroun Errachid, Hivernage, Marrakech
Moroccan dinner show and club, since 1999 · €€€
A Hivernage institution on Avenue Echouhada since 1999, in an oriental setting with a patio, a terrace and a first-floor club. Come for the show as much as the food: an Arab-Andalusian orchestra from 8pm, belly dancing at 9:30pm and again at 11:20pm, and Gnawa musicians in the first-floor club from Sunday to Thursday, then resident DJs. The cooking is Moroccan and international, from pastilla and couscous royal to lobster ravioli, and dinner runs from 7pm to 1am, the club to 3am. Expect 600 to 900 dirhams a head with drinks; smart casual, no shorts or sportswear. Book several days ahead.
Reserve aheadAvenue Echouhada, Hivernage, Marrakech
Moroccan cooking in a riad, live music · €€€€
La Mamounia's Moroccan restaurant, an institution for more than thirty years, in a three-storey riad deep in the hotel's gardens, all carved wood, zellige and alcoves lined with cushions, with violin and lute players at dinner. The meal begins with the ftour ritual of harira, dates and chebakia; then order the lobster pastilla or the langoustine tagine, and the gazelle horns to finish. Dinner only, every day from 7pm to 11pm, open to non-residents who book; elegant dress, with no shorts after 6pm. The walk is 5 minutes to the gate on Avenue Bab Jdid, then a few more through the gardens.
Reserve aheadLa Mamounia, Avenue Bab Jdid, Marrakech
Italian trattoria with a garden terrace · €€€€
The easy lunch near the hotel: a light-filled Roman trattoria at La Mamounia, with cat frescoes, a winter garden and a covered terrace open to the gardens, and a central kitchen island and wood-fired oven in view. Start with antipasti, burrata or calamari fritto misto, then a wood-fired pizza, a seasonal risotto or osso buco, with a Pierre Hermé dessert and an Italian wine. Open every day, 12:30pm to 3pm and 7pm to 11pm, to non-residents who book; elegant dress, no flip-flops, and no shorts after 6pm. It is 5 minutes on foot to the gate on Avenue Bab Jdid; large bags go to the cloakroom there.
Reserve aheadLa Mamounia, Avenue Bab Jdid, Marrakech
Champagne and cocktail bar · €€€€
Named for the hotel's most famous winter guest and fitted out as a Pullman carriage, a nod to the railway company that built La Mamounia: smoky oak, back-lit walls and a black marble counter lit in green. Come before or after dinner for champagne or a seasonal cocktail, each inspired by a Churchill quote printed on the menu, with blinis, smoked salmon or caviar. Open every day from 4pm to 1am; book ahead, since non-residents enter La Mamounia's gardens only with a restaurant or bar booking; elegant dress, and no shorts after 6pm. It is 5 minutes on foot to the hotel's gate, so it is an easy last drink on the way home.
Reserve aheadLa Mamounia, Avenue Bab Jdid, Marrakech
Classic French cooking, since 1966 · €€€
The restaurant of the Es Saadi hotel since 1966, and the old-school table of Hivernage, with service at the table and an open-air terrace. Order the briouates of foie gras with honey-caramelised apples, the sole meunière filleted at your table or the Chateaubriand with béarnaise; there are Moroccan dishes too, and some dishes are flambéed or carved at the table. Open every day for lunch, 12:30pm to 3pm, and dinner, 7:30pm to 11pm, so it is also a good, quiet lunch near the hotel; book online or by phone.
Reserve aheadEs Saadi Marrakech Resort, Rue Ibrahim El Mazini, Hivernage, Marrakech
Moroccan cooking on the top floor of the Palace · €€€
The Moroccan restaurant of the Es Saadi resort, on the top floor of its Palace, in rooms of carved stone and plaster lace, with a panoramic view over the pool, the gardens and the lights of the city. Take a drink first in the grand salon or on one of its two terraces, then order from a menu that brings back forgotten dishes of the traditional Moroccan kitchen. Dinner only, every day from 7pm to 11pm; book ahead, by phone for groups of more than ten.
Reserve aheadEs Saadi Marrakech Resort, Rue Ibrahim El Mazini, Hivernage, Marrakech
The from rate includes breakfast, a continental buffet with Moroccan dishes: granola, yoghurt and fruit, meats, cheeses and smoked fish, an egg and omelette station, and breads such as khobz, msemen and harcha with honey and local soft cheeses. The hotel does not publish where or when it is served, so ask at check-in, and in-room dining runs 24 hours if you would rather eat in the suite. Other rates may differ, so check the board when you book. For breakfast out, La Mamounia's two Pierre Hermé tea rooms, Le Menzeh in the gardens and the Salon de Thé on an Andalusian patio, are 5 minutes on foot to the gate on Avenue Bab Jdid: traditional or signature pastries, fresh juice, seasonal fruit and Ispahan yoghurt. Book ahead, since non-residents enter the gardens only with a booking.
