Legendary Moroccan fine dining since 1946, Bab Doukkala medina
Chat with us
Marrakech·Restaurants
La Maison Arabe, Marrakech
Legendary Moroccan fine dining since 1946, Bab Doukkala medina
La Maison Arabe in Marrakech is one of the city's most storied dining institutions, opening as a restaurant in 1946 when the Pasha of Marrakech granted two French women the right to serve Moroccan cuisine to foreigners — providing them with one of his own palace dadas to teach them the craft. Today, Le Restaurant at this five-star riad-hotel in the Bab Doukkala medina serves refined classic Moroccan dishes beneath a hand-painted zouaké ceiling, amid antique palace doors, Italian lanterns and the sound of live Arab-Andalusian oud music. Signature dishes praised by Frommer's, Lonely Planet and TasteAtlas include lamb tagine with caramelised oranges, melt-in-your-mouth pastilla and light, fragrant couscous. The property also runs one of Marrakech's most celebrated cooking schools, open to non-guests, where a traditional dada leads half-day workshops revealing the secrets of Moroccan spice-craft.
Menu highlights
Lamb tagine with caramelised oranges, saffron, turmeric and ginger — a house signature praised by Alexander Lobrano in Bon Appétit
Pastilla — crisp, sweet-savoury filo pastry pie, described by Frommer's as 'melt-in-your-mouth'
Moroccan couscous with seven vegetables — called 'the best couscous in Marrakech' by Grain de Sable
Chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives
Selection of traditional Moroccan salads and assorted briouates as starters
Why eat here
La Maison Arabe in Marrakech has been the city's benchmark for traditional Moroccan fine dining since 1946, when the Pasha of Marrakech sent one of his palace dadas to teach the founders his court recipes.
Le Restaurant's hand-painted zouaké ceiling, antique palace doors and Italian lanterns create one of the most atmospheric dining rooms in the medina, enhanced every evening by live Arab-Andalusian oud music.
Praised by Frommer's, Lonely Planet, DK Eyewitness and TasteAtlas, the lamb tagine with caramelised oranges and the melt-in-your-mouth pastilla are considered among the finest renditions of classic Moroccan dishes in Marrakech.
Cuisine
Traditional Moroccan — tagines, couscous, pastilla and briouates prepared to palace-kitchen recipes handed down by a dada since 1946
Opening hours
Le Restaurant: dinner only, 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm daily
Best time
Evenings year-round — the restaurant operates dinner service only and the live oud music creates the most intimate atmosphere after sunset
Book ahead for weekends and the high seasons (April–May and September–November) when tables fill quickly
How to combine
Pair dinner at La Maison Arabe with a morning cooking workshop — the school is open to non-guests and led by a traditional dada
The riad is a 10-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fna square; combine with an evening stroll through the Bab Doukkala neighbourhood and its 16th-century mosque
Les Trois Saveurs, the hotel's second restaurant with French and Asian-inspired options, is an alternative for the same evening on a different menu
Location
Marrakech
FAQs
Menu highlights at La Maison Arabe include Lamb tagine with caramelised oranges, saffron, turmeric and ginger — a house signature praised by Alexander Lobrano in Bon Appétit, Pastilla — crisp, sweet-savoury filo pastry pie, described by Frommer's as 'melt-in-your-mouth', Moroccan couscous with seven vegetables — called 'the best couscous in Marrakech' by Grain de Sable, Chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives, and Selection of traditional Moroccan salads and assorted briouates as starters.