Dar Dada — Restaurant in arrondissement de Sidi Belyout مقاطعة سيدي بليوط

We came here as this place was highly recommended by our Moroccan friend for Iftar. It was the 28th day of Ramadan and it was quiet and exceptional experience. The waiters are incredibly friendly and cheerful, the food was delicious and the ambience was truly unique, with live oud music, followed by a live singer who made the guests have so much fun, that everyone was dancing. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was an amazing night, until it wasn’t. We paid using a very common international debit card which has worked all over Morocco (and the world without issue), after which one of the staff took me aside as I speak Arabic to explain to me that we have to pay again as they claimed that “the payment didn’t go through.” Suddenly, I found myself from enjoying myself and having a good time, to being surrounded by 3-4 different members of the staff who keep insisting that the payment didn’t go through and we have to pay again. It felt like they were literally ganging up against me as they surrounded us. Thankfully, the bank sent a payment confirmation message plus we were able to evidence confirmation on the bank statement confirming that the payment was done and not declined. This evidence was not enough for them, and eventually the conversation somehow shifted to the “entrance” of the restaurant where people where other guests were leaving… on which another member of the staff who speak English, said the same thing to my husband, claiming that this is a “normal” incident on which they ask their guests to double pay, claiming that the bank will return the money back within 48 hours… We finally came to the agreement after almost an hour of very heated discussion/ arguing and being talked down to in a hostile and condescending manner, that if the money came back we will transfer the money to their bank account. They mentioned that allowing guests to do this rather than double paying was an exceptional scenario, since apparently all their guests agree to double pay. We exchanged contact details. 6 days later, the money was never returned to the account like they claimed… however, they still messaged and asked to pay again… we had to share the bank statement as proof that the money was deducted and never returned. This nonetheless was not enough for them. They actually asked for the credit card details, which is extremely absurd thing to ask. I wasn’t planning to write this review given that after one hour of debate, and completely killing the buzz of an amazing night, they agreed to wait. My take is, that even though it was an exceptional dining experience, the staff and management are far from being professional. So, if you want to have a good time here, bring and pay in cash to avoid those situations. I’ve never experienced anything like this before, given how much when they ganged up on me, they kept emphasizing that Dar Dada is such a reputable restaurant and won’t do anything to jeopardize their reputation… but...

Okay so very mixed feelings about this Resteraunt. The beginning was off to a great start with amazing ambiance and someone in robes walking you to the entrance with a lamp + valet service. The inside is very well decorated with lots of seating options. Unfortunately for us we must have come at their party hour because the music for the belly dancers was so so so so freaking loud we couldn’t hear eachother or the hostess. We debated leaving but she assured us it would be over by 10:00 (we were there 9:45). She must have meant the dancers because it was not over by 10:00 what so ever.

That being said, we took a seat in a more secluded area and made our order ( we could still barely hear eachother). The staff were friendly and all was great until they brought us what seemed to be complementary appetizers (a miniature salad and hummus and some fried sambousk, in a soy-sauce sized bowl). we recognized this to be lebanese food and made several jokes with to the waiters about how we’re having lebanese food at a Moroccan resteraunt (not in a negative way we love lebanese food) and so it was obvious that we were surprised by this. The tiny portion + mentioning our surprise with the cuisine several times is what prevented us from realizing it’s not complementary and is actually a mistake, and so we ate from the mezzas.

Half way through tasting the mezzas (which were literally a few tablespoons in total) the waiter comes and asks us if we can swap these mezzas with the salad we actually ordered because it was a mistake from the waiter, and if not we’ll be charged. It was not our fault at all, the waiter brought us the wrong food, so we explained that we would not accept to pay for this. He said “then it’ll come out of my pocket” and then proceeded to remove the half eaten mezzas from our table! It was so unprofessional!!!!!! He guilt tripped us for refusing to pay for food we didn’t order and what’s the point of removing it if we already touched it and ate? We didn’t mind since we didn’t order it but it was so unexpected. After that the food came and we ordered a variety of tagines and meat and honestly everything was dry and local cheaper Moroccan resteraunts were 1000% more flavorful. This Resteraunt is just to fool you into a Moroccan “expeirnece“ but has 0 hospitality or flavor. Shame. More like a...

Memorable experience with phenomenal food and hospitable staff. The experience and Lamb Tagine is a must have while in Casablanca!

Visited here on a Wednesday night at 8 PM by myself. As mentioned by other reviewers, you have to walk down an alley to get the restaurant, but once inside the decor is beautiful and leads into a nice, large, two-layered courtyard with tables full of patrons. I was seated in one of the side rooms, where I was attended to by a very friendly waiter.

I decided to order the Authetic Chicken Pastilla starter and Lamb Tagine for food, with the a basil cocktail to start and glass of local red wine to pair with the lamb. After I ordered the lamb my waiter told me that was one of his favorites, so my excitement was very high.

The chicken dish was delicious, with the meat very moist and paired well with the spices and accompaniments of the dish. I also really enjoyed my refreshing cocktail.

The star of the night for me was certainly the Lamb Tagine, paired with apricots, prunes, and almonds. The dish is presented beautifully, in the traditional pot. The lamb is slow cooked and perfectly moist, melting in your mouth and bursting with flavor. The dish is plentiful, and even though I was full I couldn't stop eating. From the juice to the dried apricots and prunes, to the fresh nuts... this dish had everything I needed. The only negative of the main course experience was the glass of wine, which was a bit too harsh and unrefined for the elegance of the lamb.

I wanted to stay a bit longer and see the live music and show so I got a dessert - a creme-brule inspired treat. The dessert was fine (I only was able to eat half), but the show was a memorable experience with dancers, percussion, and a singer moving around the restaurant engaging with all the guests from around the world. Service at the end got a bit slow, but didn't bother me as it was during the show and peak dinner rush.

Truly a memorable experience, and one I would recommend to...