La Sqala — Restaurant in arrondissement de Sidi Belyout مقاطعة سيدي بليوط

This rating is the result of the dining experience of my party of three.

We were lured here based on the Google rating, the location and absence of anything else in the vicinity. And the first impression was great - the restaurant's interior is exactly what one would imagine a Marrocan restaurant would look like - though the prices are well above average.

We were seated in the darkest corner, which was to be expected seeing the number of guests inside, although it did influence our visibility to the waiters (hence the sub rating of 3).

The menu is different too. Still traditional, but a lot more fancy - swordfish anyone?

So we decided not to worry about expenses that much and just enjoy the food. We ordered a set of appetizers (there were three sets available with 5 different starters each) tempted by the option of octopus inside one of the plates, tajine with lamb (which the waiter recommended - was the price a factor?), chicken skewers and John dory (fish) and a milk pastille for the dessert.

Excited, we waited. Then disappointments started to come. First the wait. Then the wrong appetizers (which we almost didn't notice), which to be fair were quite quickly replaced and wouldn't have even been mentioned if not for the fact that the long awaited octopus was nowhere to be seen. And then came the main courses... and again each one had its own problems. The chicken skewers were burned in such a way that instead of sliding the meat from the skewer you had to scrape it off with a knife... The fish, although nicely presented was lost within the sous. As for my personal opinion on the lamb, since that is what I ordered ... I love lamb. It was prepared perfectly, the meat melting in the mouth, superb. My disappointment came from the fact that besides the meat there was nothing on the plate - potato puree and three wilted Rucola leaves on top for ... garnish?... for the highest price I have seen in Marroco thus far (and it wasn't my first lamb). The dessert on the other hand was quite perfect - light, airy, not overwhelmingly sweet, though again the opinions within our group differed.

All in all, pricey but beautiful. A week later I am still on a fence regarding whether it is worth recommending based on food, so ... I guess... come and decide on your own. In Casablanca there might not be a better...

The worst fish tagine. It was tasteless, no sauce, with a cheap unmarinated fish that I had to clean before eating. They could have cleaned the fish before putting it in the tagine. Cleaning it splashed sauce on my white clothes. There was no light. Then, I asked for dish recommendations, and the waiter simply points at the most expensive but doesn’t even bother to say what that dish is, some weird names. They didn’t even bring a water bottle, but had the nerves to keep the change as tips, so I told him to bring me the change. How cheap! +I am pregnant and I would have expected them to bring some water for the price we pay and place us where we want to be comfortable, but nothing. A big water bottle in Morocco is just 5dh!! How cheap you guys are!! The sitting was uncomfortable and not clean if you are going to wear white or light colours. The table was small. We wanted to switch to the centre next to the fountain, the waiter asked the boss, who said no. That area holds place for 4 people, but there were many areas available for people of 4. How mean! So they just want money, and since we already ordered, they don’t care about placing us where we want. However, there next to the fountain was another couple sitting alone, so It’s unfair that they didn’t allow us to sit there. When the guy brought the tagine, he opened it, but my husbands tagine came after 20 min. I told him to cover my tagine because I’ll await his dish before I eat. How unprofessional! Also, I had called to reserve a spot, but they said they don’t do reservations. But then I see, that they held reserved a nice spot next to the river and fountain to somebody. Also, the waiter was unsympathetic and unavailable. As a Moroccan, please stop fooling people and do an effort on making proper Moroccan food. That’s why you charge 200 dh and for a small dish! We know you will keep getting costumers, but at least serve proper food. The music wasn’t good, just 30 min, and since the sitting was uncomfortable, it wasn’t a restaurant you could sit and enjoy. So we left. +the food was terrible, I didn’t eat my food....

Beware hyping up a place so much in your head that you could end up being rather disappointed! Sqala is one of the famous and recommended restaurants of Casablanca. However, my experience was disappointing - and I feel this is mostly because of the staff. Firstly, there is a clear discrimination of service if you're non-Arab. We were made to wait a very long time before anyone came to our table despite the table next to us getting all the attention (with Arabic guests) even though they were seated after us. The server had no smile and answered my questions condescendingly. I asked for tagine and I was told they were out of tagine (which I found very odd). I ordered whatever "was available" and wasn't very pleased. When I brought this up to the manager, he himself was shocked and said they would be able to serve me the exact tagine I wanted rightaway. I politely delcined the offer as we had already eaten by then but he insisted and suggested it would be on the house. We decided to give the restaurant a second chance and said we'd take one to-go. Sure enough, the dish I came to the restaurant for was served magically. As we were about to leave, the same server demanded payment for the dish that was supposed to be on the house and one that the manager had insisted!! At this point, I was shocked. The manager intervened again and to his credit, he honored the expectations. Anyway, I hope if you do decide to go to this beautifully designed restaurant with a nice ambience, you have a much better experience than I did. The overall experience ruined whatever enjoyment we had from the food. As I mentioned, the staff needs to be more hospitable and less discriminatory. If you're sure about visiting, I'd recommend making a reservation. I, personally, preferred the less fancy eateries around Casablanca that had excellent taste and very...