Le Cuistot Traditionnel — Restaurant in arrondissement de Sidi Belyout مقاطعة سيدي بليوط

We were on entry greeted by the owner who said he was also the chef. Our expectations we high judging by the reviews. Well to say we were disappointed is an understatement.

The owner/chef (who actually during our hour there) never entered the kitchen just spent his time speaking to a friend. He spent some time on our entry telling us how excellent and unique his food was. We have spent over the last 2 years of many visits from 1 month at a time to a few weeks and visited MANY restaurants (small & large) all over Morocco. In our view the food was not unique or "extra special' (as the owner/chef said it would be) and to top it all we asked for the specialist starter FOR 1 and the lamb FOR 1 - we were not actually too hungry. Well as I mentioned above none of it was "extra special" - it was OK - we knew it was going to be expensive as we saw that on the menu as we placed our order. WHAT we did NOT expect was being charged DOUBLE for the specialist starter (which was just a few SMALL dishes of Moroccan general starters) yes he said because there were 2 of us we have been charged 166 MAD!!!.

The lamb was OK but once again nothing special as we have had much better tasting lamb (boiled in water and some herbs) in a number of other restaurants in different parts of Morocco. All in all it was a very expensive dining experience with the cost NOT justifying the quality/quantity.

The owner /"chef" does talk it all up when you enter and how "good/unique/special" everything in his restaurant (which was actually pretty empty) but from our experience it was not.

550 MAD for a small piece of boiled lamb with 1 spoon of rice and the small starter dishes is quite a lot for a smallish backstreet eating establishment.

Regarding your reply - ANYONE, friends, family even people who have never visited your restaurant can put a 5* review on Google for you so our honest review from 2 evening ago...

My dining experience at this restaurant was incredibly disappointing. Despite its high rating on TripAdvisor or maps, I believe it may be fraudulent. I ordered both a meat tajin and a poultry tajin, but unfortunately, the portions were too small, and the meat was tough. To add to the disappointment, the poultry tajin was served on a regular plate instead of the traditional tajin dish and didn't meet my expectations. Considering the amount we spent, which was over 500 MAD, I can confidently say this was the worst lunch I've ever had in Morocco. Be cautious of the ratings, as they might not accurately reflect the true quality of the restaurant.

This is my respond to owner comment :

In truth, accusing the customer of being ignorant of Moroccan cuisine is evidence of your failure as a chef and the failure of your restaurant. The issue is not only about the price; I also mentioned the poor taste and value for money that I didn’t find in your restaurant. And since you described me as ignorant, I’d like to tell you that I come to Morocco annually and have eaten at many restaurants. Honestly, without exaggeration, my dining experience at your restaurant was extremely bad, and this is something that should prompt you to improve yourself rather than continue in error. But your response explains everything. The meat tajine contained two pieces full of bones and were not cooked well, and the chicken tajine was also not good at all, despite my respect for the sauce that doesn’t exist anywhere on Earth 😂. Sir, I didn’t call you a fraud, but your restaurant’s rating doesn’t reflect any quality, value, or taste, and that’s what I considered deceiving. My advice to you is to develop yourself and your restaurant’s food quality, and don’t waste a lot of effort in writing seemingly...

We were greeted by a very friendly and charming owner. The starters were homemade bread served with a delicious selection of traditional Moroccan salads, and also a traditional pastry called a chicken pastilla. It was filled with almonds, chicken, cinnamon and sugar, we were amazed by its unique exotic depth of flavour. We also had some delicious, fresh fruit smoothies to drink.

For the mains we ordered a beautifully flavoured lamb shoulder, as well as a Rafissa (a traditional dish which consists of a Moroccan crepe with fantastically seasoned chicken). We also got served the most incredible lamb tagine which melted in our mouths as it was so tender. The last dish which we had time to eat before our train back to Marrakech was chicken and couscous. It was delicious, served with a great selection of local vegetables which it was cooked with.

The Service for from all the staff especially the owner was so exceptional that it was almost beyond belief. The owner was a former professional photographer and he even showed us his impressive collection of photographs which he had taken of the King. The restaurant was also elaborately decorated with traditional hand painted intricate Moroccan patterns on the ceiling, as well as a fascinating group of pictures on the walls. The kind and thoughtful owner even organised us tram tickets and helped us get to the nearest tram station, so that we wouldn’t be late for our train at the main station.

Restaurant Le Cuistot Traditional was by far the place where we have had the best food and service in Morocco, highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try some fantastic traditional Moroccan...