Chez Omar — Restaurant in Essaouira

The food we had „Chez Omar“ was the best we had in our one week in Essaouira, and even in the total of our two weeks in Maroc! We came here for dinner 3 times, twice in the beginning, and then again for our last night before we left Maroc.

We tried different meals like various Tagines, Rfissa and Couscous Royale, and all of them were absolutely awesome. What is important: Omar offers more variety in Moroccan cuisine than any other restaurant we found - so if you like to try authentic food other than Tagine and Couscous, this may be your place.

In relation to other commentaries: We never had dry or untasty food, and also never experienced any stomach issues. We can only recommend you to try this place!

Of course, it is also part of the truth to state that the whole surrounding is rather simple the street is not clean. But then again you also have extremely reasonable prices as a factor, which you don’t get at fancy modern Restaurants.

One or two tips in the end: It seems most dishes are cooked one after another, and not in parallel. That may lead to long waiting times, if you’d like to avoid that, it is probably best to order before 7pm - we never waited more than 20minutes for our food. Also: during Ramadan Omar and his crew take a 30min break for their own dinner during sunset time - either come early enough to get your food served before their break, or go there after the break. Also, Omar can be a bit hangry before that time, but once you get to know him you realize he’s a...

Sadly, based on our experience, we cannot recommend this place at all. While I’m sure that the food quality in general is good, our choices left us very unhappy and not satisfied at all. The lamb was dry and chewy, the squid bitter and overcooked. We were sitting in the first floor above the kitchen, cats were sitting in the restaurant (and while cute) walking over chairs and tables. They simply forgot our order at one point and while we were the first in the restaurant they seemed to serve all the guests outside first. We waited for almost 1,5h, the guests next to us for almost 2h… no drinks were served before either. It really felt like we were left alone to wait. The cutlery was not really clean and the restroom had no toilet paper and was very unpleasant.

However, one good thing to mention: the prices in this restaurant are very reasonable! For the lamb tajine (40DH) and the squid (50DH) we only paid a total of 110DH including our Moroccan tea.

I really hope that we just went to this restaurant at a bad time or on a bad day but all things considered, there are many other good...

If you're wandering through the winding alleys of the medina, let yourself get a little lost bcs that's exactly how you'll find this gem of a Moroccan bistro! Yeah! It’s one of those rare places where everything just tastes amazing. I’ve tried several dishes here, and each one was delicious, but the lamb tagine? Absolutely next level 🫠 Meat, toasted almonds add the perfect crunch, and the combination of rich, rendered fat with the sweetness of prunes creates a flavor explosion that’s tbh addictive!!! I kept coming back for it, again and again, and every single time it was just perfect! I've tasted lamb tagines all over Morocco, from casual spots to upscale restaurants in Essaouira and beyond, but nothing compares to this one. And the best part? It’s only 50 MAD, not 200! The staff is super friendly and welcoming, which makes the experience even better. Super highly recommended and yes, I’ll definitely be coming back,...