Dar Rbatia — Restaurant in Hassan حسان

Phenomenal food. The quality was fantastic! Best mint tea I had my whole time in Morocco. I highly recommend to travelers looking for Moroccan food!

We were started off with a bunch of little dishes including lentils, baba ganoush, pumpkin with honey(?) and rose water, okra, tomato salad, and carrots. I though the lentils, baba ganoush, and the pumpkin dishes were absolutely phenomenal. The tomatoes would benefit with a bit of salt!

We were then served some chicken and beef samosas which were so delicious - crunchy on the outside and savory and flavorful on the inside.

We ordered a couscous dish that came with a sauce on the side and a chicken lemon tagine. Both were scrumptious. I'm a big fan of the preserved lemons they use in Morocco.

For dessert, we were served a crunchy pastilla. It also used rose water, some kind of nuts, and honey I think. It's the best dessert I had my whole time in Morocco! I still think about this dish 😩

We were also given little pastries which we saved for the next day.

We had lots of food leftover and the man working there brought us a box to take it home.

Muhammad was working there alone while we were dining there. He is seriously the MVP!!! We (2 ladies) were a little worried about walking back at night through the neighborhood so he walked us out to the main street at our request. The lights in the neighborhood are very well lit though and it seems very safe at night! We just like to have a little security :)

The restaurant was completely empty except for us (unfortunately tourism is down with covid). The atmosphere is very nice and the interior design is so fun. The tables are low and you sit on low stools. I would absolutely come back on a future...

A pleasant surprise!

Some of the best meals are unexpected. We were headed to a highly rated restaurant, only to find that they were full and not taking customers. A quick search listed another nearby restaurant with the name only in Arabic. After a short walk we found ourselves in Dar Rbatia, where we enjoyed a FEAST!

The service was friendly, efficient and dignified. And the intimate atmosphere was greatly enhanced by a live musician playing the Oud. The music was not at all aggressive, but set a lovely mood.

We communicated in my very limited French, but were able to order from an English menu. They offer 5 course prix fixe menus. Beginning with an appetizing assortment of salads and vegetables, olives, lentils, etc. with bread. Then a tureen of soup arrived which was quite good (they gave a second helping). For our main course we chose the beef tagine with prunes and almonds (tender and tasty) and the chicken pastilla (best one I had). We couldn't finish our generous portions (another family got doggie bags).

Plenty of mint tea was served, and poured from a remarkable height. The meal ended with a unique dessert pastry served family style, a fruit plate, and some marzipan-filled cookies.

An altogether...

This was my first restaurant in Morocco and every restaurant since is yet to deliever the same deliciousness. Very good food! They have a prefix menu options only (no one off items on the menu) and its a lot of food so come hungry. They do accept credit cards here which is why I went here my first night after arrival. Very nice atmosphere, classic decor - its in the riad (dar?) type of courtyard. Overall 5 star experience took one star off service and atmosphere because service was a bit slow because the restaurant was full (i was there at around 8-ish pm). But the staff was corteous and friendly. Atmosphere wise i was seated in one of the side rooms which has bright flourescent lights in your face. Which kind of took away from the atmosphere of the place. My advice would be to maybe at least cover them with something? Otherwise its like the lights in the typical office building type of feel. Amazing food makes up for all and in the end i would 100% recommend this place. Everything you see on the photos plus dessert and tea was around 28euro. Beef tajine...