Epicurien — Restaurant in Marrakesh Prefecture

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. ENGLISH SPEAKERS NOT WELCOME!

CLASSLESS, UNFRIENDLY & PRETENTIOUS.

I wouldn't give this experience a single star if I'm honest. The food is pretty average if you are used to decent food (costs the same as an average london pub & I would prefer the pub food), the "live music" was just a dj playing pretty trashy stuff which suited the early eve (8pm mark) but it would have been nice to get the actual live music that is described on the website.

The service - where to begin....

When we sat down, no one offered us drinks for 15 minutes. A table arrived after us and was served straight away. This is because if you are English, there is only one member of staff who can speak it and that particular staff member is exceptionally unfriendly. She threw a menu down at our table then walked off (its a QR code, which is incredibly tacky in my opinion). She didn't take our drinks order for another 10 minutes. We ordered food at the same time as drinks because I suspected the service was going to be downhill all evening and unfortunately I was right. Food arrived fairly quickly but was pretty bland. No check up was made during the meal. We had a wait for our food to be cleared and we weren't offered dessert for another 15 minutes. We tried to say we knew what we wanted but she just pointed at the QR code and walked off. When she eventually came back (I'd say another 10 mins later), we ordered. By this point I had been pouring the wine for myself and my partner as the staff were so inattentive (I don't mind doing this but when other tables are receiving check ins and having their wine poured, you start to take it personally).

Incoming disaster - we ended up waiting 35 minutes for dessert (a simple profiteroles dish). During the wait I spoke to another waiter but he apologised for not speaking English and walked off, not once thinking to get our waiter who does speak English). Not his problem I guess. I tried to wave our waiter down and she registered us and then ignored us. I eventually had to physically get up to ask her where our dessert was. She promised me a minute (in fairness it did come out quickly then but I think she could tell I was furious). When it arrived I asked for the bill straight away and for her to remove the profiteroles from it. She removed the profiteroles then brought the bill back so I had to complain once more that the service had been atrocious and I expected to eat the profiteroles without paying for them given the wait. I genuinely could have refused to pay for a lot more of it and would it not have been a mighty hassle (due to language barrier and general rudeness) I would have done. This was consented to (proactively she should have simply done this straight away but she did not). Despite consenting, she practically threw the profiteroles down at us. When it came to the bill, she would not look at us and walked off with no thank you, no apology and no goodbye. Incredibly cheeky and disrespectful considering we were the ones who were wronged the entire evening.

We always tip but we gave them nothing. Truly if you are British and want to be treated well, go elsewhere. The food is the same standard as any decent UK pub (it doesn't match some of our fave london restaurants in any way). It was our most expensive meal (810 MAD) & by far the worst.

I recommend...

Lune de miel gâchée par une intoxication alimentaire — à éviter absolument !

Expérience catastrophique au restaurant Epicurean à Marrakech. Ce dîner, censé être un moment spécial pour notre lune de miel, s’est transformé en véritable cauchemar.

Le service était précipité — notre entrée est arrivée presque immédiatement, et le plat principal juste après, comme s’ils voulaient simplement que nous mangions rapidement et partions. Le steak était froid et visiblement mal conservé, ce qui est totalement inacceptable.

La même nuit, j’ai souffert d’une sévère intoxication alimentaire : vomissements incessants, diarrhée, et j’ai dû utiliser un fauteuil roulant à l’aéroport le lendemain matin. Quelques heures plus tard, mon mari a eu exactement les mêmes symptômes dans l’avion. Nous avons tous les deux été malades pendant plus d’une semaine, incapables de travailler.

Ce n’était pas seulement décevant — c’était dangereux. Nous allons poursuivre cette affaire depuis l’étranger, et je déconseille fortement à quiconque de manger ici.

ENG: Honeymoon ruined by food poisoning.

Terrible experience at Epicurean in Marrakesh. This was meant to be a special dinner, but it turned into a nightmare.

The service was rushed — our starter arrived almost instantly, and the main was served straight after, as if they just wanted us to eat quickly and leave, rather than enjoy our meal. The steak came out cold, which already felt unsafe.

That same night I suffered severe food poisoning: nonstop vomiting, diarrhoea, and I was so ill I needed a wheelchair at the airport the next morning. A few hours later, my husband experienced the same on the plane. We have both been unwell for over a week since, unable to work.

This wasn’t just disappointing — it was dangerous. We’ll be pursuing this matter from abroad, and I strongly warn others not to risk eating here.

I will reply here to your comment:

Dear Owner,

Thank you for your response. To clarify: the food poisoning did not occur immediately but started a few hours after dining at your restaurant. By the next day my condition had worsened so much that I needed a wheelchair at the airport, and both of us remained sick for an entire week. I have everything documented — including a video showing when the symptoms began — which clearly proves this was a very serious case of food poisoning.

Regarding the steak, it was indeed cold and we did mention this to the waiter. The reason we didn’t insist further at the time was because the evening had already begun on a bad note when one of your staff members was rude to us. She later apologised and the manager offered two complimentary Prosecco, and we chose not to make a bigger fuss. However, the fact remains that we told the waiter we were not impressed with the meal, and nothing was done about it.

Of course, you will say that nobody else had the same issue — you would not want to shoot yourself in the foot by admitting otherwise, but I have since found another review describing the same issue. This is why I find it unfair and frankly cheeky to doubt the truth of a customer who not only became severely unwell but also has evidence to support it.

I would like you to acknowledge this situation properly and let me know how you intend to...

I want to answer to the manager who wrote back on Marianos review because this sounds UNREAL. I was there that night with Mariano, and I’m looking at the restaurant’s reply below to his review of our experience and it’s unbelievably dishonest.

After our dinner, while our table was being cleared, we walked downstairs to the garden for literally two minutes. When we came back, the table had just been cleared and all our belongings had disappeared during that exact moment.

They claim they’ve been “in contact with us from the outset” that’s completely false. We left our phone number with the manager, who said he’d get back to us the next day, but no one ever called, texted, or replied to any of our emails. That’s why we’re writing this publicly, because they’ve completely ignored every attempt to contact them.

And saying we “didn’t ask to speak with a manager that night” is another lie. Right after it happened, we spoke to the staff inside, we spoke to the receptionist outside, and even the casino reception. We then went back in and asked to speak with the manager, and we were told they were very busy and to come back the next day. So please don’t rewrite what happened.

About the cameras, they never told us there were “no cameras above the table.” When we returned the next day, they said there were cameras and that they were checking them. This new “no cameras” line is just not true.

To be clear, we never directly accused anyone. We simply asked for help to find our things. Instead of helping, the staff became defensive, uncooperative, and tried to turn it back on us.

Our table was in a corner, away from other guests, and the missing items aren’t things you can slip into a pocket or tiny bag. So no, it wasn’t another guest while the table was being cleared.

Honestly, the whole thing is extremely unprofessional and full of contradictions. Be careful if you go there. We’ve since heard from others that similar things have happened, and it...