Le Bistro Arabe - Moroccan Jazz Restaurant in Marrakech — Restaurant in Marrakesh Prefecture

This is a difficult one to write because our server Henri was lovely, the drinks were good and the food was nice. However, I had a sour taste in my mouth and it seems a bit of a scheme is run here in terms of social media and reviews. We were asked via text if we were happy to keep our booking given that social media filming would be taking place that night. We don't mind being in the background and kept the booking. What proceeded to happen that night was that the 7 tables around the pool became free actors for social media content creation. Asked to constantly pose, feed eachother, kiss etc rather than just enjoy their meal. That's very different to being in the background of other filming/photography that's happening. It's active participation. It's also a cheeky way of avoiding paying actors/models for content creation. Exploitative. I thought hey we might get something comped for our trouble but only one girl who was forced to pose with a drink on her table got given that drink. I even suggest to the lady running the social media that given the fact it was very different to what had been suggested to us it might be nice to give everyone their drinks on the house. When the bill came, nothing was comped. I asked to speak to management who actively avoided coming to speak to us for quite some time. When I eventually spoke with her she was incredibly passive aggressive and dismissive saying that if anyone wanted their drinks for free they should have asked at the time of being asked to kiss/pose for camera that they'd only do it in return for something for free. I know Marrakech has a reputation for haggling but I didn't expect to be doing it in this kind of establishment. Additionally, the servers (all very nice) come round with QR codes with an "incentive " for getting the most reviews. I think this explains the sheer number of 5* reviews on here. I was encouraged to leave a good review before I'd been brought the bill and had this exchange with the manager. Since returning from holiday, I've been looking at the social media and there is a constant flow of this kind of content. It would appear that they must regularly do this and get customers to provide free labour essentially for their socials. It makes me completely question the authenticity of the experience. Is it really 5*? I wouldn't believe everything you read/see online...

Honestly I really wanted to like this place but it left so much to be desired, specially in terms of service like many places in Morroco. I’ve been to many places and I must say Morroco has the worst service of it all, the waiters are super friendly and kind but management is just so disorganised, I was under the impression that when you pay a high price than the service is outstanding and you can just sit back and relax but I was wrong.

The vibe is cozy, the band lovely, but the service I won’t even say the service itself it’s more like the organisation of management, so it was my birthday I booked weeks in advance I asked for a table near the pool and I got it.

We ordered, 2 entree and 2 mains and 2 drinks each, the entrees came quick like 10,15 minutes later yet the main came 1:30 hours later, I was quite shocked since the menu is very basic, mostly local food, it was good but nothing outstanding I would go as far as to say that the entrees were more elaborated and had more depth to it flavour wise, the mains you can get in any local Moroccan restaurant. They only offer 5 main it should already be ready yet we waited 1:30 hour, one waiter told us we needed to leave 20 minutes later.

I asked so you guys take so long to serve and expect everyone to eat super fast and be out of the door in 20 mins? If you want to have 2 services than just serve things on time, people go there for the band but the band stoped playing after the first service so there’s really no reason for anyone to overstay the 2 hours mark if they get their orders on time.

It left a bad taste, we felt pressure and not relaxed, the table near me got a little birthday song and treat but I got nothing, but I mentioned it was my birthday on the booking I guess it’s because they needed our table quick for the next guest of the second service, but it’s not our fault that we got our orders so late, I even left half of my dish unfinished.

The staff was really friendly and tried their best but I believe that the management is just messy, for the price we paid I can get the same quality and experience in Germany with a more human touch and better service and attention to...

This place has a beautiful setting, like nothing I have ever experienced. The live jazz music is truly beautiful.

The setting is extremely hot. I found it to be uncomfortable in the early evening, around 7/8pm, even when the sun had gone down.

I could not fault the service, it was fast and attentive - we were never without an empty glass.

The food, for me, was a little disappointing. For such a high end venue I expected the food to be almost faultless, which was unfortunately not the case when we visited. We ordered the monk fish when we arrived, which I found to be a tad overdone, and the complementary cheese and rosemary bread that they offer before your meal to be a little burnt. We ordered a chocolate mousse, which I found to be grainy with the cinnamon. The overall food experience was nice, but I wanted more - I felt like there was something missing.

We did however visit on two occasions as the live jazz music was not playing when we visited our first time. The second time, I ordered a Tajine, which politely, was not good - the flavour was lacking for me, and the meat was not as tender as other tajines i had tried during my time in Morocco. I also found multiple splintered bones in my dish which was off putting and also something I had not experienced with any other tajines I had eaten during my time in Morocco. I unfortunately had to leave a lot of my food. The couscous I had with my tajine however was incredible, the flavours were perfect. We also ordered a tangia, which on the other hand was easily some of the best food I have ever eaten.

Overall, I would recommend Le Bistro Árabe, and it is definitely worth a visit whilst you are...