Le Vrai Traditionnel — Restaurant in Marrakesh Prefecture

Le Vrai Traditionnel – A Taste of Authentic Moroccan Cuisine

The name Le Vrai Traditionnel (“The Real Traditional”) sets clear expectations — and this cozy little restaurant delivers exactly that: authentic Moroccan flavors in a warm, welcoming setting.

We began with the chicken pastilla, a unique sweet-and-savory pastry dusted with powdered sugar. It was flavorful and pleasantly different.

The Couscous Royal was generously served, topped with tender pieces of meat, chicken, merguez sausage, and a colorful variety of vegetables, all laid over perfectly steamed semolina and drizzled with a fragrant spiced broth. A classic dish done right.

The standout, however, was the Tanjia — slow-cooked beef in a traditional clay jar with preserved lemon and spices. Rich, tender, and full of depth, it was easily the highlight of the meal.

The merguez sausages were decent, though not as memorable as the other dishes.

We ended on a sweet note with a plate of assorted Moroccan pastries, which paired beautifully with a pot of fresh mint tea — a perfect finale.

The restaurant is intimate, with only 9 tables and an 18-person capacity, but it’s well-equipped with a split-unit AC that made our lunch very comfortable despite the summer heat. The friendly service added to the...

A hidden gem in the alleyway. I originally wanted to visit Bacha coffee but they were fully booked. We then decided as it was close to dinner time we will try and find somewhere for dinner instead. Me and my friends wanted to try traditional Moroccan food and as we were walking past, the waiter approached us and asked us to come in. I am not usually easily persuaded or pressured by this, but once the waiter was talking to my friend, I quickly brought up the restaurant reviews online and it come back with good reviews so we decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed, the lamb sweet tangine was cooked to perfection. There was the right amount of fat and meat, and the right amount of sweetness. I would definitely recommend the dish. The moroccan salad and falafel were also amazing and tasty. The couscous was probably my less favourite of all our dishes but was still enjoyable. I would say the portions for the tangine is enough for one person because it is fairly small. If you are in the area I would definitely recommend. I love supporting small family businesses and find the food to be...

Worst experience ever.

We went upstairs because the staff told us it was a closed terrace, as the souk where the restaurant is located is very polluted due to the scooters. However, the upstairs area turned out to be semi-open, and instead of escaping the pollution, we were surrounded by smoke and noise.

The worst part? The service was abysmal. We waited 15 minutes just to get our tea and over an hour for our lamb tanjia and vegetable pastilla. One whole hour of waiting.

When the food finally arrived, the vegetable pastilla was cold—its center frozen and clearly half-cooked in a microwave. Imagine biting into a block of frozen vegetables!

Avoid this place at all costs. To the owner: if you don’t know how to run a restaurant, don’t open one.

In the end, they tried to make up for it by offering us the tea (worth 20 dirhams) for free. While I appreciate the gesture, it doesn’t begin to excuse such an experience. I don’t know if we caught them on a bad day or if the positive reviews are fake, but this was completely unforgivable.

Btw the Tanjia was too salty...