Nomad Marrakech — Restaurant in Marrakesh Prefecture

I was recommended to visit this restaurant and after two weeks traveling in Marocco it was the most expensive dinner and far from most delicious. Overall food is good, overpriced, nothing special, staff is doing bare minimum and atmosphere is completely a touristy trap. Here some breakdowns: food: we are two people and we like to share so we ordered different dishes to try as much as possible. Starters - zucchini pancakes (small, tasteless, you feel the burn from a pan stronger and zucchini flavor, literally rucola on side was tastier than dish itself) and sardine tart (actually tasty, only disappointment was a base but overall really fine dish). Main course - lamb chops (delicious lamb … but 😅 we were served with regular table knife which didn’t cut anything out of lamb so we had to bite it holding the bone by hands, meat was tasty but very chewy and had no flavor without additional spices, but those spices improved meat dozen times! also side was good) and prawns (pan fried with spices, only 6 prawns per portion without side 🤷🏻‍♀️ yep, main course just prawns and bit of rucola 👍🏻). Dessert - we were not really up for that after seeing not very satisfied faces of our neighbor table guests, so we had decided to take a dessert in another place. drinks: cola zero and apple/herbal ice tea (wow it was the worse tea I have ever tried! Bitter slightly colored water with cubes of ice for 4€ 🙈 almost no flavor) staff: nice, friendly people. We had a reservation so were seated very fast. There were many waiters but I can’t say serving was fast. And most ridiculous to me was a situation when a girl-waitress asked me “how was your meal?” and i honestly said what I liked and what I didn’t, she just starred at me and asked again “so everything is good, right?” 🤣 I said, not really, but it was quite tasty, after what she just responded “good, good, I am glad you liked it”. What was the purpose of question if all criticism was completely ignored? Also after paying the bill all the staff stop seeing you. No “good bye” or “see you next time” 🤣 you just find your way out by yourself. And the most intriguing - there is a woman in toilet who walks you to the cabin and closes the cabin’s door, while you in the toilet she just stays outside in the tiny corridor. I felt quite uncomfortable. atmosphere: regular European restaurant. Nothing special. Just nice and clean, pale colors, rooftop is big but view is awful (I didn’t make any pictures because it wasn’t something to see around but ruined buildings, roofs of the market and neighbor restaurants). And only tourists. Crowded full place with no locals, only foreigners. bill: so we payed 70€ for 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 drinks. 10% for “service” was included without our permission (at least I didn’t see it in menu and wasn’t aware by a waiter. I don’t mind tipping but I didn’t like service and atmosphere and prefer to choose this option myself. I know some local restaurants do the same but again, 2 weeks traveling in Marocco and it was first restaurant who included tips). So yeah, there are no pictures. Food is fine, you can find cheaper and more authentic, not bad, but I would not recommend it...

We booked in advance for New Year’s Eve and while we did not mind that alcohol was not going to be served (we were told at the last minute due to licensing issues), I do agree with others that the restaurant should have offered mocktails or other non-juice focused drinks! We would have happily paid extra for them.

The welcome drink was lovely (and the best part of the meal) and when we asked for another round (and said we were happy to pay for it), we were told it is one per person and was directed to an unusual list of juice options that were clearly designed for breakfast (orange, avocado/orange/dates/mint, cucumber/lemon, beetroot etc).

The bigger issue was the food. I am not one to be particularly difficult but this was not acceptable. Certainly not for the price paid.

The main course of lamb, and vegetarian option of “sautéed” vegetables, were inedible. The vegetables had a strong lemon/acidic flavour and was unappealing. It was a bizarre combination of curry, pesto and overcooked vegetables that looked awful and tasted worse.

The lamb did not have a nice flavour and was very fatty, and the sauce tasted off and the mushrooms were undercooked. Neither of us ate the meal and it was clear looking across the restaurant that others didn’t either. The starter of pumpkin soup and dessert of a vegan macaron were not much better but passable.

It was a real shame on the food and drink front, particularly as we’ve enjoyed the food elsewhere.

For EUR 200 per person, we expected much more in terms of food quality. The atmosphere was lovely, venue was pretty and the staff generally made an effort (despite being inflexible on drinks), which was appreciated. We had fun bringing in the new year, but the evening was ultimately let down by the kitchen and bar - the most important elements of a restaurant!

I would not recommend the restaurant to others,...

We were recommended Nomad several times before and during our time in Marrakech. Unfortunately it fell well short of expectations.

The starters and my main (chicken tagine, not served in a tagine) were all more than fine, if quite small, but my girlfriend's main (slow cooked marinated chicken) was completely different to the menu item. It had no identifiable sweet potato, no onion and included mushrooms and heaps of spinach (both of which my girlfriend didn't want). Even more disappointing was the chicken, which had the texture of sliced leather boots. It had obviously been pre-boiled and recooked.

We booked more than two weeks in advance of our visit and specifically requested a table on the terrace overlooking the square. We were crammed in down the side of the building extremely close to all the other diners, in what seemed to be the English speaking corner. We were told that the rooftop wasn't open and a big guy, who I can only assume was the owner, seemed to be patrolling the stairs up like some kind of troll.

My girlfriend gave compliments to the chocolate cake dessert and I can't fault the wait staff but we both left quite hungry, surprised at the cost and annoyed to find that the rooftop terrace had actually opened and there were plenty of diners upstairs enjoying their meals, where we should've been seated. There are so many other better places to eat in Marrakech that charge less than...