Restaurant Leopard Marrakech — Restaurant in Marrakesh Prefecture

We chose to dine at Luma tonight based on the glowing reviews here, on TripAdvisor, and elsewhere. Our Riad made the 8PM reservation for us and arranged for a taxi to take us there. It’s on an extraordinarily busy street in a popular commercial area.

Once inside, an indifferent hostess led us to a table near the kitchen, despite the fact that the restaurant was practically empty. There were maybe 8 tables in total occupied, and it seemed all us obvious tourists got seated there, while those who appeared to be locals sat closer to the front. (And a warning to North American visitors: the restaurant allows smoking.)

A waiter offered us QR code links for menus, but the restaurant’s wifi would not connect. After many attempts, he logged in on our phones with his personal wifi account. He should have just offered printed menus at that point.

After we made our choices, he returned to take our orders, and only then did he tell us the restaurant was out of just about everything due to Eid: no fish, no chicken, no lamb. There were only two options for entrees: steak (done one of two ways) or Parmesan tortellini. We should have left right then, but we didn’t relish the idea of trying to find another restaurant in the area, so I ordered the tuna tataki starter and the tortellini, my partner had the highly recommended “tiger” steak.

We had to flag the waiter down to ask for cocktails, and once again, only after we tried to order did he tell us they were out of several things, including the tequila based cocktail I had requested. He tried to convince me to order cognac instead (?!), but at that point I just gave up and said I’d stick with water. My partner ordered a glass of wine after having to inquire what was available by the glass. The waiter looked at me and said, “No wine for you?” When I replied, “No,” he sniffed and snatched my glass away.

The appetizers were okay, although the tuna tataki was over sauced, and my partner said his tartare was lacking flavour.

The entrees went downhill from there: the steak was overcooked and stringy, his potatoes were burnt on the bottom, and the tortellini was both bitter and bland. We each ate about half and left the rest. When the waiter returned, we just asked for the cheque to avoid his telling us about what desserts they were no doubt out of.

He seemed surprised by our abrupt departure and pressed my partner about what the issue was (his French is much better than mine), but he did not want to get into an argument, so he just said the dinner “wasn’t great” and left it at that.

Rather than risk a scene, we paid in cash and grudgingly left an unearned 10% tip. When we returned to our Riad, the front desk staff inquired about our dinner, and we explained the series of disappointments to them. They said they’d never heard of the restaurant before (not a good sign), so they’d be sure not to recommend it to future guests. Happily we still have three nights left in Marrakech with dinners at highly recommended restaurants...

I wish I could give negative stars because this is, without a doubt, the worst dining experience I have ever endured in any restaurant, anywhere.

From the moment we arrived, it was a disaster. Our friends got there early and were told there was no reservation, even though they’d given the exact name. Only after we called did they "magically" find the reservation. No apology, no explanation—just pure incompetence.

After finally sitting down, we waited an unbearable hour and a half just to get our starters, despite repeatedly asking the staff to hurry up. When they arrived, the food was unremarkable and wasn’t even worth the wait. But the nightmare didn’t stop there. Another hour and a half passed with no sign of our main courses. Absolutely no gestures of goodwill from the staff, complementary drink no bread. Not even a semblance of care if it was not for us complaining I don’t even think they would have noticed. The service was beyond disgraceful, and the management’s attitude if there even was any management was unacceptable.

The arrogance of the staff was astounding. No one apologized for the delays or tried to make up for the experience, apologies only accrued after our repeated complaints. It was crystal clear that they do not care about their customers at all. This restaurant exists solely to overcharge guests and project a false air of exclusivity.

We finally left without having our main dish or desert and ended up eating at McDonald's, which, frankly, was a far superior experience in every possible way. Do yourself a favor—do not waste your time or money here. Go anywhere else. This place is an absolute disgrace to the restaurant industry, and I will never set foot...

While the staff tried to create a positive atmosphere and the food was quite good, we were truly disappointed with the service. I made a reservation for 10 to celebrate a birthday. I had spoken with the restaurant on Whatsapp and was told I had to choose from a set menu as we were a big group from which we chose an option. I also requested a cake at midnight which was quite costly given Morocco prices (700 dh because we were 10). I was told it would be chocolate royale flavour. Once we arrived we were asked what we wanted, despite ordering weeks in advance. The staff had no idea and after showing them messages they were very confused. They even told us they had options missing from the set menu we ordered in advance and had no knowledge of the cake order. They asked me 3 times who the cake was for, one staff member even took a photo of the name and I was still asked after that again. They also asked me in front of the birthday person who it was for and despite telling them then they asked the birthday person himself who the birthday surprise was for and what time we want the “surprise”. On top of everything I told them again we wanted the cake at midnight, the cake was 10’ late AND a completely different flavour with no trace of chocolate inside! We were also still charged the original price, no effort to make up for the bad service despite...