Marrakesh — Restaurant in Philadelphia

We were a party of 2, paid 80$+ gratuity for the waitress who was nice. We drove all the way from NYC to try authentic Moroccan food but it was very disappointing and border line offensive honestly. Let me start by saying that we are actually Moroccans so we know what each of the dishes “should” taste/look/feel like so I’ll give a breakdown of our experience in all honesty:

Meal 1: salad (zaalook + cucumbers & tomato + sliced carrots) —this salad was decent and zaalook tasted good however the pita bread was cold and crusty

Meal 2: bastilla—-that was NOT bastilla, it was scrambled eggs with 2 pieces of chicken in some cheap wrapping (warqa) that breaks with a spoon. This particular one was offensive to any type of Bastila I’ve had in my entire life. Authentic Moroccan Chicken bastilla is based off a lot of shredded chicken (breast, tighs mostly) and it’s cooked in a pressure pot with the different seasonings and herbs and the eggs are grinded to the point you don’t even see it in real bastila. This one in particular was a sad knock off of bastilla and I’d even rename it to scrambled eggs taco

Meal 3: roasted chicken in Moroccan sauce (daghmira) - absolute disaster, the sauce (daghmira) was watery and lacked the sauce carmalized onions authentic Moroccan daghmira should have and to top that the chicken was not even roasted and almost raw also they didn’t add olives or French fries that are almost always accompanied with that dish

Meal 4: 1 kebbab and a piece of lamb that is supposed to be (lamb with prunes and almonds) except that the lamb didn’t have any prunes and was dipped in some weird sour sauce and the kebab was so zesty it’d burn your tongue. The lamb was so bad to the point of offense and the portion wouldn’t even feed a cat.

Meal 5: couscous. This one in particular was rubbish, I’ve never seen couscous with 1 piece cut out potato, 1 carrot, prunes, 8 chick peas and shredded chicken breast and the couscous below was cold. I almost threw up when I tasted this.

And we had to actually stop here and not get to the next meals so I just asked for the bill and gave gratuity only because the waitress was welcoming. Because when we got there the guy who opened the door was so aggressive and tried to seat us in a children’s table. All because we were a walk in and he didn’t like it when I told him that I called and the owner said for party of 2 we can just walk in.

Bottom line is: if you’re going to name your business after a Moroccan city and claim to cook authentic Moroccan food you should do it the right way by actually having people who have experience in cooking Moroccan food. This experience of mine with this place was so disappointing, shameful and offensive. Never stepping foot...

We had the most amazing experience at Marrakesh! The place is beautifully decorated and truly feels like you are eating in Morocco. We had made a reservation for 2 people and we didn’t have to wait at all, walked right in. We were guided to a room upstairs and we had our own table. We had plenty of space.

The menu is fixed with 6 courses: Three Salad Platter: this was personally my favorite, the carrots were cooked to perfection and the eggplants were delish. The B’Stella: a sweet and savory pie Spicy Chicken in cumin sauce: we got half a chicken to share. We didn’t need a knife as the chicken was so tender you could cut through it with just the plastic fork. Tajne of Lamb with Almond and Honey: also incredibly tender and the meat fell right off the bone. Couscous Grand Atlas Basket of fresh fruit with a mint tea and Moroccan pastry (this was also delicious). We enjoyed every single dish and the portions are very generous! I was full by the 3rd dish but kept eating just because of how tasty everything was.

The service was great, everybody was super friendly. We always had water in our cups and pita on our plates.

I saw some reviews complaining about the paper plates and plastic forks but honestly, it wasn’t an issue for us.

We didn’t get to see the belly dancer, but maybe it was due to the time of our reservation or due to the fact that our table was in a smaller room on the 2nd floor. If this is something you don’t want to miss, we suggest calling in advance to ask about it.

We paid $30 per person and 18% gratuity was also added to our bill. We had such a great experience we ended up adding an additional allowance tip.

We will be coming back on our next...

This was by far the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. If I could give this place less than one star, I would. I don’t even know where to begin. I drove all the way from New Jersey to Philadelphia just to try Moroccan food—something I know well as someone from the Middle East who’s been missing the authentic flavors, especially Moroccan couscous.

The service was absolutely terrible. The staff greeted us with frowns and zero hospitality. When presenting the menu, the waiter made no effort to explain anything I didn’t understand. He practically threw the plates onto the table when serving the food.

Speaking of plates—there weren’t any. Just one shared dish holding the food, and we had to scoop it ourselves into flimsy foam bowls and eat with plastic forks.

The food had no flavor, no identity, and absolutely no resemblance to Middle Eastern or Moroccan cuisine. The bread was stale and hard. The meat had a bad smell, the kebab was dry and tasted nothing like real kebab. The baklava wasn’t fresh and had no taste. The fruits were far from fresh too.

And now to the main dish—the Moroccan couscous, which was the whole reason for my visit. It was supposed to serve two people, yet the portion wasn’t enough for even half a person. It completely lacked the familiar couscous flavor, was served cold, and clearly wasn’t fresh.

The atmosphere of the place was equally unpleasant: poor lighting, bad ventilation, and a general sense of discomfort that made me feel nauseous. To make things worse, the prices were outrageously high considering the quality and quantity of the food.

I ended up with a stomachache after leaving the place and spent the entire night in the bathroom....