Marrakesh | Moroccan Restaurant — Restaurant in Seattle

Interesting decor, friendly and attentive staff, very cool overall theme for the restaurant but the food itself falls a little bit flat.

Upon entering you'll feel transported to another world as the tented ceiling draws your eyes downward to the carpeted walls and colourful tiled tables. Seating is on low stools, so those who have mobility issues may need to request other arrangements.

Your server washes your hands at the table with a water pot apparatus after taking your order. Meals are broken into set appetizers, your selected entree(s) and then dessert with mint tea.

While the appetizers were interesting, they weren't particularly satisfying. We were served bread and salad along with a small cup of lentil soup. Both tasted pretty good, and set decent expectations for the meal ahead.

The second appetizer was a phyllo pastry stuffed with ground chicken called b'stilla. This was very disappointing. The phyllo was great, dusted in cinnamon and powered sugar but the filling, which should be a savoury, rich, and heavily spiced turned out rather bland and awkward. Really, check out some recipes for this dish and compare with what's served, you'll be disappointed.

The main courses are whatever entrées you select. We went with two lamb dishes which were really tender and overall just fine. The lamb brochette was flavourful, well spiced and quite tender. The tangine of spicy lamb lacks any sort of heat and the description was, while technically accurate, pretty deceptive.

"With roasted potatoes, peas and carrots in a tomato cumin garlic sauce"

You can check the photo to see if you think that matches up.

The dessert and mint tea was amazing. I think it might have been my favourite thing there, and I don't even really like sweets. The milk pudding was phenomenal and went really well with the mint tea.

Overall I would probably consider coming back for a larger group meal and sampling a wider selection of dishes. I feel like in contrast to the high quality of service and decor, it must have been an off night for the kitchen.

Oh, there was also a belly dancer that showed up around 7 as we were on our way out. Very pretty, but didn't get to see...

Authentic Moroccan Food? Think Again

I have lived in Morocco for a period time and am married to a Moroccan. That being said, I’d say my opinion on the matter of Moroccan food might be a bit more informed than most patrons frequenting this restaurant. I will include more specific details on the dishes I tried, but, to summarize, this restaurant might be a disappointment to those looking for good, authentic Moroccan food. While the menu showcases classic Moroccan dishes, what is served to customers is unfortunately a rather poor imitation. However, the staff were kind and the food was edible after all.

Each entrée is served with a 5 course meal. My entrée was the Lamb Shank w/Couscous. The following is my full review:

Lentil Soup:

Vaguely resembles Harira (a type of Moroccan soup) in taste, but oddly has rice at the bottom. Portion was extremely small.

Salad:

It’s hard to go wrong with Moroccan salad since it’s just cucumbers and tomatoes. However, the spices were right.

Bastilla:

It’s okay, but I would not say it’s good bastilla. Too much powdered sugar and cinnamon. Not enough almonds. Traditionally, chicken bastilla should have shredded chicken not ground chicken (minced chicken).

Couscous:

I don’t really understand what’s going on with the couscous. Semolina couscous usually has a sweeter, wheatier taste and a firmer texture. Also, I’m not sure why there was cauliflower, sweet potato, and garbanzo beans in the couscous…As far as Moroccan couscous goes, well, it’s not very Moroccan. As far as the lamb goes, it was fine.

Soundtrack:

The music is not Moroccan…

Bellydancing:

It was kind of weird, and not very authentic to begin with. You’re not going to find belly dancing in most Moroccan restaurants. Bellydancing is usually done in private among other women.

Drinks:

I asked for tea that was not very sweet, but received one cup of very sweet tea. In Morocco, they will bring your own teapot and you can customize how sweet you’d like it to be. Also, many restaurants in Morocco definitely don’t have a long list of alcoholic beverages. But hey,...

I took my family here to experience something new while they were in town from North Dakota. Needless to say they will not forget this dinner out of all dinners we have had during their trip. I ordered the 4 of us the "feast" where all of the courses are already picked for us. That made things so much easier, less time looking at the menu and more family time. They sit you at small tables, keeping you and your family close. Looking around at other guests, it was very clear that this was a family friendly environment, hardly anyone on cell phones, everyone was engaging in family conversation. Eating with your hands for the 5 year old was fun. They do give you forks if you don't want to eat with your hands the entire time but it was fun to experience how the Moroccans do it. The feast was affordable and was plenty of food for all 4 of us. Seating is limited, make reservations online beforehand. I did not have any trouble finding parking nearby. The outside of the restaurant does not look festive at all and its not inviting from the outside but the inside was completely different than what you would expect by the outside appearance, dim lighting, and it gives you the feeling that you are eating in a tent like room. Rugs all over the floors and partially up the walls. Nice colorful Moroccan lights hung center of the tent like room. The first time I ate here (years ago) the waiters' worse costume like outfits with fun shoes but this time around they were in normal clothes. All of the waiters were all very friendly and genially happy when new people come to try Moroccan food for the first time. I would note that this is not quick dinning, the courses take time to come out one by one. *One thing that would add to the ambience of the restaurant would be fun upbeat Moroccan music playing in the background. The lighting is a little dim in the 2 large rooms so some fun upbeat Moroccan music would have...