12 of the Best Restaurants in Rabat, Morocco

When you think of the most interesting tourist destinations in Morocco, the first cities that come to mind are Marrakech, Fes, Essaouira, and Ouarzazate. Those are the destinations most first-time visitors flock to but surprisingly, none of them turned out to be our favorite cities in Morocco. That distinction goes to Rabat and Tangier.

Neither Rabat nor Tangier has as many tourist attractions as Marrakech or Fes but in our opinion, they’re the most liveable. By that, they’re the cities we actually see ourselves living in long-term in Morocco. We feel that way for many reasons – the city’s vibe, its people, the weather, and of course, the restaurants and food.

Like Casablanca, the capital of Morocco doesn’t get nearly as many tourists as Marrakech but if you do decide to visit Rabat, then here are twelve restaurants that you shouldn’t miss.

MUST-VISIT RESTAURANTS FOR AUTHENTIC MOROCCAN DISHES IN RABAT

1. Kasr Al Assil (Our favorite restaurant for traditional Moroccan cuisine)

There are two types of restaurants we look for when we travel – traditional places that serve local food and healthy restaurants. We went to many traditional Moroccan restaurants in Rabat but our clear favorite was Kasr Al Assil.

Kasr Al Assil is a beautiful restaurant that serves Moroccan staples like tagine, couscous, and brochette. They don’t offer too many dishes on their menu, which is usually a good thing. Whatever they offer, they make very well.

What you’re looking at here is a plate of grilled swordfish served with sauteed vegetables and herbed rice. This was delicious.

Kasr Al Assil offers chicken or minced meat brochettes served with sauteed vegetables, fries, and your choice of either taktouka (roasted pepper salad) or zaalouk (eggplant salad). I went with the chicken brochette but you can go for the mixed platter if you’d like to try both.

We had lunch at this restaurant on a Friday. You know what that means right? Couscous! Traditionally served only on Fridays in Morocco, you can get vegetable couscous at Kasr Al Kassil or have it made with the addition of chicken or beef.

Couscous in Moroccan cuisine is typically made with seven types of vegetables. If I remember correctly, this one had carrots, zucchini, chickpeas, turnips, cabbage, peppers, and pumpkin.

You can read more about couscous and other traditional Moroccan dishes in our Moroccan food guide.

Kasr Al Kassil is located along Avenue Youssef Ben Tachfine, about a 10-minute walk south of Rabat Ville train station.

Many travelers don’t stay long in Rabat. If you had time for just one Moroccan restaurant, then I recommend going to Kasr Al Assil. It’s a beautifully decorated restaurant that serves great food.

Kasr Al Assil

Address: 39, Rue Youssef Ibn Tachfine, Av. Moulay Hassan, Rabat 10020, Morocco
Operating Hours: 12:30-10PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What They Offer: Traditional Moroccan cuisine

2. Chez Chihab

If you’re traveling on a budget and want an affordable restaurant that serves good Moroccan cuisine, then Chez Chihab is one of the best places you can visit in Rabat. Located just a short walk from Hassan Tower, they serve Moroccan staples like tajine and brochette along with a good number of sandwiches as well.

Pictured below is one of our favorite starters in Morocco – Moroccan salad. It’s a simple but always satisfying salad made with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and olive oil.

Another tasty Moroccan starter you may want to try is lentil stew. Give me a plate of this and some freshly baked khobz (Moroccan bread) and I’m a happy man!

Chez Chihab offers different types of tajine but one of our favorites is chicken tagine with vegetables. You can’t see it but the chicken is under that pile of vegetables. Trust me, it’s there.

If you’re a fan of grilled meat, then you’ll definitely want to try this chicken brochette cooked over charcoal. Served with a side of rice and fries, these cubes of grilled chicken were smokey and super delicious. They make them with meat (probably beef) or minced meat as well.

Chez Chihab is a tiny restaurant just a stone’s throw away from Hassan Tower. In my opinion, it’s a hidden gem that offers tasty Moroccan meals at a reasonable price. At the time of our visit in October 2023, main dishes and sandwiches ranged between MAD 25-45.

Chez Chihab

Address: 16 rue mariniyine magasin 3 Hassan rabat à côté des chèques, postaux, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 9AM-7PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What They Offer: Moroccan cuisine

3. Chez Lhaja (Affordable Traditional Moroccan Restaurant in the Medina)

Chez Lhaja is another great Moroccan restaurant that serves delicious meals at reasonable prices, this time in the heart of the medina. Aside from the usual dishes like tajine and Moroccan cold salads, they offer one dish that you can’t find at every Moroccan restaurant – hargma.

Before we get into the hargma, here’s a simple but delicious mixed salad made with zaalouk, green beans, boiled potatoes, chopped tomatoes and onions, and beetroot.

What you’re looking at here is their tasty chicken tagine. Yes, the chicken is under the vegetables.

This is the hargma (or hergma). It’s a hearty Moroccan dish consisting of cow feet and chickpeas.

As described, hargma isn’t something you’ll find at every Moroccan restaurant so I highly recommend ordering this if you see it on a menu. We’ve only had this a handful of times in Morocco and this version at Chez Lhaja was delicious.

Chez Lhaja is a great Moroccan restaurant tucked away in a corner of the medina. Like Chez Chihab, you can enjoy a tasty Moroccan meal there at a reasonable price. Be sure to check our location map to see exactly where it is.

Chez Lhaja

Address: 7 Derb cherkaoui, rue Lalla oumkanabech, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 12NN-5PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What They Offer: Traditional Moroccan dishes

4. Dar El Medina

Speaking of restaurants hidden in the medina, Dar El Medina is another restaurant you may want to visit for traditional Moroccan cuisine in Rabat. If I understand correctly, it’s a restaurant that also doubles as a cooking school.

Dar El Medina offers different kinds of tagine, couscous, and brochette dishes. No matter what you go for, you’ll have your choice of three Moroccan starters. I went with this lovely trio of Moroccan salad, zaalouk, and carrot salad with orange blossom water. Pretty right?

Unlike most other restaurants in Morocco, you can have couscous any day of the week at Dar El Medina, not just on Fridays.

As usual, we went with the vegetable couscous but you can get it with chicken or beef as well. If you like, you can try it with tfaya too. It’s a sweet garnish made with caramelized onions, raisins, cinnamon, and honey.

This turkey brochette was tasty but a bit dry so I probably won’t order this again.

Talk about being hidden in plain sight. Dar El Medina is located through this alleyway. Be sure to check our location map to help you navigate.

To get into the restaurant, you need to ring the doorbell on the right side of this gate.

Like many buildings in Morocco’s medinas, what looks like an unassuming alleyway opens up into a lovely inner courtyard. Isn’t this space pretty?

If you like to cook, then you may want to inquire about Dar El Medina’s cooking classes. We took a cooking class in Marrakech and absolutely loved it.

Dar El Medina

Address: 3 rue benjelloul souk sebbat, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 12NN-4PM, 7-10PM, Tue-Sun (closed Mondays)
What They Offer: Traditional Moroccan dishes

5. Dar Naji

Like Kasr Al Assil, Dar Naji was one of our favorite traditional Moroccan restaurants in Rabat. It’s located just outside the medina, across the street from its western wall. They serve typical Moroccan dishes like tajine, tride, couscous, and brochette on a lovely terrace overlooking the medina’s walls.

As is often the case, I started my meal with a Moroccan salad. Dar Naji tops theirs with a small portion of cooked tuna.

Dar Naji doesn’t offer chicken brochette but they do serve one of the best turkey skewers we’ve had in Morocco thus far. Soft, flavorful, and incredibly juicy, it comes with four hefty sticks and a side of herbed rice and sauteed vegetables. If you like grilled meats, then you need to try this!

If you enjoy exploring the local cuisine, then you may want to try tride as well. Also known as r’fissa, it’s a traditional Moroccan dish consisting of stewed chicken and lentils served over msemen (Moroccan pancakes).

We only tried one version but Dar Naji offers three types of tride – tride au poulet, tride au poulet beldi, and r’fissa prestige. I’m not sure what the differences are but we tried the tride au poulet beldi which I believe is made with native chicken.

Dar Naji is a great restaurant to visit after exploring the medina. Like Kasr Al Assil, it has a beautiful interior that enhances the dining experience.

You can enjoy your meal indoors but we prefer dining on the restaurant’s lovely terrace. If you can, arrive early so you can get one of the tables overlooking the medina’s walls.

Dar Naji

Address: Av. Jazirat Al Arabe, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 12NN-10PM, daily
What They Offer: Traditional Moroccan food

6. Trio d’Or

Trio d’Or is another good restaurant you can visit for tasty Moroccan cuisine in Rabat. Like many restaurants in Morocco, they serve a little bit of everything – traditional food like tagines and brochettes, seafood, salad, pizza, and pasta dishes.

We started our feast with a trio of our favorite Moroccan appetizers, starting with this Moroccan salad.

What you’re looking at here is a thick and hearty plate of stewed lentils.

Can you tell what this dish is by now? It’s our favorite zaalouk or Moroccan eggplant salad.

For my main course, I went with the turkey brochettes which were very good as well. Not quite as tender and juicy as Dar Naji’s version but definitely better than the skewers at Dar El Medina. They were served with a side of herbed rice and sauteed vegetables.

If you’re as big a fan of lamb as my wife is, then you may want to go for the lamb chops. They weren’t as tender as she would have liked but they were quite tasty. Like my brochettes, they were served with a side of rice and vegetables.

Trio d’Or is located in Quartier Hassan. It’s another restaurant you may want to check out after visiting Hassan Tower.

Trio d’Or is a surprisingly big restaurant with two floors and a lovely traditional interior.

The restaurant has this brighter courtyard-like space in the back as well. This was where we ate.

Trio d’Or

Address: 20 Av. Chellah, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 7AM-11PM, daily
What They Offer: Moroccan cuisine

7. Marea

We don’t do fine dining often but Marea was probably the nicest restaurant we’ve been to thus far in Rabat. It’s basically a Moroccan-European fusion restaurant that specializes in seafood. They offer beautifully plated seafood dishes like grilled salmon with lobster sauce, fish soup, seafood risotto, and seafood paella.

Marea started us off with this tasty trio of appetizers made with pureed olives, carrots, and eggplant. The bread they give you is delicious as well.

Nicoise salad is common in Morocco but have you ever seen one as beautiful as this? Called “Salad, Like in Nice“, Marea’s gorgeous interpretation of the classic salad is made with the usual ingredients – cooked tuna, cherry tomatoes, onions, potatoes, hard-boiled egg, etc – served in a shallow bowl and topped with a homemade lemon vinaigrette.

What you’re looking at below is their tajine of freshly caught fish. It consists of a fish fillet marinated in chermoula and served on a bed of baked vegetables.

If you like salmon, then we highly recommend trying the grilled salmon with lobster sauce. It consists of a beautifully grilled salmon fillet served with market vegetables and mussels drenched in lobster sauce. This dish was every bit as tasty as it was pretty.

They don’t have room for them on the plate so they serve you a small skillet of sauteed vegetables to go with your salmon.

Marea offers a few enticing-sounding desserts but we ultimately went with this panna cotta topped with a raspberry coulis. It was absolutely delicious and a fitting end to a fantastic seafood meal.

Good seafood isn’t hard to find in Rabat, but if you want something a little more interesting than the usual grilled swordfish or seafood tagine, then you should definitely try Marea.

Here’s a look at Marea’s stylish modern interior. Aside from their delicious, artfully plated food, we loved this restaurant for its amazing atmosphere and excellent service. Now if only they served crab cakes!

Marea

Address: 9 rue AL Mariniyine, Rabat 10020, Morocco
Operating Hours: 12NN-3PM, 7-10PM, Tue-Fri / 1-4PM, 7:30-11PM, Sat / 12NN-5PM, Sun (closed Mondays)
What They Offer: Seafood

8. Pietri Palace

Walk around downtown Rabat and you’ll eventually come across this sunken plaza that’s home to about half a dozen restaurants and cafes. We visited three restaurants in this space and Pietri Palace was our favorite.

Pietri Palace offers a diverse menu with Moroccan and international dishes like pizza, pasta, sandwiches, tajine, and Moroccan comfort food. Surprise surprise, I started my meal with a plate of my favorite starter – Moroccan salad.

My better half went with the classic Nicoise salad. Nowhere near as pretty as Marea’s version but just as satisfying and delicious!

For her main dish, my wife went with this fresh fish tagine. I don’t know if they use different types of fish depending on availability but today, it was made with swordfish. You can see some of it poking from behind the potato below.

Pietri Palace offers different types of fried and grilled fish dishes but whenever I see fish brochette on a restaurant’s menu, that’s what I usually go for. Also made with swordfish, these fish skewers were tender, juicy, and simply delicious. They’re served with some herbed rice and sauteed vegetables.

We always enjoy Moroccan mint tea after lunch and this sunken plaza was one of our favorite places to do that in Rabat. Nothing like mint tea to help digest a delicious meal in Morocco.

Here’s what the sunken plaza looks like from above. It’s comprised of about six to eight restaurants and cafes offering outdoor seating. It’s a great place to sit and while away the time over lunch and hot cups of mint tea in Rabat.

Pietri Palace

Address: Rue Moulay Idriss al Akbar, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 7AM-11:30PM, Mon-Wed / 8AM-11:30PM, Thurs-Fri / 8AM-12MN, Sat / 7AM-12MN, Sun
What They Offer: Breakfast, salads, pasta dishes, comfort food

9. Le Maitres du Pain

We were having lunch at La P’tite Epicerie du Terroir (#10) and asked the chef if they bake and sell their own whole wheat bread. Unfortunately, they don’t but he did recommend Le Maitres du Pain. According to him, it’s a famous boulangerie that’s known for making some of the best bread in Rabat.

Aside from making their own bread and pastries, Le Maitres du Pain is also a full-service restaurant. They’re a popular spot for breakfast and serve a few dishes like salads, grilled meat skewers, burgers, and sandwiches.

Pictured below is an overflowing bowl of their Nicoise salad.

This is their Caesar salad topped with deep-fried breaded chicken. We found the chicken to be a bit dry so we didn’t enjoy this as much as the Nicoise salad.

Their chicken brochette, on the other hand, was quite good. It’s served with a mushroom cream sauce and sauteed vegetables.

We enjoyed our meal at Le Maitres du Pain but like the chef said, the real star here is their bread. This brown seeded baguette was delicious and something we’d get as takeaway to enjoy at home.

They make delicious-looking western pastries as well but according to online reviews, their best products truly are their freshly baked breads.

We didn’t try any but they offer a good selection of Moroccan pastries too.

If you’re looking for good bread, then Les Maitres du Pain is the place to go in Rabat.

Les Maitres du Pain

Address: 75 Av. Patrice Lumumba, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily
What They Offer: Breakfast, comfort food, bread, pastries

10. La Casa Di Carta

As you can probably guess from the restaurant’s name, La Casa Di Carta is a Moroccan-Italian restaurant that serves pizza, pasta dishes, and a few Moroccan favorites like rfissa and brochettes. Restaurants like this are quite common throughout Morocco and this was one of the better ones we’ve been to thus far.

To start our meal, they served us these small bowls of Moroccan starters and a basket of freshly baked bread.

This quinoa salad was amazingly delicious. It was made with grilled chicken and a generous amount of avocados served with quinoa, lettuce, tomatoes, and olives.

Pictured below is the salade maison, which is basically their version of Nicoise salad.

Like the quinoa salad, this grilled salmon dish surprised me. Perfectly cooked with nicely charred skin, it was absolutely delicious. They serve it over a bed of potatoes with a side of herbed corn rice and boiled vegetables. Seriously tasty!

Is it possible to eat too much chicken brochette in Morocco? Absolutely not! The version at La Casa Di Carta was very good as well.

To be honest, I didn’t expect to like La Casa Di Carta but this restaurant really surprised me. Everything we had was delicious, especially the quinoa salad and grilled salmon.

La Casa Di Carta

Address: 259F+CH8, Rue d’Oran, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 11AM-11PM, Thurs-Mon / 10AM-11PM, Tue-Wed
What They Offer: Breakfast, Moroccan cuisine, salads, comfort food

11. Boho Cafe

Boho Cafe isn’t a traditional Moroccan restaurant but it turned out to be our favorite place to eat in Rabat. We must have eaten here a total of five or six times in the three weeks we spent in Rabat.

Located just a stone’s throw from the Rabat Ville train station, Boho Cafe is a cute and hugely popular brunch spot that serves a delicious selection of western and Moroccan breakfast staples like waffles, avocado toast, baghrir pancakes, and acai bowls. We’ve probably tried half of their menu already and we’ve enjoyed everything we’ve had here so far.

Pictured below is their rainbow quinoa salad. It’s made with quinoa, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, shredded carrots, lettuce, sweet potatoes, avocados, corn, halloumi, and jben (Moroccan fresh cheese).

What you’re looking at here is their sweet potato waffle. More a savory dish than sweet, it’s topped with cherry tomatoes, guacamole, cucumber, radish, and a hard-boiled egg.

It’s hard to tell what this one is but underneath all those toppings is a piece of avocado toast. It’s topped with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, radish, halloumi, and a hard-boiled egg.

Everything we’ve had at Boho Cafe has been delicious but this acai bowl may be my favorite dish. It’s topped with homemade granola, peanut butter, and a melange of seasonal fruits. They make it in large and small sizes.

If you’d like to pair your acai bowl with another dish, then you can go for this combo called the mix and match. It’s made with a small acai bowl and a simpler version of their avocado tartine.

If you fancy a breakfast dish that’s more Moroccan, then you can try their baghrir pancakes. Known for their characteristic holes, the pancakes are topped with homemade granola, seasonal fruits, and amlou – a Moroccan spread made with argan oil, almonds, and honey.

Boho Cafe also makes a few insanely delicious-looking pastries like this carrot cake. Try some with a hot cup of coffee or one of their many herbal teas.

I wasn’t exaggerating when I said Boho Cafe’s pastries look insanely delicious. Look at those cookies!

As described, we’ve eaten at Boho Cafe on multiple occasions and the restaurant was almost always full. I suggest going shortly after they open to be seated right away.

This is what the cafe looks like inside. Cute right? The restaurant’s interior is just as fun and joyful as its food.

Whether it’s for Sunday brunch or a light lunch during the week, Boho Cafe is an excellent place to go to in Rabat. My better half certainly approves.

Boho Cafe

Address: 10 Rue EL Yamama, Rabat 10000, Morocco
Operating Hours: 9AM-9PM, Tue-Sat / 10AM-9PM, Sun (closed Mondays)
What They Offer: Brunch dishes

12. La P’tite Epicerie du Terroir

How lucky were we to have what could very well be the city’s best epicerie on the ground floor of our Airbnb? La P’tite Epicierie du Terroir is mainly a gourmet food market but they also have two tables inside the shop where you can enjoy one of several healthy gourmet salads and sandwiches.

As previously described, we had a lovely chat with the epicerie’s Moroccan chef. He told us that he spent some time living in Korea and often infuses his food with influences from Asian cuisine. That became apparent when he served us this starter of Korean-style pickled radishes.

If you’re in the mood for healthy food in Rabat, then La P’tite’s Old Buddha Bowl is an excellent choice. It’s made with a base of either rice, salad greens, and quinoa topped with a host of heart-healthy ingredients like grilled tofu, carrots, cucumber, fermented radish, red cabbage, zucchini, and sauteed spinach.

L’Ptite offers a few sandwiches, including this delicious carpe diem vegetarian sandwich.

This equally delicious salmone al tartufo features truffled smoked salmon, arugula, capers, tomatoes, and brie.

La P’tite Epicerie du Terroir is located about a 5-minute walk east of Rabat Ville train station.

As described, it’s mainly a gourmet food store but they do have two small tables inside if you’d like to dine at the shop.

The shop offers many interesting gourmet food products sourced from different parts of the world. Don’t forget to try the artisanal ice cream.

La P’tite Epicerie du Terroir

Address: 7 Rue Benzart, Rabat, Morocco
Operating Hours: 10AM-8PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What They Offer: Salads, sandwiches

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these restaurants in Rabat, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN RABAT

We never had any problems finding good food in Rabat, but one thing that was noticeably missing was street food. For some reason, we didn’t see too much of it (or any at all) in Rabat, which was a bit disappointing for street food lovers like us.

In spite of that, we enjoyed eating our way through the Moroccan capital. We prioritize local restaurants and healthy food options but Rabat is a cosmopolitan city – perhaps the most modern in Morocco – so international dishes aren’t hard to find.

We walked by a French restaurant or two. Italian restaurants are plentiful. We ate at one Lebanese restaurant and were once directed to a Japanese restaurant by a taxi driver who thought we were craving Asian food. Ha!

No matter what your preference is, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding delicious food in Rabat.

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