32 Blvd Mohammed Zerktouni (opposite Café Les Négociants), T 044-447215. Closed Tue and Wed lunchtime. Long-standing restaurant with good reputation. Well known for nouvelle French cuisine, including snails, beef carpaccio, and steak with Roquefort sauce. Eating à la carte, expect to pay 250dh. The menus are much cheaper. Terrace very noisy overlooking the traffic circle [...]

Derb Zaouia el Kadriya, Riad Zitoun Kedim, not far from the Dar Si Said, T 044-385252. Evenings only, closed Wed. A la carte Moroccan eating for around 200dh. Popular with foreign residents. Portions said to be on the small side. Eat upstairs in one of the smaller salons. Excellent opportunity to experience traditional Moroccan cuisine [...]

23 Derb Zanka Daika, Riad Zitoun Jedid, T 044- 385272. Open for lunch and till late, some credit cards accepted. Moroccan-Mediterranean menu and a selection of wines served in a white courtyard to a soundtrack of jazz, this is a classy restaurant set in the heart of the exclusive Palmeraie. http://www.tamsna.com

79 Sidi Ahmed Soussi, T 044-382929. Evenings only, closed Mon and Aug. Total 600dh, including apéritif, wines and digestif. A classic (although the cuisine is said to have declined in recent years following extension works), born of the fervid imagination of one Bill Willis, haut décorateur extraordinaire. Here are all the trappings of Marrakech style: [...]

Derb Abdallah ben Hussein, Leksour, T 044- 444052, 044-441523. Evenings only. Reservations essential. Moroccan standards cooked and served with more subtlety than is perhaps the norm. This place it is  stylish and friendly, and the cuisine is excellent and diners are always satisfied. Sophisticated but can get a bit cramped (there are only a handful of [...]

47 Derb Zaouia, Bab Doukkala, T 044-387040. Evenings only, closed Tue and Aug. Around 450dh a head, à la carte, drinks included. Said to be the best French restaurant in Marrakech, the menu changing on a daily basis. Le Pavillon can seat a maximum of 80 place setting: 50 in a graden (covered in winter) [...]

Leksour neighbourhood, T 044-440632. Closed Sun and Aug. Reservations essential. Along with Le Tobsil (see below), this place is rated as one of the Red City’s top tables. A lovely riad, where drinks are served in the courtyard before dinner. You can also wander around the house and admire the furnishings, and the view from [...]

Rue Dar el Bacha, T 044-386400. Lunchtimes and evenings, reservations preferable. One of the first riads to ‘go public’, the former residence of Pierre Balmain now houses a médina palace restaurant frequented by well-heeled Marrakchis and expats. Lunchtime is very pleasant in the garden. It’s an upscale eatery (despite the piped music) very worthy of [...]

Down an impasse just at the intersection of Rue Bab Doukkala and Rue Dar el Bacha, T 044-385110. Evenings only, reservations essential. ‘The House of Coral’ is one of the city’s longest established ‘traditional’ restaurants. Tables outside in the garden patio or in one of the more intimate side rooms provide the setting for the [...]

55 Rue souk Hal Fassi, Kaât Bennhadid, T 044- 378190. To get there, take a taxi to Moukef in the médina and get them to meet you. Around 200dh a head for a good feed. The style-police approved this one, a former merchants’ hostel (fondouk) converted into an upscale restaurant. Entrées: bijou briouates (little samosas). [...]