12 fabulous bars in Marrakech, from candlelit rooftops to moody speakeasies
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Marrakech may not have a huge nightlife scene, but in recent years there's been a (small) flurry of trendy bar openings in the Ville Nouvelle. Highlights include an industrial-chic wine bar, a buzzing roof terrace with live jazz, and a slick spot for sophisticated cocktails. The medina only has a handful of restaurants and bars licensed to serve alcohol, although many riads sell beer and wine to guests in the privacy of their inner courtyards.
Medina
Café Arabe
Tucked away in upmarket Mouassine, Café Arabe’s rooftop terrace is the best place for Medina drinks. Downstairs, tables sit snugly in an open-air zellij (mosaic) tiled courtyard, while upstairs curvaceous beige sofas sprawl across the shaded terrace, which is magically lit by candlelight at night. It attracts a fashion-forward crowd of designers and artists, who come here for well-priced bottles of peppery Siroua S., glasses of rosé and passable cocktails. There's a Moroccan-Italian dinner menu on offer, although the food is a tad bland. It's best to come here for an aperitif and then head on to dinner elsewhere.
Contact: 00 212 524 429 728; cafearabe.com
Opening times: Daily, 10am-12pm
Prices: £
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Ville Nouvelle
Le Palace
This clubby downstairs lounge at Le Palace restaurant is redolent of a 1920s speakeasy. The dim lighting, lavish, inlaid mahogany walls and chandeliers set the scene for grown-up drinks and after-dinner tristes. Most clients start the evening in the fine-dining French restaurant and make their way through plates of tiger prawns and foie gras before descending for nightcaps and cigars accompanied by a laid-back soundtrack of international DJ tracks or a softly crooning lounge singer. The wine menu showcases some excellent Moroccan wines, and the crowd is elegantly turned-out.
Contact: 00 212 524 458 901; facebook.com/lepalacemarrakech
Opening times: Daily, 6pm-2am
Prices: £££
The Royal Mansour Bar
For a healthy dose of glamour and a rather fine cocktail, head to the beautiful bar in Royal Mansour. The huge marble bar sits centre stage framed by mirrored walls delicately engraved in pink gold leaf, while overhead a handcrafted silver ceiling glitters in the low lighting. It’s rather dazzling and the drinks that accompany it are just as good: there's a wine list that's fit for the Moroccan king (his guests regularly stay here) and expertly mixed cocktails, including a rather smooth Manhattan. For truants seeking a more cosy atmosphere, slink across the courtyard to Chimney Lounge where you can sink into the shadows of a cedar-paneled room and listen to the resident pianist.
Contact: 00 212 529 808 080, royalmansour.com
Opening times: Daily, 6pm-1am
Prices: £££
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Le Grand Café de la Poste
This colonial Art Deco bistro has a storied history as the favourite café of the dread Pasha Glaoui, and still attracts the city's movers and shakers to its shady terrace and palm-filled, 1930s interiors. While the food is a fine blend of French-Moroccan dishes, it's the 6pm-8pm happy hour that really draws the crowds. That's when you pair your chilled rosé or peppery S de Siroua wine with a parade of savoury appetisers and spiced olives, and eavesdrop on latest Marrakshi goings-on. Smokers congregate on the terrace so if you want to avoid this take a window table inside.
Contact: 00 212 524 433 038; grandcafedelaposte.restaurant
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 8am-1am
Prices: £££
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Baromètre Marrakech
Baromètre – somewhere between an underground prohibition bar and mad professor's lab with its pipework and crystal apothecary jars – is Marrakech's first attempt at a serious cocktail bar. The atmosphere is sexy and sophisticated and the bar staff are friendly and passionate about mixology. Cocktails (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) come with unique homemade macerations and bitters and can be customised to taste, so don't be afraid to discuss your preferences with the bartender. The Jimi Hendrix is a summer-soothing blend of gin and cucumber, which you can sip beside fusion tapas plates.
Contact: 00 212 524 379 012; facebook.com/barometremarrakech
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 6pm-1am
Prices: ££
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Lila Bar & Restaurant
Those in the know take the lift up to the first-floor lobby of the Radisson Blu Hotel, where the chic, architect-designed lounge-bar is found, furnished with a large, brass-trimmed bar and soft, velveteen sofas. Even better, behind the bar there's a huge open-air patio landscaped with sculptural plants and intimate, cream-cushioned seating areas where city slickers from Casablanca and Rabat sip mocktails and graze on Josper-grilled steaks in the throws of deep conversation. While the alcoholic cocktails are tooth-achingly sweet, the wine list is excellent. At weekends a DJ spins tracks in the bar.
Contact: 00 212 525 077 000; radissonblu.com
Opening times: Daily, 6am-1am
Prices: ££
68 Bar a Vin
This industrial-chic little wine bar has rapidly become one of the most popular bars in the new town. With a Bordelais proprietor it has a well-composed list of over 70 European and Moroccan wines, alongside a small offering of beers and some eclectic cocktails. Drinkers congregate downstairs, while upstairs diners nibble on sharing plates of tender steak, Dakhla oysters, cold cuts and cheese soufflé. Staff are on the ball and knowledgeable about the wines, and the crowd is a happy mix of Moroccans and foreign residents. Smoking is permitted inside but there's some limited patio seating out front.
Contact: 00 212 524 449 742; le-68.com
Opening times: Daily, 4.30pm-2am
Prices: ££
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Le Studio
This sophisticated wine bar and restaurant is the brainchild of experienced restaurateurs Didier Beckaert and Steeve Verbeek. They personally preside over the sexy black, white and red dining room where they serve up impeccable French food alongside an extensive list of international and Moroccan wines. Come early to grab a bar stool overlooking the kitchen and nibble on dainty plates of foie gras and spiced olives as you sip a blossomy glass of Roussanne from the nearby Essaouira winery Domaine du Val 'Argan. In summer they draw back the retractable roof for an instant al fresco effect.
Contact: 00 212 524 43 37 00; lestudiomarrakech.com
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 6pm-1am; Tue-Fri, 12pm-1am
Prices: ££
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Pointbar
Located off the main drag, Pointbar offers a more relaxed atmosphere than most Marrakshi bars. The unassuming slate-grey entrance and long narrow bar, screened by bamboo, precede a large interior patio furnished with a hot-red carpet and low-level sofas and pouffs. In summer, the retractable roof is drawn back for starlit summer drinking. Although primarily a wine bar, beer and cocktails are served, along with a Mediterranean menu. The place fills up at weekends when DJs spin tracks and during major sports events and football matches, which are broadcast live on giant screens in the bar.
Contact: 00 212 600 015 010; facebook.com/PointbarMarrakech
Opening times: Daily, 6pm-2am
Prices: ££
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L'Envers
Watch up-and-coming Moroccan DJs spin electronic tracks on the mezzanine level of L'Envers, a new narrow bar with a hipster vibe, strung with filament bulbs. Bare walls are hung with local street art and artfully graffitied Arabic calligraphy and the competitively priced drinks menu runs long with Moroccan and European wines, draft beers and champagne-based cocktails. Dedicated to underground culture, the bar hosts DJs at least four nights a week – you can expect some impressive talent here – and despite the narrow confines of the bar, dancers throw some serious shapes.
Contact: 00 212 662 552 478; lenvers.ma
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 5pm-2am
Prices: £
Kechmara
When Kechmara opened just over 10 years ago on leafy Rue de la Liberté it was a lone pioneer of a new kind of laid-back café and bar that has now become de riguer in the new town. The renovated 1950s villa in which it's housed is filled with stylish vintage furniture and old movie posters that give it a cool, contemporary vibe. Settle down on the buzzing roof terrace and order a minty caipirinha and a zesty salad. In the evening, you'll be joined by a creative crowd who come for the live jazz and groovy DJ sets.
Contact: 00 212 524 42 25 32; kechmara.com
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 11.30am-1am
Prices: £
Café du Livre
This restaurant, bar and bookshop is a laid-back place to start or end the night. Lined with shelves selling second-hand books it feels like someone's living room, and with a menu featuring buffalo wings and burgers, and draft beers starting at MAD 25 (£2), it's immensely popular with a young international crowd. On Mondays you can catch a trivia quiz night, while on Fridays and Saturdays they often host live music performances. During the week, between 6pm and 8pm, there's a popular happy hour when the place packs out with an after-work crowd.
Contact: 00 212 524 446 921; facebook.com/Cafedulivremarrakech
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 10am-11pm
Prices: £
