Discovering...
From grilled Atlantic fish on the Ain Diab corniche to bastila-led tasting menus in Maarif — a local food guide to Morocco’s largest city.
Amelia Hart· Itineraries & Trip Planning Editor
British writer who has built and road-tested Morocco itineraries for everyone from honeymooners to families. She covers multi-day routes, costs, the best time to visit and how to plan a first trip. Casablanca · 9+ years covering Morocco
Published 19 February 2025 Last updated 2 March 2026
Casablanca’s restaurant scene is better than most visitors expect. The city is Morocco’s financial capital and its largest port, which means money, cosmopolitanism and, crucially, excellent raw ingredients — the Atlantic is right there, and the central market on Rue Chaouia is stacked daily with everything from Dakhla oysters to chermoula-ready dorade.
The food here is also genuinely different from the tourist-facing tagine circuit in Marrakech. You’ll find bastila au poisson (flaky fish pastilla) instead of pigeon, grilled whole fish priced by weight rather than by the portion, and neighbourhood cafés still serving harira and bissara for under 30 MAD a bowl. International food — French, Italian, Japanese — is also strong in the business districts, which makes Casablanca a useful first or last stop when you want to ease in or out of Moroccan cooking.
This guide organises the city by neighbourhood rather than by a list of individual restaurant names, because the best places change faster than any guide can track and the neighbourhood tells you more about what kind of meal you’re going to have. Use it to find the right area, then ask your hotel or riad what’s opened recently.
Each district has its own culinary character. Here’s where to go depending on what kind of meal you want.
Beachside & seafood-heavy
Price range: 120–350 MAD / person
Best for: Fresh fish, ocean views, after-dinner drinks
Walk west from Boulevard de la Corniche — restaurants cluster from the lighthouse towards the beach clubs. Go before sunset for a table with a view; it fills up fast on weekends.
Modern, upscale Moroccan & international
Price range: 180–600 MAD / person
Best for: Fine dining, business meals, tasting menus
This is where Casablancans who care about food actually eat. Avenue Hassan II and the streets around Parc de la Ligue Arabe hold some of the city's most serious kitchens.
Traditional Moroccan, budget-friendly
Price range: 40–120 MAD / person
Best for: Harira, bissara, mechoui, pastilla
The streets just back from the Mosque hold hole-in-the-wall spots that have been serving the same tagines for decades. Don't expect a menu in English — point at what looks good.
Chic, Franco-Moroccan fusion
Price range: 150–450 MAD / person
Best for: Couples' dinners, contemporary Moroccan cuisine
Racine is Casablanca's answer to a European bistro quarter — leafy streets, wine bars and restaurants that blend French technique with Moroccan ingredients. Quieter than Maarif but no less good.
Five dishes worth seeking out — some specific to Casa, others done particularly well here because of the proximity to the sea and the quality of the central market.
| Dish | What to know |
|---|---|
| Pastilla au poisson | Fish and vermicelli folded into flaky warqa pastry — a Casa staple that differs from Fes's pigeon version. |
| Grilled dorade or loup de mer | The Atlantic fish are exceptional. Order by the half-kilo, grilled over charcoal with chermoula and chips. |
| Harira | Rich lentil-and-tomato soup thickened with flour and spiked with coriander. A bowl costs 15–25 MAD at medina cafés. |
| Bastila au lait | Dessert pastilla filled with cream and almonds, a sugar-dusted finale to any proper Moroccan meal. |
| Chebbakia with mint tea | Fried sesame-honey pastry, typically served alongside tea. Available at traditional cafés from around 5 MAD each. |
When to eat
Lunch runs 12:30–3 pm; dinner rarely starts before 8 pm. Kitchens close late — midnight is not unusual at corniche restaurants.
Paying
Cash is standard at medina cafés and mid-range spots. Cards accepted at most Gauthier and corniche restaurants; ask before ordering if unsure.
Getting there
Petit taxis are the fastest way to cross the city. From the city centre to Ain Diab costs around 30–50 MAD; agree the fare before you get in.
Casablanca’s medina is compact and walkable, but the best food spots aren’t always on obvious tourist routes. A private guided food tour with a local who knows the market traders personally gets you into places that don’t have menus or signage — and past the language barrier at the stalls worth visiting. A good guide also knows which corniche restaurants are genuinely fresh that day versus which are coasting on reputation. If your time in Casablanca is limited to a day or two, that local knowledge is worth paying for.
The answer depends on what you're after. For traditional Moroccan food in a proper setting, the Gauthier and Maarif neighbourhoods host the city's most polished kitchens — expect tasting menus built around bastila, lamb with preserved lemons and Moroccan-French pastry. For fresh seafood, the Ain Diab corniche has a string of fish restaurants with terrace views of the Atlantic. Budgets spanning 80–600 MAD per head are realistic depending on which category you choose.
The area directly around the mosque is tourist-facing, so prices inflate quickly. Walk two or three streets back into the old medina and you'll find neighbourhood restaurants serving harira (soup), bissara (bean purée with olive oil and cumin) and mechoui (slow-roasted lamb) for 40–80 MAD a meal. For a sit-down lunch with a view of the mosque, several cafés along Boulevard Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah offer outdoor seating at reasonable prices — budget around 80–120 MAD including mint tea.
Very good. Casablanca sits on the Atlantic coast, and the catch is landed daily. The most reliable seafood cluster is along the corniche in Ain Diab, where restaurants grill whole fish, serve oysters from Oualidia and plate up grilled prawns simply with lemon and chermoula. Order fish sold by weight — half a kilo of dorade with salads typically runs 150–250 MAD (indicative). Atlantic October–March is peak quality for shellfish; summer is fine for grilled fish year-round.
Casablanca's Moroccan food culture is distinct from Marrakech and Fes. Look for pastilla au poisson (fish bastila), harira soup, chermoula-marinated grilled fish, and couscous served on Fridays at family-run restaurants. The old medina's Derb Omar district and the streets behind the central market are good hunting grounds for traditional spots. Several mid-range restaurants in Maarif offer full Moroccan set menus — bastila starter, tagine main, bastila au lait dessert — for around 180–280 MAD per head.
Yes, the corniche (Boulevard de la Corniche in Ain Diab) is Casablanca's most scenic dining strip, running roughly 3 km beside the Atlantic. You'll find everything from casual beach-club cafés to proper seafood restaurants with white tablecloths and wine lists. The strip is busiest Thursday evening through Sunday — arrive by 7:30 pm to get a terrace table without waiting. Prices are higher here than inland, but the ocean backdrop justifies the premium on a clear evening.
It spans a wide range. Street food and medina cafés charge 30–80 MAD (roughly $3–8) for a full meal with tea. A mid-range restaurant in Maarif or Gauthier typically costs 150–300 MAD per person including a non-alcoholic drink. Fine-dining venues in Anfa or Racine can reach 400–700 MAD with wine. Seafood restaurants on the corniche sit in between — expect 200–350 MAD per person for a proper meal. Tipping is customary: 10% is appreciated; at casual spots, rounding up suffices.
A significant number do, particularly in Ain Diab, Gauthier, Maarif and upscale hotel dining rooms. Moroccan law permits licensed restaurants and hotels to serve alcohol; traditional Moroccan restaurants and any establishment near a mosque generally do not. If you want wine with dinner, look for restaurants in the Racine or Gauthier neighbourhoods, or beach clubs on the corniche. Moroccan rosé and white wines from Meknes-area vineyards pair well with grilled fish.
Plan it with a local expert
Crafting extraordinary journeys through Morocco's timeless landscapes. 100% private journeys, handcrafted around you.
from $2,054Essential Morocco: Imperial Cities Circuit
from $5,978Sahara to Sea: Morocco Complete