Palais Chahramane
6 rue Sidi Bouchouka
Cuisines: Arabic
About
Of all the spectacle Marocain (dinner/dance) restaurants in Marrakech, this is my favorite, despite the masses of tour groups that binge their way through here every day. This is a Moroccan feast for all the senses, so expect to be overloaded with food and bombarded with music and dance, all in a setting that is, indeed, palatial. The stairs and entrance hallway -- themselves a tribute to Moroccan artisanship -- lead to a gigantic dining room of traditional, low-lying circular tables, cushioned lounges and chairs, room-size Berber and Arabic carpets, and intricate zellij and stucco walls and ceilings. If your arrival hasn't been announced by the wailing and drumming of the resident Atlas Berber musical troupe, expect them, or the in-house Andalusian or Gnaoua quartet, to give you a tableside performance at some point in the evening. The food, like the entertainment and surroundings, is grand. Diners choose from set six-course menus that revolve around similar starters and desserts -- Moroccan salads, fresh fruit, Moroccan pastries, mint tea -- with a choice of individual main courses such as kefta (meatball) tagine with egg, vegetable couscous, or grilled lamb. And so you won't forget the experience, waiters (in traditional dress) have become experts at taking pictures of you and the in-house belly dancer.
