The Best Place To Eat Mechoui and Sheep Brain In Jemaa El-Fna

If there’s one must do thing in Marrakech, for me, it’s watching the food vendors set up their collective stalls at dusk in the Jemaa El-Fna square.  Before the day turns to night, the heart of the Old Medina transforms before your eyes. Locals and tourists make their way out from the souks following the sounds and aroma of the make-shift kitchen coming alive. There’s movement in every direction. Smoke fans from the open flames and the unmistakeable smell of grilled meat and spices dominate your already overloaded senses.

Make your way through the crowd of people, motorbikes and cars and sit down at one of the endless stalls serving up everything from merguez sausages to harira (tomato and lentils) soup and of course the famous, lamb mechoui.  Is your mouth watering yet? It will be when you are there, so listen carefully.

If you want to try lamb mechoui at dinner time, the Jemaa El-Fna evening market is the place to go.

How To Find A Place To Eat at Jemaa El-Fna

I’ll start by telling you where to avoid eating at the Jemaa El-Fna square. It’s perfectly normal to be overwhelmed the first time you decide to enter this mass of food stalls and restaurants in the evening. The savory fragrances, the smoky steam dancing in the air and the clatter of pots and pans – the whole sceneis enchanting and alarming at the same time. But amongst those things playing to your senses will be the sound of vendors calling out for you to sit down. Some offer a seat, others insist, and a few downright aggressively block your path to try to “sell” you on their restaurant.

If someone is trying hard to get you to eat somewhere, avoid it at all cost. The brighter and bigger “restaurants” pay a premium are there to sell mediocre food to unsuspecting tourists. It’s not like the food is bad, but you’ll notice that there are a very few locals eating there. They hunt for tourists and hope to get you early in the search process. You will pay more and for food that just isn’t as good.

The nice cafes surrounding the square are great for catching a view, especially in the later afternoon as the stalls are setting up, but you can find better food elsewhere.

If you are looking for a guided tour where you can sample a bit of everything, I recommend this foodie’s evening of adventure with the guys. You start with some of the best local spots in the market and then sit down for a complete Moroccan dinner experience. There also a gastronomic adventure within just the Jemaa El-Fna market. 

Eat Where The Locals Eat

Instead, walk another 20-30 meters. I know, I’m asking a lot. Venture just a little further in and look for something that might catch your attention and appetite. Look for an empty spot on the bench beside the locals. You’ll have to squeeze right in. Don’t be shy. Use your best high school French, hand signals and maybe try to ask the person next to you what they are having. In my experience, the best places to eat will only do one or two dishes rather than twenty. It’s no different here.

Look for the steam rising up from a live kitchen, and find places where the menu is limited to a handful of things. Imagine trying to prepare fish, lamb, chicken, 3 different rice dishes, a bunch of appetizers. Most of the “bad” restaurants serving everything will have cooked it in advance and they just heat it back up.

I love lamb. I love goat. I love meat in general, but I really love lamb. Naturally, I will always be drawn to the stalls serving it. While the 5 stewed sheep heads sitting next to the cauldron of bubbling braising sauce might be a turn-off for most (and it was for 2 out of my 3 female companions), for me it meant they were serving the meat from the cheeks and quite possibly the brains. I asked and the man said, “yes, brains and mechoui.” I’ll take both.

Trying Sheep Brain At Jemaa El Fna

How do you describe the texture and taste of brains? It’s soft, it’s fatty. It almost melts in your mouth, but doesn’t. To me, it tastes like an organ should taste – in a good way. What can’t easily be described about it is what makes it so special and delicious. Here, they serve it sliced up after being boiled in a flavorful broth. The simple bread that it’s served with provides a bland and harder texture that offsets the richness of the offal. It’s a great dish and if you’re not squeamish, I highly recommend you try it.

The Best Place To Eat Mechoui in Jemaa El Fna

The other lamb dishes, the one I came for was the lamb Mechoui and lamb stew, or tanjia. Lamb mechoui is a roasted leg of lamb that takes half a day to a full day to prepare. It’s marinated and rubbed with an assortment of fresh spices and then slow cooked in a clay oven or pressure steamed. The meat just melts in your mouth. The lamb stew is similar except it is cooked in a tomato stew in a clay pot that seals in and preserves the richness and fattiness of the lamb.

Inside Jemaa El Fna, I tried little portions of these dishes at 3 different places. And they were all amazing. You don’t need a name of a stall or a number. Just do what I said earlier. Look for a place filled with local people. Look for gigantic cauldrons or clay ovens where they pull out chunks of lamb. The lamb heads sitting there waiting to be chunked in half is always a good sign for me.

At every place, the meat was so tender and I could smell all the spices I had purchased earlier in the sous. Cumin, coriander, turmeric and garlic mixed together with ras-al-hanout, the house blend, and generously rubbed all over the lamb before the roasting process begins.

Mechoui Alley And Truly The Best Place To Eat Mechoui In Marrakech

Outside of this evening square, the definitive place to try mechoui is at the aptly named Mechoui Alley in the north end of Jemaa El Fna square on Derb Semmarine. It’s only open for lunch, so you know it’s good and fresh.

Here, each shop is run by a family who has been doing this for generations. Whole portions of lamb, goat, and muttons are lowered into a giant clay pit built right into the floor. It’s left there to cook for many hours until the meat is ready to fall apart. It’s easy to miss the oven, so ask if you can see the lamb.

There are also rows of tanjia that have been sealed and cooked overnight with the coals that are used to heat the hammans.  These terracotta amphoras make my eyes widen and my nose perk up every time I walk by.

In Mechoui alley, you order by the weight. The meat is dished up with bread and you simply enjoy it with salt and cumin. It can’t be any less complicated nor more delicious than this.

Don’t fret about which stall to eat from – they are all good. Just make sure you don’t miss out on Mechoui alley and go early. It’s only open from 11 am to 2 pm.

Happy eating! If you are looking for more travel inspirations, scroll through out my 450+ item bucket list and maybe you’ll find your next adventure.

Updated on May 28, 2024