Eating in Marrakech is a study in range. On one street a stall ladles harira into a chipped bowl for a few dirhams; a few minutes away, a chef plates a modern tasting menu that would not look out of place in Paris. The city holds both without contradiction, and the happiest visitors move freely between them rather than choosing a side.
Start with the traditional table, because it is the reason you came. Tagines slow-cooked until the lamb falls apart, couscous served in a mountain on Fridays, pastilla dusted with sugar and cinnamon, brochettes off a medina grill — this is Moroccan home cooking scaled up, and the best of it is found in riad courtyards and family rooms rather than anywhere with a laminated menu. Eat it slowly, with bread instead of cutlery, as it is meant.
Then the international side, which Marrakech does with real confidence. The new town's restaurants run from serious French kitchens to Italian, Japanese and the polished Franco-Moroccan fusion the city has made its own. For the top end, the global benchmarks such as the World's 50 Best are a useful compass for how far the region's fine dining has climbed in recent years.
Do not skip the street. The Jemaa el-Fnaa food stalls, the juice carts, the snail vendors and the grills that fill the square with smoke each evening are a meal and a spectacle at once — point at what looks good, sit on a bench, and eat with the crowd. Choose a busy stall over an empty one, and it is as safe as it is delicious.
A little strategy goes a long way. Book the standout tables ahead, especially the riad dinners and the rooftop kitchens, which are small and fill fast. Keep a couple of evenings loose for wandering and stumbling. And leave room, always, for a glass of mint tea and something sweet to finish — in Marrakech the meal is not over until the tea is poured from a great theatrical height.