The author celebrates their 30th birthday in Marrakech, highlighting the city's diverse food scene beyond traditional tagine. They start with fresh dates and almonds en route to Amanjena, a luxurious hotel known for its grandeur and hospitality. The article details staying in one of Amanjena’s smaller pavilions, featuring a spacious layout and daily rose petal decorations at the fountain courtyard. For lunch, they visit Flowers rooftop bar within the medina's maze-like streets, enjoying light dishes like tomato salad, cabbage rolls, labneh with strawberries, and zatar-crusted flatbreads.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
For my 30th birthday I’m in Marrakech.
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I → ’m → Marrakech
After wanting to visit for the whole of my twenties, I’ve made it with days to spare.
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I → want → days
What’s drawn me isn’t just the beauty of the city, or the infamously good shopping, but the experimental and thriving food scene.
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drawn → draw → city
Long gone are the days when friends would return saying that all they had eaten was their body weight in tagine – I found the culinary delicacies wildly varied and all equally delicious.
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all → go → tagine
We start off strong.
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We → start → ?
Immediately after we land, in the taxi to the hotel, we’re given fresh dates and almonds.
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we → land → dates
Nothing really prepares you for proper Moroccan dates – they are better than toffee, and as we devour all of them while we watch the chaos of the streets outside the windows as we edge by; everyone on motorbikes moving in unpredictable rhythms, the faded red walls of the medina stretching along by our side.
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walls → prepare → side
We are spending the first two nights at Amanjena.
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We → spend → Amanjena
In the travel world, Aman hotels have such a degree of clout and mystique that I don’t know quite what to expect.
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I → have → what
The outskirts of Marrakech fold away and before we know it we’re pulling through big metal gates and suddenly the dirt roads become green lawns fringed with hot pink bougainvillea.
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roads → fold → bougainvillea
We’re greeted with fresh mint tea poured with signature flourish from a great height, and small but delectable pistachio cakes.
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We → greet → height
Amanjena has a majesty.
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Amanjena → have → majesty
We are staying in one of their smaller options – a pavilion – which shows how grand the whole space is because the circular room is bigger than my entire flat, with a large outdoor courtyard complete with a fountain dotted with rose petals that are refreshed every day.
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that → stay → petals
It also has a towering outside open seating area where you could lounge all day and never need to travel beyond your front door.
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you → have → door
Giddy with excitement, we prise ourselves away to explore the rest of the hotel and take a taxi into the medina.
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we → prise → medina
For lunch, I want us to try somewhere that’s been on my list for months: the rooftop bar Flowers.
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that → want → months
We almost can’t find the entrance among the labyrinth of streets, but after wandering the entire circumference of the restaurant trying to find the right door, we make it inside.
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we → find → it
On a roof high above the chaotic streets of the Medina, an oasis of tiled tables and umbrellas and quiet music greets us.
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oasis → greet → us
As we know we have a big dinner ahead, we have a light lunch: tomato salad, cabbage and cheddar rolls (which are incredible; I didn’t know cabbage could taste like that), and labneh studded with strawberries and fresh herbs.
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cabbage → know → strawberries
All mopped up with Zatar-crusted flatbreads smothered in oil and butter.
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All → mop → oil
After lunch, we delicately explore the shops of the Medina, starting by popping into the maze-like Mustapha Blaoui, a cavernous homeware shop that stretches back into four floors of incredible finds: rainbow tapestry chairs, intricately painted pottery, and lanterns in every shape and size and colour hanging from the ceiling.
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that → explore → ceiling
Enamoured with just about everything, I try Googling how easy it would be to ship a chair back to London (to my parents’ dismay).
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it → try → dismay
After deciding that the crowds and depths of the souk require more energy than we currently have
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we → decide → energy
, we head back to the hotel in time for golden hour and dinner.
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we → head → hour
Rather unusually for our first evening meal, we are eating in Aman’s Italian restaurant, Arva.
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we → eat → restaurant
For those who might have eaten too many tagines on their trip (if there’s such a thing, I’m not convinced), Arva is a fantastic option (you don’t need to be staying at the hotel).
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you → eat → hotel
We eat at huge sofa seats with the sounds of a live musician playing Spanish guitar in the background.
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We → eat → background
I go for the homemade cacio-e-pepe gnocchi with rich pecorino and generous handfuls of black pepper, while my dad tries the pappardelle with lamb ragu, parmesan and a sprinkle of chilli powder for heat.
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dad → go → heat
The local seabass comes with a puttanesca-esque sauce of black olives, capers and tomatoes.
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seabass → come → olives
Instead of dessert, we opt for mojitos with heaps of fresh Moroccan mint.
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we → opt → mint
After a truly blissful night’s sleep, waking up to roll back the doors straight onto the courtyard for our first full day of sunshine, we drink coffee in our private courtyard before strolling over to breakfast.
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we → wake → breakfast
The star of the show is a golden milk – almond milk mixed with turmeric and honey that was truly delicious.
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that → mix → turmeric
I also try Msemen pancakes, incredible traditional Moroccan square-shaped pancakes that I eat with lashings of homemade almond butter and local honey.
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I → try → butter
For a lunch on the go, or a snack while you shop the Medina, try Sabich.
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you → shop → Sabich
You’ll almost walk past it, just one man making stuffed pittas by the side of the street.
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You → walk → street
He stuffs them with fresh falafel, pickles, cabbage, egg, tahini and fresh herbs.
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He → stuff → falafel
Hungry from hours of shopping I devour mine and wish I’d got a second.
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I → devour → second
If you’re in need of a caffeine hit too, try Bacha Coffee across the street in the Dar el Bacha Palace.
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you → ’re → Palace
Many famous people have also had a pick-me-up there, from Winston Churchill to Charlie Chaplin.
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people → have → Chaplin
For something completely different to the chaos of the Medina or the grandeur of Amanjena, for dinner we head to Gueliz, the modern part of the city.
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we → head → city
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
