What to eat Tanger? culinary specialties and gastronomy

You'll have no trouble finding a restaurant in Tangier, whatever the time of day. Small bouis-bouis are open continuously during the day and close late, around midnight. Traditional restaurants are open between midday and 2.30pm, and from 7pm in the evening. Please note that during Ramadan, many establishments are closed, with the exception of hotel and tourist restaurants.

It is possible to eat at low cost in traditional restaurants and snack bars. It is then necessary to count 5 € for a meal. In a more classic restaurant, the meal is around 15 €. For an exceptional table or a trendy place, the prices climb quickly, especially if you consume alcohol, count about forty euros per person.

In tourist establishments, service is often included in the price of the bill. This is not the case in more traditional establishments. It is appropriate to leave a tip of 10% of the bill. You can leave 15% if you are particularly satisfied with the service.

If you are invited to share a meal with your family or choose a local canteen, it is not uncommon to eat with your hands on the plate.

If you are going to eat directly from the plate, it is appropriate to use your right hand. The left hand is considered unclean and you will offend the people sitting with you by using it.

Although children are welcome in Tangier's restaurants, there are not always menus designed for the little ones.

A 1991 law prohibits smoking in public places. But the decrees of application having never been adopted, it remained a dead letter. Therefore, each establishment does a little as it wants.

Some restaurants offering couscous, musicians and belly dancers, are sometimes considered as "tourist traps". Prices are high and the quality of the food is not always up to par. However, this type of establishment is rarer in Tangier than in other cities in the country.

Cafés open early in the morning, some as early as 6am or 6.30am, to serve breakfast to early risers and late sleepers. They close at dusk, or sometimes later. It's all up to the owner.

You should expect to pay less than 10 DH for a mint tea or a cup of coffee in a small café in Tangiers. Prices can go up if you're in a luxury or touristy establishment.

Although theoretically open to all, traditional cafés are generally frequented exclusively by male customers. If you're a woman, and a lonely one at that, you may feel uncomfortable.

The people of Tangier have a café culture. Men go there to read the paper, play cards or dominoes and sip mint tea. Middle-class and middle-class women are more likely to visit the ice-cream parlors on the corniche with their children.

Children are welcome everywhere, as long as they are accompanied by their parents. With the exception of bars serving alcohol, where their presence would be highly inappropriate.

A 1991 law banned smoking in public places. But as the implementing decrees were never adopted, the law remained a dead letter. As a result, each establishment does as it pleases.

There are no "scams" as such in cafés or tea rooms. The only inconvenience, as everywhere else in the world, is the high prices charged in certain tourist or luxury establishments. You pay to see (and be seen).