Le Trou au Mur Marrakech | Medina Restaurant & Rooftop Bar

Le Trou au Mur sits at 39 Derb el Farnatchi, on Rue Souk el Fassis in the Qua'at Ben Ahid quarter, the north-east corner of the Medina near the Madrasa Ben Youssef and La Maison de la Photographie. It is the restaurant arm of the Riad Farnatchi hotel next door, set across a multi-level riad with an open-air roof garden on top. For years it ran as a medina insider tip; the press has caught up since, but the address still takes a little finding.

What it actually does is unusual. The kitchen sets out to cook the traditional Moroccan home recipes that are quietly disappearing from restaurant menus, the dishes a Marrakchi grandmother might make once you get past the standard tourist tagine, and it takes them seriously. Alongside that sits a run of international comfort food and a proper bar, which is rare this deep in the old city.

The Vibe

The setting is a riad, so the evening changes with where you sit. There are interior rooms with a log fire for a cooler night, and a roof garden on top fitted with blankets and heaters for when the temperature drops after dark. The mood people keep describing is stylish and sophisticated but laid-back with it, the kind of room you settle into for the evening.

Come here to eat, not to party. It reads as romantic, the kind of place that suits a date or a small group, and it stays intimate and quiet. We have no documented crowd profile, so this is our own read, but the positioning points to well-travelled visitors and the riad-hotel set. For a long, careful dinner with a drink in hand and the medina rooftops around you, it fits.

The Menu

The carte runs two cuisines side by side, and the Moroccan half is the reason to come. The kitchen revives home recipes that have been slipping off restaurant menus: clay-oven mechoui lamb (leg, shoulder, saddle or mixed, roughly 150 to 165 MAD), tihane, which is a stuffed spleen with kefta, m'rouzia, tride, and a tangia made with beef or camel. There is a daily tagine (around 140 to 170 MAD), a seven-salad assortment to open (around 90 MAD) and a daily couscous. The mechoui is the signature, slow-cooked to the point of melting off the bone.

The international half is comfort food done properly: a côte de boeuf (around 210 MAD), a pulled-lamb burger, John Dory, a Berber shepherd's pie, mac and cheese, dim sum and a foie gras terrine, with starters and richer plates landing roughly 125 to 195 MAD. Save room for dessert, where the donuts come with a syringe of filling you inject yourself, which is more fun than it has any business being. Dishes shift with the season, so take any specific plate as a guide.

The bar is a real part of the offer. The cocktail and martini list is long and classic, with a Negroni, an Earl Grey gin martini, a Dirty, a SideCar, an Old Fashioned, a Margarita, a Mojito and an Espresso martini among them, all at 120 MAD each. The wine list is exclusively Moroccan, which is a deliberate choice and worth leaning into: glasses run around 50 MAD and bottles roughly 130 to 660 MAD, across labels like Coteaux de l'Atlas, CB Signature, S de Siroua and La Ferme Rouge. Champagne (Taittinger, Nicolas Feuillatte) sits higher at around 990 to 1,300 MAD. Beer runs around 40 to 55 MAD and fresh juices or sodas around 25 to 40 MAD. If you order one thing at the bar, make it the Earl Grey gin martini against that all-Moroccan list.

The Music

Music here is background, the kind that holds a mood without ever taking over. Nothing concrete is on record about a genre, a playlist or a DJ, so we are treating the sound as unverified. Going by the room, expect something low-key and ambient that sits under conversation. You do not come to Le Trou au Mur for the music; whatever is playing is there to fill the gaps while you eat and drink, so take any talk of a specific set as something to confirm in person.

Prices & Entry

The straight answer on entry first. There is no entry fee or droit d'entrée here. This is a restaurant and bar, so you pay for food and drinks only. No table or bottle minimum turned up in any source either, though that absence is unverified, so ask when you book if it matters to you.

On spend, the figures below come from the official menu PDF, so they are firmer than usual, but pricing moves, so treat them as approximate.

• Entry / cover: none. No entry fee or droit d'entrée applies; you pay for what you order.
• Mains: roughly 150 to 210 MAD, with mechoui around 150 to 165 MAD and the côte de boeuf around 210 MAD.
• Starters and salads: the seven-salad assortment around 90 MAD; richer starters such as the foie gras terrine roughly 125 to 195 MAD.
• Cocktails: around 120 MAD each across the full martini and classics list.
• Wine: Moroccan only, glasses around 50 MAD, bottles roughly 130 to 660 MAD; champagne around 990 to 1,300 MAD.
• Table / bottle minimum: none mentioned anywhere, though that absence is unverified.

The shape to expect is upper-mid for the Medina, à la carte, priced as a destination dinner. A couple sharing a starter, a main each and a bottle of Moroccan wine is the natural way to read the bill.

When to Go

Le Trou au Mur opens Wednesday to Monday and closes on Tuesdays, the one fixed point that shows up consistently across sources. Lunch runs roughly 12:00 to 16:00 and dinner roughly 18:30 to midnight. Those times come from aggregator listings, not the venue direct, and they vary, so treat them as approximate and confirm when you book.

For atmosphere, dinner is the call. The roof garden with its blankets and heaters comes into its own once the light goes and the air cools, and the interior with the log fire is the better seat on a cold night. Weekends fill up, so the earlier you lock in a table the better your odds of the seat you want.

How to Book

Reserve through the booking form at letrouaumur.com, by email at info@letrouaumur.com, or by phone on +212 524 38 49 00, with a mobile, +212 763 266 141, also in circulation. Instagram, at @trou_au_mur, is the quick route for a question. The single most useful tip: book at least 24 hours ahead, more for a weekend or if you want a rooftop table, since the roof garden is the seat most people are after and it does not stretch indefinitely.

If you would rather not chase the booking yourself, or you want a rooftop table held for a particular night, that is the kind of arrangement The Marrakech Society handles for members. Apply to join and the concierge can line up the table and the timing, then carry the evening on across the rest of the Medina.

What to Know

There is no published dress code. Given how polished the room feels, smart-casual is the natural fit for dinner, especially on the roof garden, though you will not be turned away for dressing down. That steer is our own read; the venue posts no rule.

Getting there is a proper medina walk. The address is 39 Derb el Farnatchi, off Rue Souk el Fassis in the north-east of the old city, near the Madrasa Ben Youssef, on lanes that cars cannot reach, so a taxi drops you at the nearest edge and you cover the last stretch on foot. Pin the location before you set off, because the derbs around Ben Youssef fold in on themselves and the door is easy to miss. Two honest notes to close on: the music is undocumented and the exact hours vary by source, so come for the food and the roof garden, and confirm the timing when you book.

Plan the evening with our guide to the Best Date Night Marrakech →