Terrasse des Épices Marrakech | Medina Rooftop Restaurant & Bar

Terrasse des Épices sits at 15 Souk Cherifia, in the Sidi Abdelaziz quarter of the medina, on the roof of an artisan shopping centre a short walk from the Koutoubia minaret. It opened in 2007 and has spent the years since as one of the old city's better-known rooftop restaurant-bars: Atlas and Koutoubia views by day, dinner under the stars by night.

The detail that sets it apart from most medina rooftops is the bar. This is one of the few addresses inside the old walls licensed to serve alcohol, so a proper cocktail or a bottle of wine with dinner is on the table here in a way it is not a few lanes over. Add a daily DJ and live music, and you get a rooftop that carries an evening from a long lunch through to a late dinner.

The Vibe

The terrace is large, listed at around 800 square metres, and laid out for lingering: lounges, alcoves, cushioned low tables, mist fans for the heat and heaters for the cool nights. The mood is stylish but relaxed, the kind of rooftop where you sink into a corner and stay a while.

The crowd is mixed: visitors who have found their way up off the souk and well-heeled locals who treat it as a regular. By day it is a panorama and a slow lunch, the Atlas range behind the rooftops and the Koutoubia close by. By night the lighting drops and the music comes up, and it shifts into a dinner-and-drinks room. For events the space scales to roughly 150 seated or 250 standing.

The Menu

The kitchen runs Moroccan-Mediterranean, and the carte rewards sharing a few plates. Starters open with briouates in three flavours (around 140 MAD), a chicken, honey and almond pastilla (around 180 MAD), grilled courgettes with stracciatella (around 170 MAD), and grilled Essaouira sardine tacos (around 140 MAD). The sardines are one of the dishes reviewers single out, and on a rooftop this close to the coast's reputation for grilled fish, they make sense to order.

Mains hold the line between Moroccan classics and Mediterranean plates. The tagines are the thing to get: a chicken tagine with preserved lemons (around 230 MAD) and a lamb makfoul (around 250 MAD) are the ones the kitchen is known for. To cross over, there is a pan-fried sea bass fillet à la meunière (around 320 MAD) and an aged-cheddar burger (around 220 MAD). Desserts run a chocolate pastilla (around 140 MAD), a beldi rice pudding with orange blossom (around 95 MAD), and a corne de gazelle éclair (around 100 MAD).

On drinks, the bar is the reason to come here over a dry rooftop. The house line is best Champagnes and a cocktail list renewed each season, and reviewers confirm a full bar: cocktails, spirits, beer and wine, with complimentary olives and bread to start. Specific cocktail and bottle prices are not published, so we will not put numbers on the drinks. The food prices above come from the official carte and can move, so treat them as a guide, and the tagines and the grilled sardines are the safe bets.

The Music

There is a DJ and live music daily, by the venue's own account, which is part of what carries the rooftop past dinner. The format reads as resident DJs alongside live musicians or a singer, the live-band-then-DJ shape that frames an evening. The volume stays at a level you can talk over, so think background to dinner rather than a dancefloor.

One honest note on confidence. That a DJ and live music run every night is stated by the venue, but the exact nightly schedule, which band plays when and when the DJ takes over, is not published. So take "live music tonight" as reliable and the specifics as something to confirm when you book.

Prices & Entry

A straight answer on entry first. No entry fee or droit d'entrée turned up in any source, which fits a rooftop restaurant-bar rather than a club. You pay for what you order. No table or bottle minimum was found either, though that absence is unverified, so confirm at booking if certainty matters.

On spend, the food figures are solid (from the official carte); the per-person totals are approximate.

• Entry / cover: none found. The model is free entry and table dining, with no stated door charge or minimum, though the no-minimum point is unconfirmed.
• Mains: roughly 220 to 320 MAD, depending on whether you go tagine or sea bass.
• A full meal without drinks: around 400 MAD per person.
• Drinks: a full bar with cocktails, wine and Champagne, but no public pricing, so budget extra on top of the food and confirm at the table.

For context, one Tripadvisor figure puts food and drink near 200 MAD per person, which reads light for a full dinner. The honest shape: mid-range to upper for the medina on food, with drinks adding a real amount given the licensed bar. Take any single number as a guide and confirm when you reserve.

When to Go

Hours run daily, roughly 12:00 to 17:00 for lunch and 18:30 to 00:30 for dinner, with last orders about 45 minutes before close. No closed day was found, though that absence is unverified, so confirm on the day if your plan depends on it. As of mid-2026 there is no reported closure, and it is consistently listed as operating.

Two different visits live here. Lunch is the view: the Atlas range and the Koutoubia in daylight, a slow plate above the souk, usually a walk-in. Dinner is the one that uses the bar and the music, the lighting low and the DJ building through the evening. For the full rooftop, arrive for an early dinner as the light goes and let it carry into the night.

How to Book

Reserve through the "book your table" form on terrassedesepices.com, by phone on +212 524 375 904, or by email at contact@terrassedesepices.com. Instagram, at @terrassedesepices and running to around 64,000 followers, is the easy route for a quick question. Lunch rarely needs much notice and a walk-in is realistic. Dinner under the stars, especially on a weekend, is worth booking ahead, since the cushioned alcoves and the best-placed tables go first.

If you would rather not handle the back-and-forth, or you want a well-placed table held on a busy night, that is the kind of arrangement The Marrakech Society sorts 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 and the Ville Nouvelle.

What to Know

There is no strict dress code. Casual works by day, and smart-casual is the natural read for dinner, though nothing appears to be enforced at the door. You will not look out of place dressing up a little at night. That read is our own rather than a posted rule.

Getting there is part of the experience. The terrace sits on top of the Souk Cherifia complex in the Sidi Abdelaziz quarter, deep enough into the medina that cars stop short. A taxi drops you at the nearest accessible edge near the souk, so pin the address before you set off, and you climb up through the shopping centre to reach the roof. Two honest notes to close on: the food prices come from the official carte and can change, and while a daily DJ and live music are confirmed, the night-by-night lineup is not.

Compare more terraces in our guide to the Best Rooftop Bars Marrakech →