Mandala Society: Vegetarian and Vegan-Friendly in the Medina Marrakech

After a few days of tagine, couscous and warm bread at every meal, many visitors start looking for a plate of vegetables that has not spent hours in a clay pot. In the Medina, one answer is Mandala Society, with two addresses in the old city: one near the Bahia Palace, the other by the Koutoubia Mosque. It is the name in the Medina that comes nearest to the Western idea of eating healthy, with grain bowls, fermented salads, smoothie bowls, tofu and specialty coffee, and for vegetarian and vegan travellers the menu is written with them in mind from the first line.

Seasonal, Made In-House and in Full View

The cooking starts from local producers and the seasons, and it happens in the open. At both addresses the kitchen is in view of the dining room, and every plate is prepared in front of the people who will eat it. The sourdough is baked every day in Mandala Society's own workshop, slowly fermented from local flours, and around 95 percent of the menu is made in-house, with organic produce whenever possible, fair-trade coffee and a plastic-free service. The salads follow the seasons, and so do the tartines, so the green plates on the table are not the same all year.

Vegetarian by Default, Vegan on Request

Both kitchens are meat-free, and the only exception is fish. Almost every dish carries a tag, Vegan, Vegetarian or Pescatarian, next to notes on gluten, dairy and nuts, and at lunch and dinner each kitchen has a single fish dish. The rest is vegetarian, and a large part of it is vegan.

In a "semi-vegan" kitchen like these, anyone who eats fully plant-based finds the menu working in two ways. Some dishes are vegan as written, marked with a small seedling symbol; many of the others can be made 100 percent plant-based on request, with the dairy, eggs or honey removed, so it is worth asking when you order. A whole plant-based day is possible at both addresses, from a smoothie bowl in the morning through lunch and sides to, at Bahia, a chocolate carrot cake marked vegan, with oat milk in the coffee. Plates are also adapted for allergies and for anyone eating gluten-free.

Bahia: Late Breakfasts with the Atlas on the Horizon

At Bahia, breakfast runs until two and lunch starts at half past twelve, and on the roof, with the Atlas Mountains on the horizon, a late coffee can slip straight into lunch. The house stands on Rue Riad Zitoun el Jdid, the street between Jemaa el-Fna and the Bahia Palace, and its three floors are made for staying: books on the shelves, large wooden tables for sharing, sofas and velvet armchairs, the furniture of a brunch that lasts until lunch.

At lunch, what stands out is the variety of salads and green plates, from Beet the Rules, beetroot hummus with roasted beets, feta and avocado, to the Líf Salad, a probiotic bowl of venere rice and fermented red cabbage, all prepared fresh. A mixed table moves easily from them to the fish: a Salmon Hoisin Burger on rye sourdough, or a salmon bagel from the breakfast menu. For vegans, the Buddha bowl of charcoal-roasted vegetables and Tofu Affair, crunchy tofu over coral lentils, need no changes at all. The Plant Shawarma Wrap, smoked eggplant with shiitake, shimeji and honey-grilled feta, is only on the menu here.

Koutoubia: More Vegan Plates, Steps from the Square

Between the Koutoubia Mosque and Jemaa el-Fna, Mandala Society Koutoubia works as a coffee stop as much as a place for lunch. A café and take-away counter serves specialty coffee, fresh juices and homemade sweets for a pause between one sight and the next, and three bright levels with wide windows lead up to a rooftop that looks across the Medina to the mosque and the square. The newer of the two addresses has a minimal style and natural materials.

Here the vegan plates move to the centre of the menu: almost half of the lunch and dinner dishes carry the vegan label, from a cauliflower steak marinated in miso, with romesco and lentils, to a melon ceviche with smoked avocado and a saffron and kombucha leche de tigre. The only fish dish is a whole catch of the day, grilled over charcoal in the open kitchen.

Choosing Between the Two

Which of the two depends first on where you are in the Medina at that moment: around the Bahia Palace, Bahia is the closer address; around Jemaa el-Fna and the Koutoubia, the other one is right there. Then it depends on what you feel like eating. The two menus share their base, but about half of the lunch dishes differ: Bahia has the Salmon Hoisin Burger and the Plant Shawarma Wrap, Koutoubia the miso cauliflower, the melon ceviche and the wider choice of vegan plates. Both have a rooftop, and both work as well for a table where one person is vegan and the others eat everything.

Othman, Birta and an Icelandic Pancake

Some of what is on the menu goes back to the two people who started Mandala Society. Othman, a trained chef from Beni Mellal, worked in Barcelona for eight years; Birta, from Iceland, came from film and music. They met in Iceland, opened the first Mandala Society in Essaouira in 2019 and Bahia, their first address in Marrakech, a year later, and the restaurants are now part of Amazoz Group, a Moroccan hospitality collective. The house teas are blended from Moroccan and Icelandic herbs, and the name comes from the mandala, a circular form that stands for unity and balance. The same idea runs through the breakfast menu, which puts Icelandic lummur with orange blossom honey next to a Moroccan shakshuka made with buckwheat.