Ibrahim Pacha

Ibrahim Pacha is a Turkish dinner-show restaurant in the Hivernage neighbourhood of Marrakech, built around a fixed, multi-course menu that runs alongside a live show for the length of the evening. Musicians, singers and belly dancers perform on a round stage at the centre of a red and gold dining room.

The room

Fluted vertical panels in warm rust red run floor to ceiling across the main hall, under a mirrored ceiling hung with several tiered gold chandeliers. A round stage sits at the centre, backed by a red velvet curtain; a pair of carved gold thrones, each with a round red velvet cushion, forms a fixed part of the stage, and behind them an LED screen projects the facade of an arched palace. In the bar corner, near the entrance, a black and white mural of a whirling dervish sits beside a row of about six framed images of the same dancer in different poses, with a neon-style outline in orange or amber. A gold fretwork panel stands near the black bar counter. On the tables, a small gold cordless lamp with a conical shade stands at each setting, and the black napkin is folded on the plate with its red and black logo plaque facing up.

The show

The musicians, singers and belly dancers hold the stage across the evening. The show runs for several hours alongside the dinner, integrated into the meal.

The food

The kitchen works from a Turkish repertoire. Dishes offered include mezze such as börek and sigara börek pastries and baba ghanoush; mains built around şiş kebab, a version of moussaka and imam bayıldı, served here as a stuffed aubergine with meat; and künefe to close, the shredded pastry dessert with stringy cheese, soaked in orange blossom syrup. The mezze come out on a round copper tray with a chased rim, holding a ring of small terracotta bowls, and the main dishes on rust red glazed platters with a weathered edge. Courses arrive with tableside finishing touches, from a sauce poured over a meat dish to gold leaf set on a dessert. After midnight, a separate drinks list is also available, apart from the dinner menu.

Who it suits

The evening runs on one fixed menu for the whole table, with the live show woven through the length of dinner rather than set apart from it: a shape better suited to a celebration or a group night out. The set menu carries a reduced weekday rate for children under ten.

Good to know

The dining room opens nightly at 8pm and runs to 3am. Tables are booked in half-hour slots between 8pm and midnight.