La Pergola

Overview

Above the palm trees in the patio of Riad Monceau, a planted rooftop holds a jazz bar and restaurant, just off Jemaa el-Fna in the medina. Live jazz plays every night. From the terrace the view runs over the Koutoubia and the old city, a refuge from the noise and heat of the alleys below. Riad Monceau, a hotel of ten rooms in Arab-Andalusian style, opened in 2002 and created La Pergola in 2018, after its owner had been won over by rooftops such as Le Perchoir in Paris and 230 Fifth in New York. The mood is casual. In the kitchen, chef Abdel Alaoui cooks lively Moroccan food with its roots in street food. Small plates come for sharing, among them a tapas platter for two that can be made fully vegetarian on request. Under the Moha Mama name come Berber pizzas on homemade tafarnout, a traditional Amazigh bread, and the Mega Moha Mama burger, baked in an oven fired with olive wood. The bar is known for its own cocktails: the Berber Mojito mixes mahia with homemade iced mint tea, and the spiced Sangria Marrakchia, made with Moroccan red wine, also comes in jugs of a litre. There is a happy hour.