Naranj Libanese

Naranj has become one of the most reliably packed restaurants on Rue Riad Zitoun el Jdid, and for good reason. The kitchen is run on a simple principle: Levantine home cooking made with ingredients bought fresh from Marrakech's markets each morning. The result is a menu built for sharing, where the mezze alone can carry an entire meal. Fatet batinjan arrives as a generous assembly of aubergine, spiced minced beef, yoghurt, and shattered pita. The kibbeh is textbook. Falafel wraps come stuffed with fattoush, fried chickpeas, and cauliflower, and the belboula salad, tossed with caramelised onions, raisins, cashews, and argan oil, nods to the city the restaurant calls home. A Josper-style grill handles the meats, and freshly baked pita lands warm at the table with every order. There is no alcohol; instead, Levantine-inspired mocktails are mixed with the same attention given to the food. The interior is done in khamsa mirrors, kilim textiles, hand-cut lanterns, and low copper lighting, a room that feels closer to Beirut than to the medina outside. Upstairs, a rooftop terrace opens onto the skyline, and catching it at sunset with a cold drink is half the appeal. The owners, a Lebanese-Syrian couple who arrived in Marrakech by way of Vienna, have built something that fills a real gap in the city's dining landscape. In a town dominated by tagines, Naranj offers a different vocabulary of flavour, and the crowds that fill both floors nightly suggest the city was ready for it.