How much does a meal cost in Morocco?

Morocco is genuinely affordable to eat in, which is part of its charm. At the street-food and local-café end, you can eat extremely well for very little: a bowl of harira soup for 5–10 MAD, a plate of grilled brochettes with bread and salad for 30–50 MAD, a fresh-pressed orange juice in Jemaa el-Fna for around 10 MAD. A filling lunch from a workers' café — tagine of the day, bread, water — often lands under 50 MAD, roughly four or five pounds.

Step up to a proper mid-range restaurant, the kind with tablecloths and a tourist-friendly menu, and a main tagine or couscous typically runs 70–150 MAD, with starters and a drink bringing a full sit-down meal to somewhere around 150–250 MAD a head. This is the sweet spot for most travellers — comfortable, atmospheric, and still a fraction of European prices. A pot of mint tea to finish is 10–20 MAD.

At the top end — a candlelit dinner in a beautiful riad, a tasting menu, a rooftop restaurant with a view of the Koutoubia — you're looking at 250–600 MAD or more per person, and the very finest tables in Marrakech or Fes can run higher, especially with wine (alcohol is taxed and pushes bills up noticeably). Even so, a blow-out luxury dinner here costs what a mid-range meal would at home. Value is excellent across the board.

A few money notes. Carry cash in dirhams — small local places rarely take cards, and the dirham is a closed currency you get inside the country or at the airport. Tipping isn't obligatory but rounding up or leaving around 10% is warmly received; a few dirhams for a café coffee, a bit more for table service. And budget a little extra for those irresistible souk snacks and tea stops — they add up in the loveliest way.