How do I order food / read a Moroccan menu?

Moroccan menus look intimidating for about ten minutes and then make complete sense. They are typically written in French (and sometimes Arabic), with English appearing in tourist-facing restaurants. You really only need a small vocabulary to feel at home: tagine (the slow-cooked stew named after its conical clay pot), couscous (traditionally the Friday dish), harira (the hearty tomato-lentil soup, especially loved at Ramadan), brochettes (grilled skewers), kefta (spiced minced meat), briouat (crispy stuffed pastries), and pastilla (the sweet-savoury pigeon or chicken pie). Spot those and you can navigate almost any menu.

The big practical thing is that Moroccan eating is communal. Dishes arrive to be shared from the centre of the table, so you do not each need a starter, main and dessert. I usually suggest ordering one tagine or main per person but choosing different ones, then everyone tastes across the table — that way a couple gets a lamb-and-prune tagine and a chicken-with-preserved-lemon, plus a shared salad to start, and leaves happy. Over-ordering is the most common rookie move; portions are generous and the bread (khobz) is endless and free.

Tell the waiter your dietary needs plainly and early — they are used to it. "Vegetarian" is well understood, and vegetable tagines and couscous are everywhere; just confirm it is cooked without meat stock if that matters to you. For halal you are covered by default almost everywhere. Alcohol is a different matter: many traditional and medina restaurants do not serve it, while licensed restaurants, hotels and riads do, so ask rather than assume. Tap water is generally avoided by visitors — order bottled, still or sparkling.

My single best tip is to ask the waiter what they recommend or what the day's special is. In a good restaurant the answer is whatever was freshest at the souk that morning — the seasonal tagine, the catch of the day in Essaouira, the couscous on a Friday. I have had some of my favourite meals in Morocco simply by closing the menu and saying "what would you eat tonight?" Round off with mint tea, poured from a height — it is part of the meal, not an afterthought — and a few dates or pastries if they appear.