What are the best rooftop restaurants in Marrakech?

Marrakech is a rooftop city — the medina is a maze at street level, so life and dinner climb upward to the terraces, and a great rooftop is half about the food and half about the view and the light. Let me split this honestly, because the place with the best plate of food isn't always the place with the best panorama, and you'll want both kinds during a few days here.

If what you want is the iconic view over the Jemaa el-Fnaa square at sunset, the time-honoured answer is Le Grand Balcon du Café Glacier, which overlooks the whole theatre of the square as the snake charmers and food stalls fire up — the food is incidental, you go for the spectacle and a mint tea. Café Kessabine and a string of terraces along the square's edge do the same job. For the most atmospheric medina rooftops with genuinely good modern Moroccan food, Nomad is the one I recommend most often — contemporary, light-filled, fresh takes on local dishes — with Le Jardin (leafy and stylish, though its 'rooftop' is really a lush courtyard) and Café des Épices nearby forming a reliable cluster around the spice square.

For a romantic or special-occasion rooftop dinner with polish, the hotel and riad terraces are where I send couples: the rooftop at El Fenn is gorgeous at golden hour, La Sultana's terrace near the Saadian Tombs is elegant and calm, and several luxury riads open their rooftops for candlelit dinners with Koutoubia and the Atlas as a backdrop. These are pricier and more refined than the buzzy square-side spots, and worth it for one memorable evening. Nobu and the newer scene around the Hivernage district add a glossier, international rooftop-bar energy if that's your mood.

My honest advice on choosing: decide what the meal is for. For the classic 'wow' moment of Marrakech at dusk, take a drink at a square-overlooking terrace, then walk to dinner somewhere with better food — the view spots are often mediocre to eat at. For a proper dinner, book Nomad or a riad rooftop in advance, because the best terraces are small and fill up, especially at sunset, which everyone wants. And always ask for a sunset reservation specifically, since the rooftops transform in that half-hour of pink light over the rooftops and the Koutoubia minaret — that's the Marrakech people fall in love with.