What’s the seafood like at Essaouira port?

Essaouira's seafood is, for me, one of the great food experiences in Morocco, and it comes down to one thing: this is a genuine working fishing port, not a tourist set-piece. The fleet of bright blue wooden boats goes out and comes back daily, the catch is landed and auctioned right there at the harbour, and the result is fish so fresh it barely needs anything done to it. Sardines (a local obsession, grilled by the dozen), sea bream, John Dory, sole, red mullet, monkfish, plus prawns, calamari and crab — all of it depending on what the boats brought in that morning.

The classic, most atmospheric way to eat it is at the open-air grill stalls clustered between the port and Place Moulay Hassan. You walk along the iced displays, point at the fish you want, it is weighed, grilled simply over charcoal and served with bread, salad and a wedge of lemon at communal tables. It is wonderful and theatrical — but I always give clients two honest pieces of guidance, because this is the one spot where the unwary get stung. First, agree the price by weight before anything is cooked, and ideally see it weighed, so there are no surprises. Second, trust your eyes and nose on freshness; the busiest stalls with the highest turnover are your friends.

If you would rather skip the haggle, the sit-down seafood restaurants around the port and the square serve the same fresh catch with clearer pricing and table service — many do a beautiful grilled fish platter, seafood tagine, or fried calamari and prawns. A local speciality worth ordering is fish or shellfish cooked tagine-style with tomato, peppers and chermoula (the herb-and-spice marinade), which is fragrant and very different from the plain grill. And do not overlook the humble grilled sardine; in Essaouira it is a thing of beauty and costs very little.

My ideal Essaouira seafood afternoon: a late lunch of whatever was landed that morning, eaten outdoors with the gulls overhead and the boats clanking in the harbour, washed down with fresh-squeezed orange juice or a cold drink. Go for lunch rather than late dinner when the day's catch is freshest, pick a busy spot, confirm prices up front, and you will eat some of the best, simplest seafood of your life. It is the single thing I most insist Essaouira visitors do — and it is why food-lovers keep going back.