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This full-on colonial French café, just off of the Place du 16 Novembre, has an atmosphere that evokes old Saigon as much as it does Morocco. Ceiling fans whir overhead. The tiled floors may well have been laid in the 1902s, and wicker furniture and potted palms complete the scene. The expat-in-an-exotic-locale vibe is so vivid, you almost expect to see Camus sitting in a linen suit and straw hat smoking in a corner. Ignore the somewhat kitchy vintage décor, though, and order some of the best French food in Marrakech. (The same group owns Bô & Zin in the Palmeraie and Le Quinzième in Paris.) It’s most popular at lunch when the tables out front fill up fast and those lucky enough to grab them will linger. It’s also a great spot after dinner to hear jazz. Open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reservations recommended (resa@grandcafedelaposte.com)

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Just off of the main bar area of La Mamounia sits the hotel’s Italian restaurant. The opulent décor of velvet swathed banquettes and tassel-edged armchairs reminds you that you are in a palace fit for a pacha but the cuisine is entirely imported from Italy, the Amalfi Coast to be more precise. Legendary chef Alfonso Iaccarino, who holds two Michelin stars for his Amalfi Coast restaurant Don Alfonso 1890, has brought his trademark Italian home cooking to Marrakech. The kitchen even serves such signature dishes as his buffalo mozzarella soufflé with tomato and basil sauce and vesuvio rigatoni, which is a delicate pasta dish that erupts (like the volcano for which it is named) with sauce under the cheese. For your main course, you can try delicious veal stuffed with vegetables or delicately grilled lamp chops. Save room for dessert, though. Options include his famous vanilla panna cotta, chocolate pizza and orange granita with foam. Open seven days for dinner only. Reservations recommended.