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Restaurant Marrakesh review (long)

Forever42

The best part of Disney is the food!
Joined
Apr 6, 2004
The DBf and I were at Typhoon Lagoon this morning, and because there has been a lot of talking about Restaurant Marrakesh lately, we thought we'd try to make a PS for tonight. And we could! We even had our choice of times. We went for 6:45 pm.

We walked to the back of the Morocco pavillion to find the restaurant, walked in to the front desk, and gave our name. Even though we were there 15 minutes early, we were seated promptly, one row away from the "dance floor." DBf ordered his usual diet Coke, and I ordered the iced mint tea. The service was extremely quick, and the drinks were brought immediately. The mint tea was a green tea with spearmint, which was a change from iced peppermint tea, which I'm used to. It was very good after I got used to the different flavor.

I was prepared to order one of the "feasts," but first we wanted to know if we could substitue dishes on the Royal Feast. Neither of us like seafood or lamb, and our server, Kamal, readily agreed to substitute the beef brewat roll for the seafood bastilla, and the chicken shish kabob for the lamb. He commented that it was a lot of chicken!

No sooner did he walk into the kitchen, did our server bring back plates of tomato and cucumber salad, chicken bastilla, and beef brewat roll. The salad was refreshing, even though I don't like tomato. There was a light dressing with feta cheese, and both iceberg and mixed greens. The chicken bastilla was unusual, to say the least. I like chicken with cinnamon, and the powdered sugar added another dimension to it. The chicken was ground, and the bastilla was shaped like a large, flat-ish roll. The beef brewat was my favorite of the three, even though I don't like beef. It tasted somewhat like an eggroll, probably due to the fact that it was fried and had a wonton-like shell. It also had powdered sugar and cinnamon, and was delicious.

As soon as we were finished, the plates were taken away and the next course brought out. This was the lemon chicken, vegetable couscous, and chicken shish kabob. All were very good, especially the lemon chicken. It was a quarter chicken with preserved lemons and olives. The vegetable couscous had carrots, zucchini, some sort of cabbage, and some sort of squash, at least. It was good but perhaps needed some additional seasoning. The shish kabob was also very good, it had the charred-grilled bits that I love, and was on a tomato based sauce. The portions were very large, but we did feel we were getting our money's worth.

During the main course, the entertainment started. The bellydancer danced in the middle of the restaurant and the DBf was entranced. :p She was very attractive and danced beautifully. The music was a nice backdrop and added to the atmosphere.

Again, as soon as we were finished, the plates were removed and the next course brought out. Our drinks were promptly filled during dinner, also. The DBf had been hoping to get the pastries, but when he saw that the crepes were the dessert, he was somewhat disappointed. When they actually brought out the pastries, though, he lit up. I love baklava, growing up next to Tarpon Springs (sponge docks, Greek city near Tampa). There was a baklava, a pistachio based pastry, something that had currants in it, I believe, and something else that was tubular but I have no idea what it is. They were all excellent and the highlight of the meal.

The check was brought out, and we received the Disney Dining Experience discount. Great program, for FL residents! Any questions about the restaurant/food?

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, even though DBf was tired from the morning and early afternoon at Typhoon Lagoon. It took us over an hour to order and receive our lunch :/

Oh, and quick note - the Meal Plus certificates there are a GREAT deal. We received a mug refill sticker, a counter service entree, and a soft serve waffle cone for $10.76. I noticed that the price listed on the voucher was $11.72, and wondered if we received an AP discount. $6 refill sticker, $7.87 lunch, and $3.59 ice cream = $17.46.
 
Thank you for the wonderful review! We have never tried this restaurant and have a dinner PS for our next trip. Yay! I think we'll enjoy it.
Please feel free to share any other dining reviews with us.....
 
theres a meal's+ program in tycoon lycoon? where do u buy the vocher and where can you use it? did u order 1 feast and shared between both or 2 feasts? was there enough food ( most dishes normal sized or tapa style ) and was it free refills on the mint tea?

thanks for the great review!
 
Meal plus vouchers: yep, it's a new program there, I read about it somewhere on the restaurants board here. I went up to guest services because I had left my AP at home, and asked about the vouchers there. You can buy them with the mug (mug, entree, ice cream), or with just the sticker (sticker, entree, ice cream). With the mug it's approximately 17 dollars. They also have a children's voucher for approximately 10 dollars. I'm not sure where else they can be purchased, but there were signs all around the entrance. Apparently Blizzard Beach is doing this as well.

We used it at Typhoon Tilly's for the entree, the first mug stand from the entrance for the sticker, and the ice cream shop next to Leaning Palms for the ice cream. I know you can use the vouchers at least also at Leaning Palms and the corresponding ice cream shop next to it. A CM told us we could also use the voucher for an ice cream novelty, but we definitely wanted a waffle cone instead. :)

Marrakesh: We each ordered our own "feast," though there would have been plenty for both of us with just one entree. I'm not sure if you can order just one for two people. It states on the menu that it is served "family style," but this was apparently not the case as the food was brought out pre-plated and we were never told that we could order more, which is what I believe family style means. And yes, free refills on the iced mint tea. It was $2.00, and I'm always a little apprehensive ordering a specialty tea in case there's no free refills, but I've had free refills both here and at Teppanyaki.

We're going to Chef Mickey's in a couple hours for a 9am PS. I'll post back on my brunch there in another thread.
 


What a wonderful review! Thank you so much for taking time from your vacation to share. I was especially glad to read that the mint tea is spearmint. I've always wondered . . . and hoped. My grandma grew spearmint leaves when I was a little girl and made her own tea. Yum!I am really looking forward to trying this restaurant in the fall. That feast sounds so good.

Pat

195 days and counting . . . again!
 
Thanks for the great review! This is definitely on our list of restaurants to try on our trip in November. I just keep reading great reviews on this place :D .

Enjoy the rest of your trip.
 
Thanks for the great review! I was a little apprehensive about trying Marrakesh because I didn't know what to expect - your review helps a lot!

We're really excited about the meal vouchers at TL. We'll definitely take advantage of those in June!!

I'm looking forward to reading your Chef Mickey review also.
 


So glad you posted this review, thank you! I have been thinking of trying this restaurant on our next trip. Sounds like it has everything. DH isn't big on the idea, but he will enjoy the bellydancers-he laughed and wondered what kind of bellydancers there could be at WDW. I told him I thought that most of the World Showcase performers were from the particular country they are representing. (Sounds good anyway doesn't it?) The food sounds great-how did the two of you eat all of that food?:crazy:
Another thing I liked about your review was how you desribed the prompt service. We tend to stay away from sit down restaurants because DS4 and DS6 tend to get antsy. But if something was always being brought to them, and watching the belly dancers, maybe they will sit still long enough to finish dinner!
Speaking of sit down restaurants-do you sit on the floor? For some reason I have heard of that.. Thanks for the great review!

Oh yeah, and the voucher you got at TL, are you talking about the big refillable-all-day mugs that are $10 at the entrance gate?
And if so, does that mean I can bring my mug from last visit and get the voucher with the sticker and put it on my old mug? Didn't know about these vouchers....
 
Re: TL, yep, that's what the vouchers cover. We already had a mug from when we went last month, and you can buy the certificates to get either a new mug or just the sticker.

I'm not sure how we ate all that food, actually! We've been dieting for a year now and have pretty small appetites, so we were surprised. Oh, and we didn't sit down on the floor, we were in chairs. And I did see quite a few children in the restaurant.

Thanks for all the positive responses, guys. This has made me put together the idea of a web site based solely on Disney restaurant reviews with pictures. I took a lot of pictures at Chef Mickey's yesterday, and I'll work on the review tonight during class.
 
Your review makes me want to return so badly!!!!! I LOVED my meal there, I can almost taste it! We both had the feasts, and shared, and they were both excellent.

Great to hear you enjoyed your visit as well!
 
I think your restaurant review site is a great idea. I forgot to ask you, how much were your meals at Marrakesh?(If you don't mind me asking..) Does anyone else get the song by America, "Marrakesh Express" stuck in their heads when they read this thread???:crazy:
 
No problem. The feasts were $29.95 each, with the mint tea $2.00 and the diet Coke around $2. If you check Deb's Disney menus, the prices are all up to date right here :)
 
Oh yum, I can almost taste those preserved lemons. This was something I first ran across in Egypt. You would get a dish of stewed lentils, served over rice. On top were crispy fried onion strings and preserved lemons, heaven! When we first went to WDW Marakesh years ago the food was much spicier. It has been seriously dumbed down since, but there was a wonderful waiter who brought me a whole dish of the lemons!

Carla
 
Ok, another silly question about the vouchers. If you buy the one with the sticker, do you have to have a TL mug already, or can you use your resort mug? I do NOT need another one of those huge ugly(IMHO:tongue: ) mugs from TL at home....
 
I'm almost positive you don't need a TL mug. We just handed over the voucher and they gave us a sticker.
 
Restaurant Marrakesh is my favorite restaurant in all of WDW. My best friend has been hounding me all week to go back up to the parks this weekend. He's not gonna like it when I insist we eat there again! It's all your fault! Thanks.;)
 
Originally posted by Forever42
I'm almost positive you don't need a TL mug. We just handed over the voucher and they gave us a sticker.

As DS6 would say...Swwweeeeeettttt!
thanks for the info!::yes::
 
Thanks for the review! It was just what I was looking for!

My nephew and I are taking a trip to WDW in July - just us. One of the things I told him was that we were going to be open to new experiences and one of the was new foods. We're both VERY picky eaters.

Anyway, I told him to pick one country in Epcot for us to have dinner one night. We did ippy dippy and ended on Morocco. I told him there was shish kabobs and he said "ooo, I like shish kabobs - what's a shish kabob"! LOL

I was thinking the feasts would be a good way for us to sample a little bit of a lot of things. I was especially thankful for your review as we don't do seafood or lamb, either!!

Now, HERE'S MY QUESTION: Was it a lot of food, or just the right amount? I know WDW can be one way or the other and I was wondering how Restaurant Marrakesh was.

Thanks,
 

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