Best Food in the Habous Quarter, Casablanca — The New Medina's Tables

Built by the French in the 1930s as a planned traditional quarter, the Habous (Quartier des Habous) is Casablanca's most charming Moroccan district — a grid of arcaded streets, keyhole arches, orange trees and artisan shops around the Mohammed V mosque and the royal palace gates. It is famous for its bakeries and confectioners, whose windows are stacked with Moroccan pastries: cornes de gazelle, ghriba, briouat, fekkas and, at feast times, elaborate almond sweets that Casaoui families come here to buy.

For a meal, the Habous is where to find traditional Moroccan restaurants serving pastilla, tagine and couscous in a more atmospheric setting than the modern city offers, alongside olive and spice stalls, dried-fruit sellers and the celebrated pastry shops. This is the district to buy a box of Moroccan sweets, sample olives and preserved lemons, and sit down to a proper couscous on a Friday, the traditional day for the dish across Morocco.

Come in the late morning to browse the bakeries and stalls, buy pastries by weight to taste several kinds, and stay for lunch at one of the traditional restaurants. The Habous is compact and walkable, a relief from Casablanca's traffic, and pairs naturally with a visit to the nearby Mahkama du Pacha and the royal palace gates. It is the city's best single stop for Moroccan food shopping and a traditional meal.