What to Eat in Tangier: 12 Dishes and Street Foods to Try

What to eat in Tangier is a question with a wonderful answer: a port city on two seas, with a Berber and Arab kitchen, a Spanish and French past, and a market full of herbs, olives and fish. The food is generous and fresh, it is not expensive, and a few simple rules will help you eat well from the first morning.

This guide to what to eat in Tangier lists twelve dishes and street foods worth trying, in the order of a day: breakfast, lunch, a long afternoon of tea and sweets, and dinner. You will also find advice for vegetarians, for Ramadan and for choosing where to eat. If you want a guide to walk you through it, our Tangier Food Tour turns the list into six tasting stops.

What to eat in Tangier for breakfast

1. Bissara

On a cold morning, the answer to what to eat in Tangier is a bowl of bissara: a thick soup of dried fava beans, served hot with olive oil, cumin and a little paprika, and eaten with bread. It is cheap, filling and very local.

2. Msemmen, baghrir and harcha

Moroccan breakfast breads come in three shapes. Msemmen is a folded, layered square cooked on a griddle. Baghrir is a soft pancake with a thousand small holes, served with butter and honey. Harcha is a round semolina bread, often split and filled with cheese or jam. All three go with mint tea or coffee with milk.

Seafood: what to eat in Tangier by the sea

Tangier is a fishing port, and Tangier seafood is the heart of the city’s cuisine. The fish arrives every morning at the port, and small restaurants nearby grill or fry it within hours.

3. Grilled sardines and fried fish

Sardines, whitebait, squid and red mullet are cooked simply: salted, grilled over charcoal or fried, and served with lemon, bread and a tomato salad. This is the best answer to what to eat in Tangier at lunchtime.

4. Fish tagine with chermoula

The coastal tagine is cooked with chermoula, a marinade of garlic, herbs, cumin, paprika and lemon, then layered with tomatoes, peppers and potatoes. The clay pot keeps the fish moist, and the sauce is for dipping.

5. Shrimps and calamari

Shrimps in garlic and chilli, and fried calamari, show the Spanish side of the city’s cooking. They make a good starter to share before a main dish.

Moroccan food in Tangier: the classics

6. Tagine

The tagine is both the pot and the stew. Try chicken with preserved lemon and olives, lamb with prunes or a vegetable tagine. Moroccan food in Tangier is slow-cooked, mildly spiced rather than hot, and always served with bread.

7. Couscous on Friday

Couscous is the Friday dish across Morocco: steamed semolina with vegetables, chickpeas and meat. If you are in the city on a Friday after midday prayers, ask for it, as many restaurants cook it that day. Learn more about the dish on the Wikipedia page on Moroccan cuisine.

8. Harira

Harira is a tomato soup with lentils, chickpeas and herbs, eaten year-round but best known as the dish that breaks the fast in Ramadan, served with dates. You can read more about harira.

9. Kemia and salads

Small plates of olives, aubergine, tomato and pepper salads, and fried bites are called kemia in the north. Ordered together, they make a light lunch for two.

Tangier street food

Tangier street food is simple and honest: grilled meat skewers, sardine sandwiches, fresh orange juice and warm bread. The best stalls are busy with locals and cook in front of you.

• Choose busy stalls: a quick turnover means fresh food.
• Look for fish on ice and meat cooked to order.
• Eat with your right hand when sharing a dish and use bread as a spoon.
• Carry small change and ask the price first.
• Drink bottled water and wash your hands before you eat.

If you prefer a guide, the food tour in Tangier covers local favourites with a local host.

Where to find what to eat in Tangier: three areas

You do not need a list of addresses to eat well. Three areas cover most of what to eat in Tangier, and each has its own character.

The medina and the Petit Socco

Small restaurants, bakeries and cafés in the old town serve breakfast, tagines and grilled fish at modest prices. Arrive before the lunch rush and choose a place where the dishes are cooked to order.

The port and the fish market

The fish arrives in the morning, and the restaurants close to the port grill what is freshest. Go at lunchtime and ask for the catch of the day. The prices are usually fair, but agree on them before you sit down.

The new town and the seafront

The avenues and the corniche have cafés, juice bars and larger restaurants, good for coffee, pastries and a relaxed evening meal when the old town is quiet. For the sights near each area, see our page about Tangier tours.

A day of eating: what to eat in Tangier from morning to night

This simple plan shows what to eat in Tangier in a single day without eating too much.

Add a walk to the Kasbah and Cape Spartel between meals, and you have a complete day, as described in our one-day itinerary for Tangier.

Eating etiquette: how to enjoy Moroccan food in Tangier

Moroccan meals are often shared from a central dish. Wash your hands first, wait for your host to begin, eat from the part of the dish in front of you and use your right hand and a piece of bread. After the meal, say bssaha, which means to your health, and expect to be offered mint tea.

If you are invited to a home, bring pastries or fruit, and accept at least a small portion of everything. The warmth of the invitation matters more than the dish. Our guide to Moroccan culture and etiquette explains more habits that make travel easier.

Mint tea, pastries and coffee

10. Mint tea

The national drink is green tea with fresh mint and sugar, poured from a height to make a little foam. A popular saying compares the three glasses to life, love and death. Read the story of Moroccan mint tea, then try it at a café with a view.

11. Pastries

Moroccan pastries are made with almonds, honey and sesame: gazelle horns, ghriba biscuits and chebakia, which are especially popular during Ramadan. Buy a mixed box and share it with tea.

12. Coffee and juice

In the new town, the cafés serve coffee and croissants in a style that reflects decades of French and Spanish influence. Order a nous-nous, half coffee and half milk, or a fresh orange or avocado juice.

What to eat in Tangier: vegetarians, Ramadan and tips

Vegetarians will not go hungry. Ask for a vegetable tagine, couscous with seven vegetables, bissara, zaalouk (a cooked aubergine salad) or taktouka (a pepper and tomato salad). Check that harira and couscous were not made with meat stock.

During Ramadan, many restaurants close in the daytime and reopen at sunset. Book your evening meal, try harira and sweets, and respect people who are fasting by not eating in the street.

• Alcohol is served only in licensed restaurants and hotels.
• Ask about allergies, especially nuts, which are common in sweets.
• Eat the day’s fish and ask what is freshest.
• Tip about ten per cent in restaurants when service is not included.

For the history behind these dishes, read our guide to Moroccan culture and etiquette, and when you are ready to see the city, start with one day in Tangier.

Frequently asked questions about what to eat in Tangier

Now you know what to eat in Tangier: begin with bissara, take your time over fish, share a tagine and finish with mint tea. The best meals are the ones you did not plan, so stay curious and keep some room.