This elegant restaurant is located in a nook of the modern Gueliz district, just a few minutes’ walk from the new shopping mall, which is swarming with tourists. It offers both indoor and outdoor dining, but the cozy outside dining area is why most people come here — to relax and people-watch in the trendy neighborhood.

Given that it was a beautiful sunny day (like most days in Marrakech) we decided to sit in the shaded dining area under the trees and plants to relax for a bit. While there, we were greeted by a friendly cat, who put on a show rolling around in the flowerpot next to us. I’m not quite sure if it was the restaurant’s cat or just one passing by, but it made for quite the show during our meal.

The menu at Eveil Des Sens isn’t huge, but features a well rounded selection of fish, beef, pastas and tagines at favorable prices for Marrakech. We started off with a Moroccan salad and Moroccan ‘cigars.’ The salad had the usual components, but it was served gourmet style with expertly cut tomatoes made into a floral design and served on a lovely bed of cucumbers.

The cigars were extra crispy, stuffed with a generous amount of beef and spiced perfectly. If you haven’t had them before, they are similar to a fried spring roll, and served with powdered sugar for dipping, which creates an incredible flavor profile. The end result is something similar to a beignet with spiced meat inside.

For mains, we went with a shrimp omelette and a beef meatball tagine. The omelette was completely loaded with shrimp that tasted fresh from the ocean, even though we were in the middle of a desert. It was served with a crispy green tortilla and tender julienned vegetables in a light olive oil. The meatballs were tinier than expected, but delicious and seasoned perfectly, if a bit heavy on the cumin. It also came covered in cilantro, tomato and a delicious sauce.

After stuffing ourselves on the large portions, for dessert we went for something lighter and tried some orange slices with cinnamon and a chocolate mousse. The oranges were perfectly ripe and sweet, with just enough cinnamon to give them a kick. The chocolate mousse was super smooth and came garnished with beautifully cut apples and strawberries.

Service was incredibly helpful; staff gave me recommendations for other places in the area, and helped me get my bearings as I had just arrived in Marrakech. In fact, they were so knowledgeable and polite that I circled back around a few hours later to chat and get some more local advice.

This is definitely one of the best values in the city for fantastic Moroccan food in a relaxing setting — other places charge far more for food that isn’t near as tasty.