I've got to say our hopes for Tangier weren't high given it was our final Moroccan stop and the final steeping stone back to one of our oldest and greatest friends. We expected to view it as a roadblock back to our old friend but instead it was the perfect end to a long, very dry, stretch of road.
The Cafe Scene
Tangier had the best westerner friendly cafe scene that we came across in Morocco. It's been given a helpful little kick by various well known writers drifting through, the Stones rolling (so bad) through a couple of them and scenes from the Bourne Ultimatum being shot in one of them. But that all pales in comparison now that a hungry traveller (+ lady friend) has graced them with his presence.
Cafe Tingis
Probably our pick of the bunch. We outstayed our welcome on more than one occasion here but sitting and watching Moroccan life slowly meander along was just too bloody enjoyable. And the coffee is spot on too.
Cafe Central
Similar to Cafe Tingis, Cafe Central sits on the Petite Soco. A square that's been around since the beginning of time. Maybe that's not entirely true but it's seen various empires rise and fall and has had millions of coffees served on it.
Back to Cafe Central. We dropped in for a tea late one night and whilst very posh (by Moroccan standards anyway) and very nice the vantage point on the square isn't as good as Cafe Tingis and the tea was one of our worst of Morocco. Back to Tingis the following morning.
Cafe de Paris
This one is outside of the medina walls and looks out over the Place de France. To me it has the feel of the Maroc version of a Viennese coffee house. It was also a bit like Cafe Central but without the hint of pretence, less westerners, better prices and great coffee and tea.
Cafe Hafa
This one's a bit out of the box compared the the previous three. It's well away from the medina, set on the beach and there are no waiters in waistcoats here.
The view is impeccable, the coffee and tea v good and the atmosphere is very local and very relaxed. A little bit of kif assists with that evidently.
Le Saveur du Poisson
Whilst steadfastly embedded into a very well worn tourist trail you feel that this place has managed to maintain the authenticity and eccentricity that it initially set out with.
We wandered outside of the medina walls in what we thought was the right direction, up a set of stairs that we'd read about somewhere that you have to take and then hesitated out of the front of what we believed to be the restaurant until the owner ushered us in whilst patting us both on the head and laughing as he did so.
Shark teeth hang from the walls, there's a life size cut out of Popeye in the corner and the roof is ringed with what look like years upon years of old ceramic cooking pots that don't go anymore. This place is random at best.
Before we knew it we had a simple fish broth with a few squid rings in it and a glass of juice made with more then ten different fruits in front of us. And that was to go with the massive bowls of nuts and olives that had already been plonked down.
This is not the place to come to if you have allergies or foods that you don't particularly like. The dishes come out thick and fast and there's no opportunity for "ahhh I actually don't like fish" or "do you have a vegetarian menu?".
Whilst we were only half way through the broth out came a tagine of baby shark (oo so adventurous), squid and spinach. Bloody beautiful.
And without us noticing there were two whole sole and two grilled baby shark brochettes placed before our already bulging stomachs. The sole was my highlight of the meal. It was cooked to the exacting standards I've only before seen under the roof of H+P Brimson.
The sucked dry plates were cleared and out came not one but two completely unnecessary desserts. One was strawberries, raspberries and crushed nuts with a glob of honey over the top and the other was what we believed to be dessert couscous. Both were great but only put further pressure on those ever expanding waists lines.
We rolled down the street unbelievably full but feeling extremely satisfied.
Stay tuned for the catch up with our good mate.
Goodbye Morocco.
