4 Best Restaurants in The Great Oasis Valleys, Morocco

Located at the edge of town as you arrive from the direction of Ouarzazate, this terrace café with easy parking outside is a good place to stop for lunch or a drink. It serves hearty tagines, brochettes, salads, and other snacks; the clean restrooms are an added bonus.

Building up from the base of an old pisé (mud-built) home alongside the Kasbah Touarirt, this douyria, or "small house," marries tradition with contemporary flair. There are two Moroccan salon-style dining areas, with bold color schemes of lilac and lime, and the creative menu offers an interesting selection of starters and mains. If you are willing to go with something exotic, try goat cooked in argan oil and sesame, or camel tagine with figs and almonds. The small terrace has wonderful views toward the lake at Ouarzazate. Actor Sir Ben Kingsley is a fan, as the guestbook will testify. Alcohol is served.

Having hung up his sheshe (turban) after years of guiding tourists through the desert, Mustapha el Mekki has established one of the most popular eateries in Zagora. It serves regional specialties such as tagine de mariage (a slow-cooked casserole of beef with apricots, prunes, and almonds) and a Drâa Valley vegetable soup. There's a sidewalk terrace café and spacious, cool interior with Amazigh motifs carved into the walls. You can bring your own wine or beer. You can also combine lunch with a wander around the old Mellah of Amzerou.

If you're craving pizza, try this tourist-friendly spot just opposite the gas station as you enter Erfoud from the direction of Errachidia. It serves standard pies plus a local variation on the theme called madfouna tafilalt (aka Amazigh pizza), which is a baked flatbread stuffed with meat. Tagines and pastillas are also available. Dine in or take a seat on the terrace.