La Bodega de Casablanca...Fiesta Loca

La bodega de Casablanca is loud, untidy, haram, antichic and incredibly fun. Split in two levels, at the groundfloor you find a tipical “taverna” style restaurant, with wood tables, low lighting, some candles and some couples holding hands that come for the nice vibe and the more than edible food at reasonable prices. Very close to the Marché central, they don't have any excuse not to be getting the best ingredients, but let's face it, no one...

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Irish Pub in Casablanca

Have a drink explaining your old boring stories like a professional in this really fun bar. The Irish Pub in Casablanca works like many of the other Irish pubs scattered around the globe, the decoration is warm and woody, with plenty of stuffed animals, they show on live TV the most important matches of the season, they sell huge amounts of beer, and there is live music that no one pays really attention to. But in order to become Gatsby-friendly...

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Elite Model Look Morocco 2013 Winner is...

A quick update for all the fashion lovers out there. The winner of the Elite Model Look Morocco 2013 is.... Nouhaila! For security reasons Im not giving you her surname (she does not want marriage propositions through Facebook since she is just 14 years old), but certainly I am keeping her number myself and I might use it in 5 years time, since she was really one of the most beautiful candidates that we remember in Elite Model Morocco. She...

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Blend Gourmet Burger

A relatively new place in Casablanca, Blend Gourmet Burger has established himself as the reference in terms of burger quality in the city. With an easygoing look in the usual New York style, the place manages to make you feel at ease, simple tables, fun bathrooms, open kitchen and the detail I liked the most...free pickles in each table...just help yourself! With the cheapest burger starting at 75 dhs the place is obviously not a bargain,...

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Marché Central, Popular Chic

One of my favorite plans in the weekend is actually one of the cheapest eats in Casablanca, in a sunny day like today there is very little things that can challenge a visit to the famous Marché Central. Located in what it used to be the center of Casablanca, the area feels now a bit neglected, but its on its way to recovery and a lot of money and effort are put into making it a decent neighborhood. Surrounded by gorgeous Art Deco buildings,...

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Les Frères Gourmet, more than a Tea House

Les Frères Gourmet is the kind of place where a writer can go and sit during hours and hours. No one bothers you, the service is very polite, they smile all the time, and never try to rush you so the table is free for some other client. The decoration is contemporary yet very elegant: plenty of bookcases, nice wallpapers, old photographs scattered everywhere...they have a cute little terrace for the 300+ sunny days that you get in Casablanca...

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Final Night Elite Model Look Morocco 2013

Like Oscar Wilde used to say: Beauty makes princes of those who have it, and is precisely that princess that Elite Model, the renown worldwide models agency, is going to find amongst the last 10 candidates choses from the whole geography of Morocco. The beautiful Bettina, director of Elite Morocco, is preparing a bing-bling event charged with catwalks, music, and a host of exception, also known as yours truly. The place chosen is the prestigious...

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Sojou, quick and tasty lunch

Sojou is the healthiest option in the neighborhood when it comes to have a quick and tasty lunch before going back to work, or as Gatsby does it, enjoy the cute little terrace trying one of their smoothies when others go to work. The daily menu changes constantly, depending on the season you can have a really nice courgette soup, broccoli soup, leek soup or even gazpacho (Spanish raw tomato soup) in summer. They propose quiches at amazingly...

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Pestana Casablanca, the Independent Republic of your Room

Pestana's concept is simple, besides a room, you get a proper kitchen and a reception area with TV, so basically you're staying in an independent flat. The whole thing used to be called apart-hotel, but because it doesn't sound cool they prefer to be called Suites & Residences. And the trick works. For a starting price of 1200 dhs you get around 40 sqm of brand new state of the art design, even the kitchen looks like we are in 2078, especially...

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Lizarrán...get some Tapas

Do you ever feel like you should be in Estepona, the lovely village attached to Marbella, getting some prawns 'al pil pil' and sipping a good Rioja wine? Well I do, and when you live in Casablanca sometimes that urge remains unfulfilled...that is until I discovered Lizarran, even if apparently I was not the only one cause the place is always packed. The reasons are simple, the quality is good, there is live music most days of the week, and...

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Hippopotamus...Best Steak Tartar in Town

Whoever has driven in French motorways knows that there are only two human options if you want to have a decent meal when you're on the road, Buffalo Grill and Hippopotamus. The first one has yet to come to Morocco, but the second one happens to have a very very good restaurant right in the middle of the snobbish neighborhood of Gauthier. Hippopotamus is an easy one, there is never much people, no one really cares about you (sometimes not...

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Paul Villa Zevaco

If you like the idea to see and – specially- be seen under the x-rays of all the ladies-who-lunch and that maybe are looking also for a lover or a second husband just go to Paul Villa Zevaco around 17h to have a coffee or an overpriced orange juice. Lodged in the imposing house of the famous Zevaco architect, Paul is at the same time a bakery, a pastry shop, a restaurant, a coffee shop and a garden. The fireplace room is perfect for the rainy...

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Bacco e Venere, new Italian restaurant on the block!

  We all like Italian restaurants. For me it comes with my passport, for other people is because it makes the perfect spot for a date, for a casual time with friends or even for a family treat, all without breaking the bank balance. Bacco e Venere is a wonderful mix of cool restaurant, the one that you could easily find in Tribeca or in Covent Garden, but without the tourist feeling and some seriously yummy food, with probably one of the...

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