Casa Hassan

Casa Hassan is a traditional Moroccan restaurant on Rue Targui in the medina of Chefchaouen, the blue town of the Rif mountains in northern Morocco. It is known for a daily fixed-price menu with a starter, main and dessert, a format that gives visitors a quick way to sample home-style cooking at a predictable cost of about 100-180 MAD (roughly $11-19) per person. The set menu typically opens with a salad and soup, and the goat-cheese salad is a local highlight, reflecting the cheese produced in the surrounding Rif hills. Pastilla, the layered pastry served with a sweet and savoury filling, is the restaurant's traditional showpiece and a frequent order for diners wanting a classic Moroccan dish. Main courses follow the daily rotation, usually a tagine or couscous, and the meal ends with dessert and mint tea. The dining room is small and welcoming, with the tiled and painted decoration typical of the town, and the atmosphere is relaxed, family-run and conversational rather than formal. Dress is casual, noise is modest, and the pace of service is unhurried, so a meal here suits a break during a day of wandering the lanes. Alcohol is not a feature of the beverage programme, which centres on mint tea, juices and soft drinks. The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner. Reservations are recommended for dinner, and the practical approach is to walk in earlier in the day to reserve a table, which is especially useful in high season and at weekends when Chefchaouen is crowded with day-trippers from Tangier and Fes. Its position in the medina places it close to Plaza Uta el-Hammam, the kasbah and the main photo spots. Vegetarian diners can ask for meat-free versions of the set menu courses.