Amandine
177 Rue Mohammed Al Béqal
40000 Marrakech, Morocco
While in Marrakech we stayed in the famously labyrinthine Medina, and soon became accustomed to getting lost into its narrow streets and winding alleys. However, to only visit the Medina is to miss the other half of Marrakech: the ville nouvelle. The new city of Marrakech is a world away from the Medina: streets are wider, buses and cars outnumber foot traffic, and French cafes dot the landscape. One of the best French cafes in the new city, and a perfect place to stop in for a quiet respite is Amandine: both a tea/coffee shop and a patisserie. You can eat in the bakery itself (as we did) or in a larger tea room next door.
The interior of Amandine is bright and airy, and the attractive pastry case is filled with a wide selection of French and Moroccan influenced pastries and cakes. We found the gazelle horns here to be superlative, though there were dozens of varieties of other sweets to try. To be honest, we don’t know the name of any sweets we ordered other than gazelle horns, but since most Moroccan-French pastries are amalgamations of sugar, chocolate, honey and nut paste, we figured we couldn’t go too wrong (and we didn’t). After a lot of pointing at various confections we selected our drinks. The mint tea came particularly recommended – so we got a teapot to share (30dh – about $4). The presentation was the finest we had seen at any café in Marrakech, and we liked the gilded multicolored teacups as well as the tassel-embellished saucers (which we searched for but could not find in Marrakech). And what could be nicer than sinking into a comfy red velvet lounge chair while enjoying all of your sweets. The service was friendly and relaxed, and it was a much needed respite from the bustling pace of the Medina. So if you are looking for someplace soothing to sample mint tea in the ville nouvelle, definitely check out Amandine.
Eating The World 