Week 9 Marrakech Moroccan Restaurant-Las Vegas

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This week Brett and I did our date night earlier in the week because his work schedule has changed. Yes, we will for the first time in our almost 4 year relationship be able to hang out on Friday and Saturday nights so our dates for the blog will change. :) We still will be posting each week of course, but now that we have two nights free, we will have more options as to where to go. We double-dated this week with one of my favorite fellow newlywed couples ever, Melaina and Nick Maloney. We all bought a Groupon a few weeks ago to Marrakech Moroccan Restaurant, and I am so glad we did. This place was AMAZING (you will read about it below). Marrakech is in the same plaza as our all time favorite restaurant Firefly (the Paradise one). Brett and I have been there so many times that I am surprised we never had noticed it, but I am sure most of you guys now know where it is, so you need to visit it ASAP. 

You will notice it says Belly Dancing in the right hand corner, yes there is a lot of Belly Dancing here :)

What Teray Says...

The specialty at Marrakech is that they serve a six course meal. For someone like me who loves food, I was ecstatic. Word to the wise: come hungry to this place! Due to the fact that there were 4 of us, we all shared all of the courses. I am curious if it were two people or one person how big the portions would be because for the four of us, they were huge! Before you even begin to look at the menu, someone from the wait staff comes around with a tin like container and a tea pot of water and towels. They rinse your hands right there because you are eating the whole time with your hands. Being a clean freak, I was extremely pleased with this. 

This is the menu (some of the pictures are hard to see due to the dim and dark lighting)

Melaina and I decided to order these mango martinis to drink. They were so good; not too sweet and not strong at all. You could not taste the alcohol really at all. The boys ordered more guy type drinks, but I don't remember what they were. I was just so pleased with mine. 

Mango Martini

The first course that we got was shrimp scampi. It was served with a pretty decent amount of fresh bread. The shrimp was lemony and the sauce was very light which made it very easy to eat. 

Shrimp Scampi

The next course was soup. It had little beans and veggies. You had to drink it right out of the bowl, which was different to get used to, but actually for me a lot neater than eating it with a spoon. 

The next course was a mixture of different things that we dipped our bread into: hummus, eggplant, beets, cucumber, carrots, etc. The hummus was some of the best that I have ever had and the egg plant was even better. I would love to have that platter in my daily meals each day. 

That eggplant on the right makes my mouth water!

In the midst of all of these courses a belly dancer came out. She was fantastic and beautiful at the same time. I wanted her bedazzled costume. I was wearing this earrings that jingled from Patty's Closet and I would jingle them to the beat of the belly dancer. Everyone that knows me already can probably picture this. The next course was these beef skewers that you took the skewer and put it into a pineapple. I didn't really understand why you put the skewer into the pineapple, but it did make for some nice table decor. The steak was tender and lightly seasoned. It melted in my mouth. 

Steak skewers

You can see the reflection of the lighting in this picture. The atmosphere here is very dimly lit and dark. The light is actually very flattering and has a romantic vibe. It is perfect for a date!

Yes, there is more. Our next course was a couscous chicken. This is supposed to be the "main course." It is was a mixture of chicken and veggies. Again, the portions were huge!!! By this time I was extremely full, but in a good way. 

chicken couscous 

The last course was dessert (my favorite part), I am thinking that Brett will say that it is his favorite too because I normally cannot finish my dessert. The dessert was a traditional Moroccan dessert called B'Stilla. From what I remember there was chocolate and bananas but by this time I was eating it so fast because it was so good, that my memory could not be accurate. It was served with some hot mint tea, which was actually the best tea that I have ever had (Sorry Coffee Bean and Starbucks). 

B'Stilla

Overall, I have to say that I felt as if I were on vacation in this restaurant. The atmosphere Melaina and I joked that we thought we were in the Real Housewives of New York City Moroccan episode. The decor, the belly dancing, the food, everything was perfect! It is such a fabulous place to go on a date, and even better when you are with another fun couple. I was like a kid seeing everything the first time with wide eyes every time something happened in this place. Even the bathroom was awesome and beautifully decorated. I without a doubt give Marrakech 5 out of 5. 

What Brett Says...

So this week we decided to mix it up.  We went with a place that we had a Groupon for, we went on a Thursday, and for the first time we went as a double date (Teray and I were one couple, she wanted to bring another guy but I said no).  We ended up going to a Moroccan restaurant..."Marrakech."  I have never seen nor heard of this place, even though it is a stones throw from my favorite restaurant in the city...cough, Firefly, cough.  Surprisingly "Marrakech" is in a strip mall, when does that happen in Las Vegas.  Please refer to past blog posts to see that almost every place we go to is in a strip mall.  Unlike most of the other places  "Marrakech" transforms you into a foreign place the minute you walk into the establishment.

When you walk in you can't help but get hit with the music and feel as though you are in the genie bottle from the 1960's sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie."  This place was legit as far as atmosphere goes, once the curtain closes behind you you can't see Vegas or hear Vegas.  There are no tables in the traditional sense, everything is very low, the easiest way to explain it is everything is small ottomans (seats) and coffee tables (dining table).  There are curtains hanging everywhere, posters, and pictures.  They also had a belly dancer, I am mixed on the belly dancer though.  When I could I grabbed a view here and there, she was attractive and I have to maintain my man card (Do me a favor though, if Teray asks...I never looked).  On the flipside, I was seated with my back to the center of the room and I always felt like she was right behind me.  I heard her hand cymbals like they were a couple inches away and I felt the breeze from here moving.  I kept turning to see if she was about to dance into me, she was always further than I thought at the time.  I only have two actual complaints about the atmosphere: the music seemed louder then it needed to be and with the low seating I became sore.  I don't know if it is the fact that I am getting old, the fact that I am a bigger guy, or the fact that I was constantly leaning.  I think it would have been better had I had a backing to lean back on.  But these are mute points because everything else makes up for it.

Food...afterall that's why we actually go to a restaurant.  Well, Marrakech does this well.  We were informed that we would be having a 6 course family style hands on meal.  I'm not sure if this is your only option but we went with it.  Everything but the dessert was to be eaten with your hands, so if you go with other people choose people who you believe to be clean.  Melaina and Nick met this requirement luckily.  But we all know someone you prob wouldn't invite because they are questionable.  I will let you refer to Teray's review to see the actual food items, my memory isn't that good and I really don't feel like typing all of it when I know it is 6 inches up from here.  I will say that everything we ate was good.  Everything we ate was served in an interesting way.  There was enough food that hoarding and rushing wasn't needed.  There was also none of that weird moment when there is one more piece and everyone offers it to each other then just stare at it, followed by the larger guy eating it (yes it is usually me).  Six courses was plenty of food and as I said before, the food was good.  We all had our drinks...average Vegas prices.  If I remember correctly the total price for four people with the Groupon was around $140 with tip.  This leads me to believe that the price was prob around $200 without the Groupon.  

Overall I will say this is a place I would recommend.  I think it definitely needs to be a double/group date, I only say this because it is too loud for much one on one conversation.  It was nice to mix it up and talk among a group.  I will also say I understand that compared to the other restaurants we have been to this is about 3x as costly, it is a place for a nicer occasion...not just your weekly date night.  I will say that for the price you get the right amount of food, but drinks will raise the bill quickly.  I would go back, another Groupon would be nice, and I think the next time a little bit larger group would be cool.  I think next time I would also try and smoke the hookah, it's been a while.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5.2  

Patty's Closet Outfit of the Week

I loved, loved, loved my outfit of the week this week. Thanks to Patty and Juan of Patty's Closet for providing me with this gorgeous, fun dress. Shout out to Shardea from Patty's Closet for helping me pick out an outfit with a Moroccan feel; just like everyone at Patty's she is amazing at what she does.I would have never thought to put the bright orange belt and earrings with this dress but it was perfection. I cannot wait to wear this outfit again!  For people who have not been into Patty's Closet, first of all, you need to go there now, second of all, each person that works there has a gift of putting clothes together. Patty, Juan, Jose, and everyone else have put so many great ideas together for me and all my friends always say the same thing too; they are friggin awesome! 

This whole outfit: dress, belt, and earrings are all from the Patty's Closet on  Rainbow/Windmill

These are the earrings I was clanking to the belly dancing beat. hahaha. 

If you haven't already check out Patty's Closet website: http://ilovepattyscloset.com/ 

and like them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PattysClosetLV

Until next week, cheers to great friends and real love.