+61

Verdict

+61 is one of the more considered dining decisions you can make in Marrakesh right now. Ranked #35 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants MENA 2024 list, it brings a Sydney-inflected casual-dining sensibility to Gueliz, a neighbourhood that skews more residential than tourist-circuit. The format rewards food-focused travelers who want a genuine sense of how a city actually eats, rather than the filtered riad experience that dominates most Marrakesh restaurant recommendations. If you are in town for one serious meal and want something that sits outside the traditional Moroccan fine-dining track, this is where to go.

About +61

Australians Cassandra Karinsky and Sebastian de Gzell opened +61 — Australia's international dialling code — as a deliberate transplant: a place shaped by Sydney's produce-led, sourcing-first cooking culture and dropped into the middle of Morocco's most cosmopolitan neighbourhood. The result is a room that functions as a genuine gathering point for Marrakesh locals, long-stay expats, and repeat visitors who have grown tired of the city's more performative dining options.

The sourcing angle is not incidental , it is the whole point. Sydney's casual fine-dining scene built its credibility on treating ingredients as the argument, not the sauce. At +61, that philosophy meets the agricultural abundance of Morocco: a country with extraordinary raw material, from the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines to the High Atlas foothills and the Souss Valley's citrus and argan-producing farms. The combination gives the kitchen a sourcing depth that few Marrakesh restaurants can match, and it explains why the food reads as ingredient-driven rather than technique-driven. Think about what that means in practice: dishes that let the quality of the produce carry the plate rather than concealing it behind elaborate preparation. For the food-focused traveler, that is a more honest signal of kitchen confidence than any amount of tableside theatre.

The Google rating of 4.7 across 793 reviews is a reliable trust signal here. At that volume, the score reflects a consistent experience rather than a lucky night, and it places +61 solidly ahead of most Gueliz competitors on sustained execution. The MENA 50 Best ranking adds a regional frame: this is a restaurant that has been assessed against the full sweep of Middle Eastern and North African dining, not just measured against the Marrakesh bubble.

Gueliz address , 96 Rue Mohammed el Beqal , is worth noting for planning purposes. Gueliz is the French-built new city, roughly a 10-to-15-minute taxi ride from Jemaa el-Fna and the medina's main riad cluster. The neighbourhood's lower tourist density is part of the appeal: the room fills with a cross-section of Marrakesh society that you will not find at a souks-adjacent restaurant. If you are staying in the medina, factor in the transfer; it is worth it, but plan ahead rather than showing up on impulse.

For context on where +61 sits in Morocco's wider dining picture, the country has produced a genuinely competitive restaurant scene in recent years. Compare the sourcing-led approach here with the more classically rooted cooking at Dar Moha, or the farm-to-table sensibility at Farasha Farmhouse-Mouton Noir. Internationally, the parallels are closer to the produce-obsessed tasting menus at Atomix in New York than to the technique-forward French tradition of somewhere like Le Bernardin. The ingredient is the story.

Also worth knowing: Sesamo and Le Petit Cornichon are the nearest Gueliz neighbours in spirit if you want a backup or a second night option. For a broader sweep of where to eat, drink, and stay across Marrakesh, see our full Marrakesh restaurants guide, bars guide, and hotels guide. And if you are traveling further into Morocco, Gayza in Fès, Heure Bleue Palais in Essaouira, and Hôtel Le Doge in Casablanca are all worth the detour. Wine-focused travelers should also look at Château Roslane and L'Oliveraie in El Hajeb for a fuller picture of Moroccan viticulture.

Know Before You Go