Friday, May 9, 2014

Hanadi' Restaurant in Tangiers, Morrocco

This was probably the highlight of trip/tour to Tangiers, Morocco in Africa.  It was the ONLY place where we weren't bothered by beggars and panhandlers.  It was clean and I think probably specifically for the tourists...how close this was to the "real" Tangiers I don't know.  The restaurant is Hanadi'.  The music was fun and spirited.  Click to enlarge the photo and notice the musician on the far right.
That's hubby on the left looking at the menu.  We were all crowded into a designated spot by our not friendly or well liked tour guide, Pedro from Julia Tours.  Thus the name tag on hubby. I will blog in detail later about them and why you should NOT take their tour.
The people on our tour friendly, but we all mumbled about the tour itself.  It was a learning tour, it was nothing but sales, sales, sales.  Most of which became very uncomfortable.  The restaurant however fake it might have been was fun!  The decor full of detail and interesting and very colorful.  The meal was good, and the service was good.
Looking towards the ceiling.
Notice again the musician on the far right.  He became my boyfriend during lunch.  Seriously he never took his eyes on me.  Hubby and our travel companion Jane noticed it too.  He was cute wonderful smile, but .....hey I'm just hear for lunch and clean bathroom break.  By the way, the ONLY bathroom break in a 13 hour tour from Marbella Beach via tour bus without a bathroom to immigration to high speed ferry to Tangiers and back.
Interesting that they served beer and wine.  We felt drinking it was probably safer as it was opened at our table and we didn't have to worry about bad water from the tap.
The meal was Harira (a moroccan soup), chicken cou-cous, pinchos morunos, hot mint tea, and chaparquila pastry.
Lunch was included in our tour fee, but not the drinks.  The tea was hot tea in a glass which was hard to even hold due to the heat; but I did manage to taste it as least.  I think it was to accompany our desert, but just as many of us were served our desert our terrible tour guide decided it was time to march out of the restaurant?  He'd made an announcement about 5 minutes prior, so I made a bee-line to the bathroom, not wanting to get left...cause he really never checked to see if we had everyone which was a bit un-comfortable.
It was a warm day there in Tangiers, I got some sun on the noise if you notice.  The tables are quite low, so you sit well above the table level which wasn't very comfortable but, manageable.  Hubby and I with our stickers.  One must not loose that important sticker, Pedro was very nasty about that.
As I said very spirited music.

If you find yourself in Tangiers and want a cool, clean place for lunch...this is the place.

There official post card which my friend Jane picked up on our way out of the restaurant.

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10 comments:

  1. It sounds silly but bathrooms are the things that keep me home now... since no colon and no ostomy... no bathrooms is a disaster waiting to happen... which is crummy cuz travel is the best.... I will have to live vicariously here I guess... TOoo bad about the tour! Nothing worse than high pressure sales... wonder what the musician was on about huh???

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  2. Ihit enter by mistake... Im always doing that .... i just wanted to say I love the photos!

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  3. No Zoe, it doesn't sound silly. I truly do understand. I need to tell you about the portiable potty my friend and I had in our purse. Send me your email addy

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  4. Sandy, Tangiers on a a day tour from Spain is the only way I've seen any of Morocco at this point. And, it was not a real pleasant experience. In fact, it sounds very similar to your experience. We were followed by touts everywhere, the guides didn't wait for us, even trying to push me out of the restaurant while my daughter went to the bathroom. It was our very first step on the African continent, but unfortunately left a bad taste in our mouths. Thankfully, we've been back various times with much better results.

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  5. Corinne what tours did you take, I would like to think others were better then the one we took.

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  6. I've always wanted to visit Morocco - there are lots of all-in package holidays from here, but according to friends you don't get much of a feel for the country on them .. but it sounds like you got a not very nice experience .. Pedro sounds like a nightmare! It'd be good to know the name of that company to avoid them. Great photos as always Sandy.

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  7. Wow, your tour guide sounds horrid. I could NEVER make it 13 hours with one potty break. I go at least once an hour, and there's nothing wrong with me, just a small bladder I guess. That restaurant does look inviting, and you bet I'd be drinking at lunch if Pedro was in charge...
    Tina @ Life is Good
    On the Open Road! @ Join us for the 4th Annual Post-Challenge Road Trip!

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  8. Thanks Fil and Tina for swinging by. Yes touring to see and really understand part of country is what we had hoped for and didn't get. The wine at lunch did help me with ignore Pedro a bit.

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  9. The tables WERE low. That is so interesting. Sorry about your bad tour guides but everything else looks fantastic!

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  10. I have never visited any of this place after ur experience its horrifying.. and stressful also..but u have described it very nicely..


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