Casablanca Food Tour — Marché Central, Habous & Street Eats

Casablanca is Morocco's economic capital — a modern, fast, French-colonial-and-Art-Deco city rather than a medieval medina — and its food reflects that mix of Atlantic seafood, Moroccan street classics and cosmopolitan cafés. A food tour here shows a side of Morocco few tourists slow down for, threading between the historic centre and the atmospheric Habous quarter.

The Marché Central, the covered market off Boulevard Mohammed V, is the natural start: rows of glistening Atlantic fish, olive and spice stalls, and small counters where you can eat oysters from Oualidia or a plate of grilled sardines on the spot. From there the tour takes in street classics — babbouche (snail soup) sipped from a glass, maakouda potato fritters, and the ever-present grilled brochettes.

The Habous, or new medina, built by the French in the 1920s in a neo-Moorish style, is Casablanca's pastry and traditional-food quarter. Here you taste the city's famous cornes de gazelle and other Moroccan sweets from long-established patisseries, browse the olive and date sellers, and see how the local bourgeoisie shops. A stop for fresh avocado or almond juice — a Casablanca café staple — rounds it out.

This is a tour about a real, living city rather than a heritage set piece, so it pairs street food with café culture and coastal produce. Bring small cash for the stalls, come hungry, and expect a walk that mixes grand boulevards with market bustle.