Best Seafood in Kenitra — River, Ocean and the Gharb Plain

Kenitra's seafood comes from two sources: the Atlantic, landed at the nearby port of Mehdia where the Sebou meets the ocean, and the river itself. The catch runs to sea bream, sea bass, sardines, sole, calamari and prawns, cooked the Moroccan way — grilled whole over charcoal with cumin and lemon, fried, or simmered into a chermoula-spiced tagine. Mehdia, with its beach and old kasbah, is the place to eat it closest to the source, in simple restaurants where freshness is the whole point.

In the city, seafood turns up at the central market, where you can buy fish by weight, and at the sandwich counters and small restaurants that fry it fresh. A friture — a mixed plate of small fried fish and calamari with lemon and bread — is the reliable, good-value order, while grilled sardines cost almost nothing. The surrounding Gharb plain, one of Morocco's richest agricultural regions, supplies the salads, vegetables and citrus that round out a seafood meal.

Because Kenitra is a working city rather than a tourist resort, its seafood is honest and locally priced. Look for the busy tables where the crowd is Moroccan, especially around the market and out at Mehdia, and you will eat fresh fish for far less than you would pay on a resort corniche. In season, the estuary and coast also yield shellfish worth trying.

To eat well, confirm the per-kilo price before your fish is weighed and grilled, choose the busiest spots for freshness, and pair the catch with the Gharb's excellent salads and bread. A trip out to Mehdia for grilled fish by the river mouth is the local move on a warm afternoon.