Took a larger group last year for a work event when our team was visiting for our annual in person meetings. Then felt compelled to take a former coworker that was in town for work as this cuisine is different to what she typically gets back home. I was raving about the freshly baked bread and dips that were memorable. So we decided to order only from the appetizers as the main tagines that our larger group had ordered were not as good as I recall from when Moltaqa was in Gastown when it used to be safer to dine there. We ordered the humous, prawns appetizer and chicken pastilla (unfortunately on the sweeter side bc of the syrup). Their bread that was the star last time I was here was brought out room temperature, not warm and did not taste freshly baked, rather kept, which did not taste as good. We paired our lighter fare with glasses of Mission Hill Cab Sav and my friend wanted to try their Syrian wine of the house. They have a great location in the heart of Yaletown but was disappointed when we went in June and hoping it was an off night but may be reluctant to bring more guests that are visiting from out of town. read more

I have been waiting for this Moroccan restaurant to open up in Yaletown as I've never had this type of cuisine and I've been intrigued by the sounds of it for a while. This restaurant has a well-established site in Gastown and it finally opened up on Mainland a few weeks ago. Last night I finally checked it out with my two foodie friends (they've had Moroccan cuisine a lot in the past and even own a tangine and cook various Moroccan dishes at home). I was early for our reservation so I sat in the small waiting area soaking up the incredible aromas. Warm spices and aromas that conjured up exotic faraway places. I was enveloped in the plush upholsteries and paprika and ombre colors of damask curtains and sepia lighting and bronze lanterns. As I waited, within a 5 minute period, I was approached by four women who separately asked if I had a reservation and how many people were in my party. (Note: since this place just recently opened, I don't think they have their host/hostess system for diners to check-in worked out yet). All the women who approached me were friendly. The restaurant was full. I was heartened to see the vibrancy return to local restaurants and Yaletown in general. People seemed genuinely happy to be socializing again. Once seated, and when my friends arrived, we first sampled their Moroccan cocktails: the Kir cherry, the Marrakesh sangria and the Moroccan bourbon sour. All were delicious. Then we waited a LONG time to order our food (nearly 30 minutes!); we thought they had forgotten about us, TBH, but we were enjoying our cocktails and chatting, so it wasn't too bad. It just got a bit odd seeing all the tables around us ordering and then getting their food while we waited. We finally were able to catch the eye of a server who took our order. (Note: again, our servers were all incredibly friendly and pleasant. I simply don't think they've gotten out all the kinks in service yet, being so new, and since the restaurant was so busy yesterday night). We ordered the vegetarian sampler platter to start (I figured this would give me a decent sampling of various small dishes) and then a tangine of lamb shank with apricots (I heard this was a traditional Moroccan dish). I loved most of the sampler dishes. The pea soup ("Bessara") and chickpea soup ("Harira") were divine. Like, seriously, beyond delicious. This came with a hearty, chewy bread to dunk in the soups. We all could've made a meal out of either of these soups. Then there were an assortment of warm and cold salads and side dishes (lentils with raisons, white bean stew, cucumber and green pepper and carrot salads, and some mini stuffed eggplants. The only dish we all disliked was the eggplant dish (surprisingly, as we all love eggplant). This was bitter and sour, not in a good way. (They have other eggplant dishes on their menu that we decided we'd try next time). The lamb tangine was fantastic. it reminded me of a classic beef stew, except with lamb, but the sauce had a bit of a unique, warm flavoring to it. And the apricots were a nice touch. For me, all the dishes had enough overlap with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes that I am familiar with, but they all added a bit of a unique sweeter spice flavor, along with the occasional fruit in with the meat. It all was delicious. My friends also ordered a bottle of wine they like but can't usually find, so they were impressed and happy. Oh, did I mention the bellydancer? What a surprise! I gather she dances here on certain nights, and we were there for two of her performances. Not only did she cross the room while gyrating with castanets but at times she performed with a saber (balancing it on her head!) and with a cape alight with colored lights. Dinner and a show. Bonus! (Pardon my fuzzy photos of said dancer; she moved fast and the shots are a bit blurry). It was a lovely meal, and a lovely evening. The lady who presented our bill (perhaps the owner, or the owner's wife) was wonderful, and we chatted with her for a while. She was patient enough to divide up our bill in thirds, and charge the wine to my friends (she didn't have to do this, but we really appreciated her help and her patience!). We plan on returning to try other dishes. read more

The food here was excellent albeit unusual to my palate. Having said that, this was my first time going to a Moroccon restaurant. The only reservation I had was that the restaurant was way too dimly lit. I had to use the flashlight from my phone to read the menu. I saw the other diners doing the same thing. The servers were great and oh so pleasant. Very pleasant dining experience. I will highly recommend this restaurant. 2 thumbs up!! read more

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Really Disappointing on so many levels. We have been to Moltaqa's in Yaletown several times and had always enjoyed it. We decided to go there with friends for my birthday dinner. As usual we ordered appetizers with Tagines for our main course. Two of us ordered the Lemon and Olive Chicken and two ordered the Duck with Figs and Pear, both dishes we have had in the past several times. The tagines as listed on the menu (see below), and traditionally, have always included a variety of vegetables. Our group ordered four tagines - not one vegetable in any of them. What??! To top it off the tiny pieces of duck were so dry. Very disappointing. The restaurant was busy so we let it go at the time and thought we would call the next day to find out what had gone sideways. Next day we called and were told the manager was not there but would call us back. No call back. Following day we tried again - same answer and again no call. Third day called and were told the same, my husband said perhaps he should go on social media with his concerns, and suddenly the manager was available!! Manager said even though the menu (see below) says vegetables included, they have decided to no longer include them. Although if you ask (why would you if they are on the menu?) you can get some. What??!! That is so wrong and not at all a 'tagine'. My piece of dried duck all by itself - $33.50 before taxes and tip. We will not go back and will no longer recommend it. Although we could always ask for the vegetables it says are included as the manager suggested, the lack of integrity is a complete disappointment and very unappetizing! read more

Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant - Moroccan Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

When you step in and are seated, you feel like you've been transported to Morocco. Enjoyed the ambiance. It was a Friday night and busy - we decided to sit at the bar where the service was spot on. The lamb was delicious, fell off the bone and the meatballs were also tasty. read more

I went to this restaurant twice for my birthday, once in 2023 and again yesterday night. It was spectacular and I loved the ambience and the service was top notch! Rosa took good care of us and was so professional and sweet. The belly dancer performance was also a highlight and the food and drinks were devine! We ordered one of the main dishes with lamb shoulder and couscous! It was so delicious! And my favourite drink is the Kir Royale Marrakesh, which I absolutely recommend! :) read more

Wonderful staff who cooperate with each other and appear to be enjoying themselves. They are perhaps a bit too attentive ! Food was also delight. My family was finished eating and were contemplating a desert. The manager obviously wanted our table for a group of later dinners. Rather than pressure us to leave he asked if we'd like some house made desert at the bar. It was handled well and we all enjoyed the free treats. More of a place for groups of younger people. Too noisy for a date in my opinion. read more

We came to this restaurant twice. The first time, we were treated cordially. The second time, it didn't go as well! We were treated with the utmost discrimination and rudeness by the host because of the way we were dressed which was by no means disrespectful. Being from Morocco ourselves, this is not the hospitality and warmth that guests or clients are expected to experience in a Moroccan restaurant. Yes, we are people of colour and we deserve to be treated like everybody else. Respect, diversity and inclusiveness is the world we live in nowadays and to anybody who thinks otherwise, all we have to say is this is NOT ACCEPTABLE! Rest assured, we will never step foot in Moltaqa again and we will certainly not recommend it to family members, friends and acquaintances in fear that they would be treated poorly. By the way the food is not great but AVERAGE! read more

A delightful menu, and pleasant ambiance. We ordered a variety of dishes and all were wonderful. The restaurant uses their space very well. Given how small the footprint, we had plenty of space. I'll be back. read more

Food is good and authentic. Nice portions and great service . Nice ambiance and nice seating read more

Beautifully designed place, top-notch service, and creative food with plenty of vegan options. My wife & I visited for date night, having noticed all the vegan options on the menu. We ordered the vegan option of the vegetarian sampler for 2 ($31), the hummus plate ($8.25), and the vegan option of their vegetable pastilla ($17.25). Everything came out relatively quickly. A brief run-down of each: -The vegetarian/vegan sampler: they first bring you out to 2 different soups: bessara (a Moroccan green pea soup) and harira (lentil, chickpea, & tomato soup). The soups are served with a nice whole wheat bread. Both were delicious, especially the bessara, which had wonderful depth and creaminess. A great star to the sampler. After the soups, they bring you a big tray with 8 different items, 4 of which are different salads (cucumber, carrot, beet and pickled pepper with olives), 3 of which are stews (lentils with raisins, white bean with ginger, and eggplant pepper stew), and the last dish in the middle of the plate was stuffed mini eggplants. The salads were all nice, gentle and simple, relatively samey in dressing (with a light vinegary/pickled character). The stews were all tasty, especially the lentil and eggplant stews. The stuffed mini eggplants were interesting, but too acidic/vinegary for our tastes. Honestly, this sampler would've been enough food for 2 of us. (4/5) -Hummus plate with veggies. This was decent -- the hummus is served with crispy toasted chickpeas and green peas on top, and with various raw veggies (celery, zucchini, carrot and pickled beet) for dipping. Solid, but nothing special. 3.5/5 -Vegetable pastilla (made vegan). This was unlike anything I'd had before. It's a baked pastry of some sort, not too oily or decadent. The filling contained what seemed like vermicelli noodles, olives, peppers, and carrots. The pastry was pretty tasty, but nothing all that interesting. The pastilla is served with a simple arugula salad on the side. Tasty overall, but perhaps a tad underwhelming. 3.5/5 Overall, a wonderful experience, though none of the food was exactly mind-blowing. I'd happily return and recommend the place to anyone though, as it's a great spot. read more

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One of the best meals I've ever had. The tagine, freshly baked bread, cocktails, and the tea service at the end of the meal were all fantastic. read more

This was first time at this location. It was a second date, and looking forward to a lively conversation with my date. The pluses - the location, decoration, service, attentive owner, and delicious food all made positive impressions. However, the place was super noisy. The HVAC system drowned out most of the conversation, and really made it hard to have a conversation across the table. We left the restaurant around 10 pm, and perhaps 15 minutes before we left the HVAC was turned off, and we could finally share a conversation. Food, atmosphere, and staff were great; the noise was a set back. read more

So good , great service. Loved the atmosphere. Drinks were delicious. The belly dancer was entertaining. read more

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We happened to walk into Moltaqa later in the evening because it was close to the hotel and seemed interesting. We were immediately greeted by the typical Moroccan intricate patterns, low lighting, and mystic music. It was a very cool vibe! We were surprised to learn that this restaurant was the only true Moroccan cuisine restaurant in the Vancouver area. There was also a sign that said this was a Michelin guide restaurant. We weren't too hungry and ordered a couple things. My family ordered Harira soup with a side of the semolina bread. The bread was absolutely amazing - crisp exterior and soft interior with a warm freshly baked taste. I could eat that all day. The soup itself was ok - the lentils were tasty but could have had more spice to it. We also had the chicken pastilla which was tasty and a nice mix of sweet and savory. A lot of times pastilla is too sweet and heavy, but this pastry was more balanced. We also tried the lamb and beef kefta tagine. The kefta was meatball shaped and was very tender and tasty. It came with eggplant, veggies, and potatoes in a stew. The stew was a bit oily but other than that a decent dish. I would definitely recommend Moltaqa! read more

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Food was good. But the vibe was poser. Doesnt feel like moroccans eat here or cook here. Or even serve here. I need that for it to be and feel authentic. I wouldnt come back but maybe do take out. Ppl were nice and we sat fast read more

This restaurant has a unique flavour of food. The chicken in lemon and saffron sauce was well cooked. The chicken was quite tender. Definitely try this dish when you are at the restaurant. Ambience on Saturday is very nice. A lady comes to do Belly Dancing!! read more

Unique experience but food taste was OK. Table is small and the ambiance is not super great for the price paid.

Service and food were excellent. Had the prawns, lamb with prunes, harira, couscous with merguez and the merguez appetizer. Everything was flavorful. read more

Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant - Lamb with prunes tajine - Moroccan Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Lovely Moroccan gem in Yaletown. Had a cocktail and chicken pastilla appetizer. Both were delicious, friendly service and cool vibe. Would love to try more of the menu next time! read more

Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant - Amour de Hivernage - Moroccan Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

HIDDEN GEM! Extremely friendly and attentive staff. A good balance of male and female staff. Nice ambience and decent volume (you can talk but don't need to whisper or yell). Quite big and never fully packed on a weekday but always best to make a reservation for important occasions. They gave my aunt a free cake and candle because it's our special occasion (a farewell dinner for my favourite aunt that I see only once a year). Quite a few different selections of food and drinks, and a few for desserts too. The food are flavourful and unique. The 7 Vegetables Couscous is a MUST order dish. The Safran and Lemon Halal Lamb Shank is amazing too (tender and juicy). The Cardamom Duck is interesting in a good way but not as memorable for us as the other dishes. Quite salty and meat was decent but just decent. Not a bad dish but not something we will order again. The cocktails and beer were DELICIOUS! Unfortunately, the Ramandan Chebakia is only during Ramandan so I was very sad that it wasn't available but not in determined to my myself another reservation during Ramandan. The Pistachio, Almond Baklava with Vanilla Ice Cream was really good too. Definitely have to go back to try the rest and order the 7 Vegetables Couscous again! HIGHLY RECOMMEND, definitely won't be disappointed. The skytrain station is just at the end of the street and paid public parking across the street and around the area. It's yaletown so expect yaletown traffic at times but yeah it's a totally must try restaurant. read more

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We celebrated the NY here with friends and family . The owner Mimo was very sweet and nice . Food was delicious, it stimulated taste buds that I never tasted before I would highly recommend this place even on a none NY day . read more

Took over an hour to get the foot. Saw server twice inside 2 hours. Image shows what was at my seat after 90 minutes read more

Moltaqa Moroccan Restaurant - Moroccan Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

This restaurant is a slap in the face of multicultural Canada. The host along with the manager demanded that I remove my hat while dining. When I asked why, they said that it's a respect thing for the Islam religion that the restaurant owners enforce to the theme of Moroccan food. After telling them that this demand is disrespectful to me as a person. They leaned in within a few inches of my face and told me I would be asked to leave. What if the owner dined in an Italian restaurant and they demanded that he say catholic grace before being served food? I'm generalizing on purpose here, because not ALL Moroccan people believe Islam religion. Does this establishment mean to teach that ALL Moroccans are of Islamic faith? Or are we simply not sampling Moroccan food as a multicultural right in Canada? What does religious beliefs have to do with casual dining? I didn't attend a mosque, I went to dinner in downtown Vancouver. The in your face intimidation received from the wait staff deeply shocks my Canadian belief that we can all exist harmoniously. It strips my freedom to be able to dine in my own community and home country, and pay for the food and service without prejudice against my beliefs because they differ. We were a large family group so I stayed hatless, and the food was small portions no taste. They over oil the eggplant and burn the garlic in the duck. The music was also amplified too loud and made conversation difficult. And there were two men sleeping on the bar from intoxication. It was tense, disgusting, and aggressive. DO NOT DINE. read more

Nice atmosphere, great service, food was very tasty and nicely presented. It's all tapas and i was there with two other women. We selected one tapas plate each along with a Greek salad followed by two dessert selections and we were completely satisfied. Definitely a lovely spot for a casual dinner. read more

Disappointed. We'd visited the original location and been treated like family. Looks like the family has grown up at this second location. Ordered a lamb-based tagine, a mergez (lamb sausage) meal, and two seafood based tagines, along with a vegetarian sampler. The sampler was generally quite good, but two of the dishes (there were 6 or 8) were bland - sliced raw (or at least it seemed) beets, and cucumbers - both had marinades or sauces that just... weren't interesting. The eggplant dishes were all outstanding, as were their soup and lentil-based stew. Yum. The lamb tagine was tasty enough, but being advertised as a pound I expected something rather larger. The flavours were nice, but I found it excessively salty. Not to the point of being inedible, just... too much salt. As tender as you expect from a tagine... lovely texture and an infusion of flavour in the vegetables. The two seafood entrees were enjoyed by their diners. The mergez dish came on a plate with vegetables and while (by definition) the tagines were steaming hot, our host's meal wasn't, so much, and a bit of a draft in the restaurant exacerbated that. Pet peeve executed in spades: "Are we enjoying the appetizer? Can we clear these plates? Do we have space for dessert?". Sorry, you're not part of this dining party, you're *serving* us. They were also a bit aggressive as far as selling up the alcohol. Yes, that's where the margins are, but it gets tiresome. On the plus side, apparently our booking was switched to the original location but the manager accommodated us. That's appreciated. I might give the eastside location another try, but I'll skip Yaletown in the future. read more

My lovely gf decided on the spot after we walked by outside. The decor was so cool. The ambiance was amazing. Felt like I was transported inside a bazaar, carpet upholstery and everything. The food was pretty good and there was a live performance. Cannot recommend enough! read more

Felt like we were actually dining in Morocco. The food was so delicious and the ambience was authentic. Service from Fatima and others was excellent. Price was very reasonable. read more

Great food and great service! The ambiance was so much fun, it felt like I was in Morocco.

Great and friendly service. Traditional and ornate interior. Nice to see a wide variety of vegan options. My family of four all ordered tagine entrees, one seafood, one lamb and beef, one lamb with apricots and one chicken. Flavours were bold and rich. Chicken was a tad dry in parts, but overall, we were very satisfied. Portions were spot on. read more

Great atmosphere. Belly dancing at around 9:30ish. Main course was really good and the portion was big. Didnt like the shared platter as starter. read more

Great ambiance, friendly staff, and amazing food! I got the lamb shank and my boyfriend for the goat and they were both incredibly good. Their drinks were a little pricey, but that may be normal for the area. Either way, they were also very unique and tasty! read more

Last Saturday, we were supposed to celebrate a friend's birthday at this place. You would think that someone who works in the hospitality field would know how to treat their clients. The owner of this place proved me wrong. He has zero courtesy. Out of the party of 6 people 2 of us arrived couple minutes before the reservation time and we were asked to wait to be seated. Once we were at our table, 5 min later the owner came over and started complaining how the whole party was not there yet (no greeting whatsoever), we explained to him that they are on the way and that we knew that we had to vacate the table by the time they indicated on the reservation. About 5 min later he came again with the same hawk attitude and questioned us again. At this point I could not take it anymore and told him that we were leaving and he started threatening us saying that he would charge the person who made the reservation. I feel bad for the employees who work there to have such an employer (the waiters were so nice and kept apologizing). I will never go back to that place and will make sure my friends and community hear about my experience read more

October 20th dinner with friends to celebrate a couple of birthdays. 4 stars for food. 0 stars for service. Food was great, no complaints. 6 of us celebrating friendships enjoying great food and drinks. It was odd though that our server brought our bills and her card machine a few minutes after desserts and tea were served. We were still waiting for tea to cool down a bit and here she is collecting payments . Not cool, especially since everyone one were having a great time. Went to the ladies for a few minutes. Came back to the table only to be told by my friend that the server told them that they need our table for the next guests. WHO DOES THAT??? Not even there for an hour and a half for a group of six with appies meals drinks desserts and tea plus a belly dancer for entertainment. Manager came to the table and started telling us to consider their restaurant for the holidays. Really?? Asked how was the meal. Told him great until they told us to basically leave. He was apologetic and told us its friday night and so busy and offered us some free cookies. WTF!! Are we in kindergarten? DO NOT go here if you want to have a great time with friends and family. read more

I went with two friends on a Thursday evening; we were not disappointed. Friendly staff who got the balance right between attention and leaving us to enjoy our food. We stuck to appetizers as there were so many options. We had Spicy Baked Harrisa Prawns, Chicken Briwat, Stuffed Mini Eggplant with a generous sprinkling of feta, Mujdara Lentil Stew (simply exquisite), Bessarabia Soup. We saved room for dessert, and the Double Chocolate Ice Cream with Vanilla Cherries was divine, as were the Bawklavas. The menu has a wide range of mains that look amazing. The ambience, service and fantastic food made for a beautiful experience; I look forward to returning. Sadly we were too busy enjoying our food to take photos. read more

VERY rude customer service. No hospitality what so ever. We made a reservation initially at 6pk and were told there's a 2hrs limit said that's fine then they said if u pick 8pm u can stay until closing which is midnight. Then I called back to change the number of guests, and until then everything was fine then was told althea can actually accommodate us only alfrom 830pm now so we can have the 2hrs limit waived. It was such a hassle to keep going back and forth wihlth the restaurant and my guests. I decided to still not cancel and just go eat there and leave even if we were done before the 2hrs limit. 4 out of the 6 ppl were already there at the table. The owner could have started to take their orders by the tike the other 2 ppl came we understood clearly the time limit and were not expecting to stay any longer. The owner was very rude and kind of rude he had an attitude and absolutely no smile doesn't say hello or excuse ls himself to explain the situation. He kept walking back to the table asking why there's 2 ppl missing and he had a business to run and we couldn't do this etc we got mad left and I went in to speak to the owner he didn't even say hello directly had a mad look to his face. Very unlikable and unprofessional did not say sorry. They could have started taking orders in the meantime what's the big deal. The way we were all treated was very shocking and disgusting and I told him u just lost a lot of business buddy. We are a big group and have a big community and we are all sharing our experiences we ended up going to the living room lounge vancouver on canada way it was absolutely amazing they treated us so well without reservation and GUESS WHAT NO LIMIT..shocker right ? They had amazing hospitality were kind and super accommodating. We are no way in hell going anywhere near MOLTA9A read more