Tagine, Couscous and the Taste of the Maghreb
Slow-steamed tagines, fluffy couscous and layered spices: Moroccan cuisine brings the food culture of North Africa's Maghreb to Japan.
In Nagoya, a restaurant describing itself as the city's only Moroccan restaurant serves tagine, couscous and kebab prepared by a Moroccan chef, in a dining room furnished with pieces bought in Morocco. Its dishes are described as 100 percent halal, and the restaurant is registered as certified halal, with vegetarian options available.
In Tokyo, one restaurant builds a monthly changing menu on home-style and banquet dishes from Casablanca, the owner-chef's hometown, with chicken tagine of free-range chicken and potatoes and vegetable-laden couscous. Another Tokyo restaurant describing its dishes as made from 100 percent halal ingredients is known for couscous lunches with a choice of beef, chicken or vegetables, sweetened gently by steamed carrots, turnips and pumpkin.
In Osaka, two minutes from the Umeda Sky Building, a Muslim-owned restaurant doubles as an argan oil shop and describes all of its food as halal. The Egyptian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean pages are worth exploring too — and the Halal Gourmet Japan map lets you plan meals and prayer places together.
Content reviewed: August 20, 2026
