Marrakesh (Society Hill): worth dining with out-of-town visitors?

[PattiCakes]

An culinarily adventuresome group of out-of-town business colleagues are in Philly on business at the end of the month. They've invited me to dinner & I am looking for someplace different to suggest. OOTers always seem to want Italian, but they are open for anything. One has even mentioned dim sum. We are based near 20th & Market, but are fine with cabbing it. Dinner would be on a Wednesday night. Marrakesh was one of the places I thought of. Good? Not so good? I am also open to other suggestions. The only "dislike" noted was curry.

[BeeZee]

I attended a business dinner with a large group at Alma de Cuba (walking distance for you) and they did a great job...samplers of most of the appetizers, couple of entrees served family style, sides...desserts...lots of variety and not the "usual".

[Unkle Al]

If the folks are adventuresome I think that Marrakesh would be a good choice. Taking into account that everyone from Morocco east to India, including all of Africa (I think), all of the middle east and south Asia eat with their fingers it would be fun for adventuresome people. I have taken plenty of people to Moroccan restaurants and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. It is certainly a unique experience.

However, if your colleagues are from China and east my experience is that they will be turned off by the finger eating.

[PattiCakes]

Everyone is from the US: LA, Denver, and Chicago. I think the cash only aspect would be more problematic for them than the eating with fingers.

[barryg]

I would say "no" to the general question but it can be fun with a group, though the food is nothing special . "Curry" can mean different things to different people so you may want to check that, the food at Marrakesh is not spicy but it is seasoned exotically.

[PattiCakes]

Thanks. Knowing the individual who does not like "curry", I think she means Indian food in general. In looking at the Marrakesh website, I also noticed that it's cash only, so that in and of itself is a PIA for people expensing a meal. I will probably just explore the Italian route and save myself a lot of angst.

[barryg]

There are a lot of interesting and accessible non-Italian/steakhouse restaurants that take CCs... Zahav and Koo Zee Doo come to mind immediately.

[Philly Ray]

I suppose it could be fun for those who don't have that type of experience in their home city. However, it might be a bit too "familiar" for a business dinner. There is a lot of eating with your hands and sharing communal dishes, so keep that in mind.

[PattiCakes]

Good point, Ray. It would not bother me, but I appreciate that some people might be skeeved out.