Bacha Coffee en Dar El Bacha

Your host collects you before the doors open, so you cross the courtyard of Dar El Bacha while it is still quiet. The palace was the pasha's residence from 1910. Its zellige, cedar and marble now hold a museum on the ground floor and, behind that, the coffee room.

You take the museum rooms first, then a table under the arcade. Three origins are poured side by side from the gold pots, Ethiopian, Yemeni and a house blend, with a raspberry croissant and a plate of small pastries. Your host explains what changes between them and why the roast is kept light.

Bacha takes no reservations and the queue builds through the morning, which is why we start at ten. You get the rooms quiet, and the souks do not fill until later.