Emerald Upscale Moroccan Restaurant

I recently visited Emerald with a large party containing multiple gluten free eaters. While they were able to accommodate, there was some confusion about whether we could eat rice- it made me doubt whether the staff was really knowledgeable about this dietary restriction. The lamb tagine, sans rice, was good but not remarkable. The vegetables served on the side were a basic frozen veggie Asian mix with water chestnuts, broccoli, and carrot- a little odd.Ambiance was cozy and intimate, with cushioned seating.

The food here is excellent and the service is very professional. My order got goofed slightly but it's hard to be upset when the servers are so polite and courteous with everything. I asked for the most traditionally Moroccan dish they had and was recommended the lamb tangine. It's legitimately one of the best things I've ever tasted. It's a whole lamb shank cooked until the meat falls off the bone in a slightly sweet broth with chopped almonds, sesame seeds, apricot, and plum. It's a truly unique flavor that tasted great and feels hearty. The starter sampler was pretty good as well. Everything is made in house. The interior is very lively and memorable. It's not like any restaurant interior we're used to in this country and it doubles as a hookah lounge. The space and the food really help to transport you to North Africa for a night. The one thing I do have to ding this place for is the weird policy on water. They don't serve filtered tap here and instead charge $3 a bottle. To their credit they graciously refunded me for water when I expressed my surprise at how much they were billing, but this is something that really needs to be addressed. Water may be valuable in a dry place like North Africa but charging for water in an upscale sit down restaurant in the state of Florida where water is abundant and cheap is a joke. If it was $1 for the privilege of drinking bottled instead of filtered tap I would have been fine with it but $3 a bottle over the course of a meal is insulting. It really is the difference between wanting to come here every night because the food and service is so good and never wanting to come here again because 20% of my tab is just the water bill. If you decide to stop here for a meal, enjoy the food, but don't order anything too dry and salty and don't come thirsty.

Was in Orlando for a conference at the renaissance Hotel and convention Center. I needed a break from the banquet food that was being served. Saw this traditional Moroccan restaurant that was minutes away from the hotel and decided to have a meal. I did go on a Saturday afternoon at noon, I was the only person there the entire time. It seems the restaurant is busier later in the day after 4 PM. I enjoyed a full course meal, which also included traditional Moroccan mint tea. I would come back when I'm in town.

Went to this place around 9.30 pm to try hummus as I was craving it. However, they were out of it. We just had coke soda which was priced at $4 and we ended up leaving the place. The server was very polite. The ambiance was decent.There is plenty of parking spots as it's located in a plaza.

I just ordered takeout from there and I was really disappointed. I tried to call ahead three times so I could just pick up an order but they never answered. When I went in person to go place an order for takeout, no one greeted me and I had to go track someone down to actually place an order. They charged me three dollars for a side of garlic sauce, which is probably no more than a tablespoon. I tried one of the fries before I left and they were the most underseasoned, undercooked, soggy, sad potatoes I've ever tasted. I trusted yelp because they had a four-star review but today yelp did me dirty. Note: I was very hangry when I wrote this. That definitely did not the situation .

We were in Orlando for a business conference looking for a casual, interesting restaurant for dinner. I came across Emerald and read good reviews about this place. The restaurant is tucked in a courtyard next to Four Points. It is a spacious place but on Monday night around 6:30pm, it was empty. The decor was nice with Arabic music playing in the background. Menu was simple. There were three Tajine choices. Unfortunately, the lamb tajine that I wanted was not available. So we went for the chicken and kofta. My friend is a vegetarian so he had the falafel sandwich. We also ordered the murgez and baba gahnosh as appetizer and a bowl of lentil soup. Overall, the flavor was good but they were not memorable. We were expecting something a bit richer, more aromatic. Or, more resemble home cooking. Thus, though we were full when left, we weren't satisfied.

Staff was great easy place to find next to sea world and all the tourists spots plenty of parking our server Moe was great will definitely be back again plenty of parking and we loved the inside decor traditional Moroccan restaurant I had the kefta Kabab sandwich it was great

Went to emerald for a team dinner. The servers were very polite and helpful but the service was slow and a little all over the place. I believe they were short staffed and the restaurant was busy. We ordered a bunch of food that we shared. Everything was okay. The lamb tagine was not average. The mix platters were okay. The tea at the end was yummy but over all, it was an average experience.

Ambiance is nice. Service is kinda slow, when we went to the restaurant it was dead. Lambchops weren't seasoned well and over cooked, salad was good, baba ghanoush was good, Moroccan tea and lemonade was good too. The signature Morrocan dish should have been made with real potatoes not French fries, it's not supposed to be an Americanized platter. Baklava portion was rather small. A few tweaks and these flaws can easily be fixed.

Emerald and chef Omar from Taste du Maroc recently hosted my Birthday.And what a surprise they set up my table which looked stunning by Ahlam DreamsThe food was so good, delicious, home made, organic, farm to table it left my taste buds dancing all night with the selection that the chef made from Seafood to chicken Tajine and lamb Tanjia, Kefta Tajine all the food tasted home made just like my mother served on our table 30 years ago, it took me back to my family sitting around the table everyday except it was all served here in Orlando Florida at my reach everyday, no more excuses being busy with work and not having time to prepare our family's favorite food all I have to do is just make a reservation or order a to go order ready to eat served in my favorite Moroccan Dishes. The ambiance was amazing they had a a singer that sang all Moroccan and Arabic Favorite songs and an amazing Belly Dancer who spread her infectious joy to everyone and made the night so special. Thank you Emerald upscale restaurantThank you Chef Omar Taste du MarocThank you Ahlam Dreams And thank you to all my friends for throwing me the best birthday party for years to remember