If you've never tried Moroccan food, you should. Not only are you in for some new taste treats, but the action-packed presentation and gluttonous portions are very appropriate to Vegas. A full Moroccan feast (which is what most U.S. Moroccan restaurants feature) is an event. Vegas has two notable Moroccan establishments: Marrakech, 3900 Paradise Rd., at Howard Hughes Drive (tel. 702/737-5611), where a six-course meal will cost you $25 per person (reservations recommended; AE, DC, DISC, MC, V; daily 5:30-11pm); and Mamounia, 4632 S. Maryland Pkwy., between Harmon and Tropicana avenues (tel. 702/597-0092), where a Moroccan feast will set you back $23 per person (reservations recommended; AE, DISC, MC, V; daily 5-11pm).

Both rooms are covered, floor to ceiling, with Moroccan (or Moroccan-style) rugs and furnished with low tables made of intricately inlaid wood (from the town of Essaouria). There is some simple tile work on the walls at Marrakech. It all adds up to that Arabian Nights, den-of-thieves feel. Diners sit on cushions on the floor or on very low cushioned benches.

Oh, and you eat with your fingers. You begin the multicourse feast with a trio of cold salads: a marinated carrot salad, an eggplant salad, and a tomato and cucumber salad; all relatively simple and supremely tasty. Use the bread from the big basket to scoop up salad. This is followed by shrimp in a garlic sauce that seems more Italian than Moroccan (peculiarly, both restaurants feature this seemingly out-of-place item). But if you like garlic and shrimp, you won't complain too much. Next is b'stilla, a truly amazing dish if done right. Layers of phyllo are interspersed with chicken, eggs, and nuts; the whole thing is topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon. The uninitiated raise their eyebrows at it, while their more informed companions dig in. After you try it, you will fight for more than your fair share, too. The final course is some kind of fowl (chicken or Cornish game hen), usually in a wonderful lemon-and-olive sauce. You finish up with some sweet mint tea, poured with great ceremony.

But what's that sound? It's the belly dancer, who has come out to dazzle you with her gravity-defying shimmy skills, to get the crowd going in a conga line (or, unfortunately, the Macarena), and to accept a tip or two.

This experience is roughly the same at the two restaurants (though it's a lot more fun when each place is full; when the belly dancer emerges, a party atmosphere follows), but the food at Marrakech is considerably better. However, they found that the b'stilla was too strange for many patrons, so they turned it into a dessert with a fruit filling; they will make it with chicken if you ask when ordering (trust us and do). In its favor, the Mamounia offers a la carte items (Marrakech is considering this), so you can try other Moroccan specialties such as tajines, which are delicious stews cooked in clay pots.