Cheap seats to sweet eats

I've fallen out of love with Emirates Airline over the past year or so due to woefully inconsistent service and a disappointing re-engineering of their Skywards programme points system which seems to be doing all it can to deter the cheap seat traveller (me) and encourage only the big spenders.

However, on the flight from Dubai to Casablanca yesterday my faith was somewhat restored due to a delightful chief purser called Jamal whose attention to detail and personal service philosophy made a broken seat back a memorable experience. OK, so it was an upgrade situation and I guess they're supposed to play nice with even the fake biz class passengers, but he went from hands and knees under-the-seat maintenance (didn't work) to frothy cappuccinos (pretty darned good) to red wine bottle takeaways (that'll do nicely) along with a good chat about aircraft durability (not boring in the slightest), mutual movie faves and travel hotspots.

There will be a follow-up email from my side to the Emirates powers-that-be, a positive one, as good service seems to be going the way of the dodo - and not just on board award-winning carriers. Am looking forward to seeing whether Royal Air Maroc measures up tonight!

And the Casablanca stopover experience? Not the prettiest city, but I knew that already and a two-hour city tour is ample time to hit the high points. The real winner has definitely been the food. My faithful friend - Trip Advisor - came up trumps yet again with the accommodation option, a 1940s villa in a well-placed suburb 25 minutes from the airport.

Dar Itrit is run by a delightful Moroccan-born Frenchwoman - Estrella - who is something of a culinary goddess. For 23 Euros I enjoyed a wonderfully memorable dinner of tarte aux magret de canard, a piquant kefta tagine and cooling dessert of melon with mint and lemon-laced yoghurt. Rick's Cafe isn't a patch on this home-cooked feast!

And so to The Gambia.