Restaurants in Fès
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Café Clock
In a restored townhouse, this funky place has a refreshing menu with offerings such as falafel, grilled sandwiches, some interesting vegetarian options, a monstrously large camel burger, and delicious cakes and tarts. Better still, their ‘Clock Culture’ program includes calligraphy and conversation classes, a lecture program and sunset concerts every Sunday (cover charge around Dh20), attracting a good mix of locals, expats and tourists.
reviewed
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La Maison Bleue
Reservations are necessary at this elegant riad restaurant. The setting is intimate and romantic, with diners serenaded by an oud player (replaced by livelier Gnawa song and dance at the end of the evening). You’ll be treated to an array of cooked salads, tajines, couscous and bastilla (savoury pastries), plus filo pastry desserts. Top marks for presentation and atmosphere.
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Thami’s
Of the cluster of pavement restaurants leading from Bab Bou Jeloud to Talaa Seghira, this small corner place under a mulberry tree probably ranks as a favourite. The food is good and comes out bubbling hot, with filling kefta (spiced meatball) tajines, fried fish and bowls of stewed beans. Eat, then sit back and watch the medina parade pass before your eyes.
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Dar Roumana
The menu here takes cues from the riad’s name – house of pomegranates. Mediterranean with a Moroccan slant, including some interesting seafood dishes such as swordfish with pomegranates. It all works fabulously, and you eat in the courtyard or in fine weather up on the wonderful terrace. Alcohol is served.
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Chicken Mac
Chicken Mac quickly serves up generous plates of rotisserie chicken, bowls of harira (soup) and other cheap, filling meals.
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Majestic
You’ll need to grab a taxi for this upscale place, although if you make a reservation the restaurant offers a pick-up and drop-off service. The stylish open-plan layout looks to London- and Parisien-style magazines for inspiration and pulls it off, while the menu is distinctly French-leaning, with some Mediterranean influences (the fish is a high point). Service is excellent, and there’s a good wine list that adds to the evening out, but pack your wallet well before dining.
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Le Kasbah
On several floors opposite the cheap hotels at Bab Bou Jeloud, this restaurant occupies a prime spot: the top floor looks out over the medina, making it a good place to relax over food. The menu itself isn’t overly exciting – tajines, couscous and meat from the grill, but fair value. Be warned: if you only want to linger for views and a pot of mint tea – the cost of drinks is double if you’re not eating.
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Dar El Ghalia
Eat on the terrace or in the salon at this lovely guesthouse. Choose from the set menus or à la carte: there are salads, excellent harira, grills, fresh fish, tajines and couscous. Order in advance if you'd like to try pigeon trid (baked dough stuffed with meat) or mechoui (roast lamb). Wines and spirits are available. A 10% tip is added to the bill.
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Kiotori
Come to Fez and eat sushi? Why not? With a Japanese chef at the helm, and suitably minimalist surroundings, Kiotori carries off the challenge with aplomb. Choose individual sushi or tempura (battered seafood or vegetable) dishes from a wide selection or grab a mix through the set menus. Some Fassis shun it because it doesn’t have a liquor licence, but that doesn’t mean you should.
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Les Trois Sources
If pressed, locals in the know will 'fess up and say that this cosy French restaurant in the Country Club is their favourite place to eat in Fez. The food is excellent, the wine list is well balanced and the atmosphere is extremely welcoming. The restaurant will collect you from your medina hotel and return you after dinner at no charge if you call in advance.
reviewed
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Restaurant Bouayad
Just inside Bab Bou Jeloud, this restaurant is more popular with tourists than locals, but still turns out a good range of Moroccan dishes – the fish tajine is particularly good. The interior is nicely cool in the hot summer months, although staff build up enough of a sweat, as the small kitchen can get overwhelmed when the place is packed out.
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Chez Vittorio
This dependable favourite covers the rustic Italian restaurant angle well, right down to the candles and checked cloths. The food is good value, and while the initial service can be a bit creaky your meal tends to arrive in a trice. Go for the pizzas or steak, as the pasta often disappoints. You can also enjoy a glass of wine with your meal.
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Café Ba Bouchta
Opposite the funduq is this very old café'. A small wood fire, pumped up with bellows, heats water in a copper urn; sugar is chipped off a large cone with a special hammer, and men sit playing cards in the L-shaped room. Sit on a stool at the window and watch the square below. Mint tea is around DH3 and coffee Dh3.
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Restaurant Zagora
Just off the southern end of Mohammed V, this classy restaurant is popular with tour groups and locals alike. The wine list is probably the most extensive in the ville nouvelle and the menu is equally broad, although the pleasant setting (complete with oud player) means that both food and drink attract a sizeable surcharge.
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Palais Jamaï
This five-star hotel has a superb position overlooking the medina. There's a French restaurant and a Moroccan restaurant. At lunch they serve a good buffet on the terrace above the pool (or in the dining room in winter): there's the salad buffet, or the salad buffet with barbecue and dessert.
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Riad Sheherazade
A pretty conservatory by the pool serves as a dining room, or you can dine in the large courtyard or Moroccan salon. A speciality of the house is couscous with quails and chicken, studded with fruit. Wine is available. If the owner's in town, he might serenade you with his oud.
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Sandwiches Big Mac
It's certainly fast food, but there are no Big Macs here! Choose from the display cabinet and watch your sandwich filling being cooked on the griddle. Stuffed baguettes or bread rounds come with chips. There are some chairs and tables, too, for tea or coffee (both around DH4).
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Ryad Mabrouka
Dine in the leafy garden of this delightful riad guesthouse in the warmer months, or in winter in the 1st-floor dining room overlooking the medina. Traditional fare is served in a three-course set menu, and wine is available. It's necessary to book 24 hours in advance.
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Cafe Kortoba
This café is an institution. When you're tired of all the walking, it's a great (albeit small) place to sit for coffee or mint tea, orange juice, an ice cream or a slice of cake. Bang on the edge of the Kairaouine, there's plenty going on around you.
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Cafe De Tabarakallah
This large popular café, opposite Cinema Amal, has space inside and upstairs, but the best place for watching the world go by is outside on the pavement. Pains au chocolat (pastry with chocolate) are around DH2, coffee or mint tea Dh5.
reviewed
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Dar Anebar
A good riad for dining, where you’ll eat in truly fine surroundings, in the splendid courtyard, or one of the cosy salons. The menu is strictly Moroccan, but of the highest standard, and you can accompany dinner with a bottle of wine.
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Blue Babel
The vibe here is similar to that of Assouan, but the location isn't quite as good and the clientele is a bit younger due to the fact that ice cream and pizza join coffee and cake on the menu. The prices are the same as at Assouan.
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Vesuvio
If you're at the stage of screaming when presented with yet another tajine, this place may well be for you. Stock-standard Italian dishes feature - the thin-crust pizzas and stodgy pasta are acceptable, but only just. No alcohol.
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Cremerie La Place
Put a café in one of the most interesting spots in the medina, and you have a near-perfect combination. Over juice, tea, coffee and pastries, the parade passes before you, accompanied by the tapping of the square’s coppersmiths.
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Restaurant Des Jeunes
A simple pavement café, just inside the bab, with a ready supply of mint tea (around DH5). Restaurant des Jeunes serves good spit-roast chicken, tajines and couscous. There's a set menu of soup or salad, main dish and dessert.
reviewed