Skip to main content
The full courtyard of the Al-Attarine madrasa: marble fountain, zellige walls and carved cedar galleries

Al-Attarine Madrasa, Fes · Photo: Houssain tork, CC BY-SA 4.0

Moroccan food and drink

In Fes, the dish to seek out is pastilla, the sweet-savoury pie that is the pride of Fassi cooking. Add slow-cooked tagines, Friday couscous, harira and medina street food, with sweet mint tea offered at every stop. Pick busy stalls with high turnover, drink bottled water, and expect alcohol only in licensed venues.

Plan a trip with usRead the guide
  • Updated June 2026
  • 2 min read
  • Culture

Fes is widely considered the culinary capital of Morocco — the refined home of pastilla, slow-cooked tagines, couscous Fridays and a deep repertoire of medina street food, all washed down with the endless ritual of sweet mint tea.

Dishes to seek out

Beyond the famous tagine and couscous, Fes has its own specialities that reward the curious eater.

  • Pastilla (bastila) — Fes's signature dish, a sweet-savoury pie of pigeon or chicken under crisp warqa pastry, almonds and icing sugar.
  • Tagine — slow-cooked stews (lamb with prunes and sesame, chicken with preserved lemon and olives, kefta with egg).
  • Couscous — traditionally the Friday family meal, steamed with seven vegetables.
  • Harira — the hearty tomato-lentil soup that breaks the fast in Ramadan, sold from medina stalls.
  • Fes street food — bowls of babbouche (snail soup) near Rcif, fried sardines, msemen and sfenj doughnuts, and a glass of fresh juice on Talaa Kebira.
Food stalls along a covered lane of the Fes medina, olives and sweets in glass counters

In Fes, the dish to seek out is pastilla, the sweet-savoury pie that is the pride of Fassi cooking.

Talaa Kebira, Fes

The tea ritual

Mint tea — green tea, fresh mint and plenty of sugar, poured from height — is the thread running through Fassi hospitality. It's offered everywhere, from souk stalls and leather shops to family homes in the medina, and accepting it graciously is part of the experience. Many of the prettiest tea moments come on riad and café rooftops looking out over the sea of medina rooftops.

Eating well and safely

Fes is a conservative, spiritual city, so pork is rare and alcohol is served mainly in licensed restaurants, hotels and some riads rather than in the medina at large. Tap water is best avoided for drinking — choose bottled. Busy stalls with high turnover are usually the safest (and tastiest) street food. Vegetarians do well: salads, vegetable tagines, lentil dishes and couscous are everywhere. A guided street-food walk through Fes el-Bali is one of the best ways to eat confidently and meet the vendors.

Quick answers

Short answers to what travellers ask us about this.

What is the national dish of Morocco?
Couscous and tagine are the two national contenders, but in Fes the dish to seek out is pastilla — the elaborate sweet-savoury pie that is the pride of Fassi cooking. Couscous is the traditional Friday family meal; tagine, named after its conical earthenware pot, is eaten in countless variations.
Can you drink alcohol in Morocco?
Yes, but discreetly. In Fes, alcohol is served in licensed restaurants, hotels and some riads rather than in the medina generally. This is a traditional, religious city, so outside those venues, and especially during Ramadan, it's simply not the norm.
Is Moroccan food good for vegetarians?
Very. Vegetable tagines, couscous, lentil and bean soups, Moroccan salads, fresh medina bread and an abundance of fruit make Fes an easy place to travel as a vegetarian.

Keep reading

Pink cherry blossom in spring in Ifrane3 min readThe best time to visit MoroccoSpring (March–May) and autumn (September–November) are the best all-round times to visit Morocco and to base yourself in Fes — warm days, cool evenings and comfortable conditions for long hours on foot in the Fes el-Bali medina, plus easy day trips to Volubilis, Meknes and the Middle Atlas.Read the guideA tanner lifting a pile of hides beside the dye pits of the Chouara tannery5 min readMorocco photography guideFes is one of the world's great photographic cities: morning light falling into the tannery vats, intricate Marinid zellige and carved cedar, the labyrinth of Fes el-Bali, and craftsmen at work in the artisan quarters.Read the guideCoppersmiths' cauldrons and pans stacked in the metalworkers' square of Fes el Bali7 min readShopping in the souksFes is Morocco's artisan capital, and its souks are among the world's great shopping experiences — but they reward preparation.Read the guide

Tell us your dates. We'll plan it with you.

  1. Tell us what drew you in. Your dates, who is travelling and what you want to see.
  2. A person reads it. We write a day-by-day plan for your group, private or small-group.
  3. You change anything. Then we confirm the guides, drivers and riads.
Plan my tripAsk a question first
Plan this with us