Where to eat in Fes, from R'cif grills to riad tables

Pastilla (b'stilla) is the dish most often described as a revelation — and it is a Fassi creation, born in this medina from the city's Andalusian inheritance. A large round pie of wafer-thin warka pastry, filled with braised pigeon (or chicken) shredded with egg, cinnamon and almonds and dusted with icing sugar, its sweet-savoury balance is unlike anything else in North African cooking. It is celebratory food, rarely made at home, and the truest test of a serious Fes kitchen.

Mrouzia is a braised lamb shoulder with smen (a pungent aged butter), honey, almonds and a deep spice blend. It is traditionally eaten at Eid al-Adha but turns up on good Fassi menus year-round. The sweetness is more restrained than it sounds; the smen lends a depth no other Moroccan dish quite reaches.

Mechoui — whole or half lamb slow-roasted in a clay oven until the meat slips from the bone — is served from dedicated mechoui cellars in the medina, usually in the afternoon before the evening cut. You buy by weight, eat with your hands and cumin salt, and drink cold water. It is one of the most satisfying meals in Morocco. Our guides know exactly where to go.

The medina's grills and snack carts come alive from late afternoon and run into the night, clustered near the Blue Gate at Bab Boujloud and around R'cif. The scene is unhurried rather than theatrical: charcoal smoke, vendors calling softly, trays of raw kefta, merguez and brochettes. Ordered directly and at an agreed price, the food is genuinely good. Grilledkefta (minced lamb with parsley and cumin) with flatbread and harissa is the benchmark order.

Skip the set tourist menus waved at arriving visitors; the per-item prices are consistently fair if you say exactly what you want. Snail soup (ladled from steaming cauldrons, a Fassi favourite against the winter cold) and makouda (potato fritters) are the local quick snacks — cheap, filling and worth trying.

The best sit-down restaurants in Fes el-Bali sit along Talaa Kebira, around the Bou Inania medersa and on the rooftop terraces tucked into the lanes off the main artery. Look for places that do not paper the doorway with photo menus — that is usually a sign of a kitchen confident in its food rather than reliant on passing tourists.

The riad dinner is a different experience entirely. Many Fes riads offer a set evening meal cooked by the house team — often not a chef but a woman from the neighbourhood who has cooked these dishes her whole life. The result frequently outshines any restaurant: properharira, couscous rolled by hand, and a tagine that has been simmering since noon. Always book in advance. We include riad dinners in all private itineraries.

Bread in Morocco is a staple treated with real respect — a leftover loaf is never binned but set on a ledge for whoever needs it. The medina's communal ferran (wood-fired oven) still bakes the morning dough that families carry in on boards; in Fes you can often follow the smell to one. Tourists rarely find these doors; your guide can take you.

Culinary argan oil — pressed from roasted argan nuts — has a deep, nutty flavour excellent on fresh bread or drizzled over couscous. The version to seek out is amlou: a thick paste of argan, almonds and honey, a Moroccan answer to peanut butter eaten at breakfast. Buy from a certified women's cooperative or a trusted grocer in the medina; quality from street sellers is variable.

Moroccan atay (mint tea) is gunpowder green tea steeped with fresh spearmint and a generous hand of sugar, poured from a height to aerate it. Accepting tea is a social act; turning it down in a private setting is mildly impolite. In a medina café a glass runs 5–10 MAD and buys you a table for as long as you like.

Juice stalls around Bab Boujloud and the medina gates press orange, pomegranate and mixed fruit for 8–15 MAD a glass — the orange is squeezed to order and exceptional. Morocco is largely dry; alcohol is served at tourist-facing restaurants and hotels but not in the local medina cafés. Read our full Fes destination guide.