Best Restaurants in Fez (2026): Where to Eat in Morocco's Culinary Capital

Fez is the culinary capital of Morocco, and the one imperial city where the food is still built on a distinct regional tradition rather than a tourist menu. Fassi cooking — the kitchen of the old Fez bourgeoisie, layered with Andalusian, Jewish, Berber and French influence — gave Morocco its most elaborate dishes: pastilla, rfissa, lamb m'hamer, seven-vegetable couscous. That heritage now sits alongside a genuinely modern fine-dining scene inside the medina walls. This guide covers the best restaurants in Fez for 2026, from a 10-course tasting menu improvised from the morning market to a family dining room with no sign on the door.

Where to eat by area

Fes el-Bali (the old medina) holds almost every restaurant worth crossing the city for. It is entirely car-free, so you arrive on foot and most riad restaurants will send someone to walk you in. Around Bab Bou Jeloud and Talaa Kebira — the Blue Gate and the main artery below it — you'll find the casual, all-day places. Batha and Aïn Azliten, the upper medina, concentrate the riad fine-dining tables. Bab Ziat, on the southern edge, is where the medina meets a road, so it's the easiest fine-dining area to reach by taxi. The Ville Nouvelle, the French-built new town, is where you go for a licensed bar and a European dining room.

1. Nur

Nur is the most ambitious restaurant in Fez. Chef Najat Kaanache — a Moroccan chef who trained at El Bulli, Noma, Alinea, Per Se and The French Laundry — opened it in Fes el-Bali in 2016, and serves an improvised tasting menu of around 10 courses built each morning from that day's market produce. There is no à la carte, dinner runs roughly 2.5 hours, and bookings are pre-paid through Tock. Dietary requirements can be accommodated if you flag them when you book.

2. Gayza at Riad Fès

Riad Fès is a Relais & Châteaux property in the Ziat quarter whose restaurant, Gayza, holds a 2025 MICHELIN Key. The kitchen is led by Chef Michel Nave, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France and former sous-chef to Pierre Gagnaire, working alongside Chef Abida, who has run the Fassi side of the kitchen for over twenty years. The hotel's rooftop is the highest point in the medina, with views across the imperial city to the Tghat and Zalagh mountains. Lunch runs 12:15–13:45 and dinner 19:15–22:45, with rooftop tapas and bar service from 14:00 to 23:00.

3. Restaurant Numéro 7

Restaurant Numéro 7 occupies the ground floor of Riad 9, an 18th-century house at 7 Zkak Rouah, and runs on a chefs-in-residence model: visiting international cooks move in for one to four months and reinterpret Moroccan markets through their own tradition. Jerome Waag of Chez Panisse opened the programme. The format is a 4–5 course prix fixe at around 350–400 MAD, written on a blackboard and rebuilt daily around market produce. Check the restaurant's site before you travel — it closes between residencies.

4. The Ruined Garden

The Ruined Garden is the most atmospheric table in the medina: a roofless, plant-filled ruin beside Riad Idrissy, bought in 2006 by John Twomey and restored over four years. The kitchen cooks modern Moroccan food from Fes souk produce and herbs grown on site, and every Friday Fatima and her team hand-roll couscous in front of guests. It's open daily 13:00–21:30 and serves no alcohol. The seven-hour lamb mechoui and the pigeon b'stilla both need ordering in advance.

5. Dar Roumana

Dar Roumana serves Franco-Moroccan fine dining in a restored 19th-century riad near Aïn Azliten. Head chef Younes Idrissi writes a new fixed-price menu every day from produce bought fresh in the medina markets — around 330 MAD for two courses, 440 MAD for three. There are only about five tables a night, dinner service starts at 7pm and there's no lunch, so reservations are essential. Because the riad sits deep in the pedestrian medina, the restaurant sends a porter to escort non-resident diners to the door.

6. Ishq

Ishq opened in 2023 at the Aïn Azliten entrance to Fes el-Bali and is the medina's most striking new dining room — a restored riad redesigned by architect Mounia Chaouni around a glass-covered atrium rising through three visible floors. Franco-Cameroonian chef Pierre Siewe leads the fusion side of the menu while Dada Rachida oversees traditional Moroccan cooking. Dishes have included black couscous with caramelised pears and beef, poached fish with Sichuan pepper, and lamb shoulder Marengo. It's one of the few restaurants in the medina serving wine, and it's easy to reach by taxi.

7. L'Amandier at Palais Faraj

L'Amandier is the rooftop restaurant of Palais Faraj Suites & Spa at Bab Ziat, on the southern edge of Fes el-Bali, with a panoramic terrace over the UNESCO-listed medina and a lift to the top floor. Chef de Cuisine Mohammed Achoual cooks refined Fassi dishes — rfissa with farm cockerel, dafina, couscous with seven vegetables and t'faya — alongside Mediterranean plates like grilled octopus with celeriac. It's open daily 12:00–22:00, and the adjacent Golden Bar runs cocktails and live jazz from 7pm to midnight.

8. Eden at Palais Amani

Eden is the restaurant of Palais Amani at 12 Derb El Miter, Oued Zhoune, the largest original luxury riad in the Fez medina and about ten minutes' walk from the Chouara tannery. You eat under mature citrus and olive trees in a classic Arab-Andalusian courtyard, or in the formal salon in winter. It's open to non-residents for breakfast 07:00–10:30, lunch 12:00–15:00 and dinner 19:30–22:30, and the library salon bar is one of the few proper bars in old Fez, pouring Moroccan wine and single malts.

9. La Maison Bleue

La Maison Bleue is the classic Fez riad dinner. The mansion was built in 1915 by Sidi Mohammed El Abbadi, a judge and astrologer, and is still run by his descendants, who cook traditional Fassi food from generational family recipes. Dinner is served banquet-style and candlelit, with live musicians playing Andalusian and Gnawa music — chicken and fish pastilla, beef tagine, vegetable couscous, and phyllo dessert with cream and orange-blossom water. It sits in the Aïn Azliten and Batha area near Bab Boujloud, with rooftop terraces and The Blue Lounge for cocktails.

10. Fez Café at Le Jardin des Biehn

Fez Café is the garden restaurant of Le Jardin des Biehn, set in the former summer palace of Pacha El Mokri in the Douh quarter. Chef Hicham Moufid, French-trained and a pastry chef besides, builds a daily-changing market menu from souk and garden produce, blending Moroccan tradition with French technique. Tables sit at the edge of an Andalusian garden, with a large rooftop terrace above. Lunch is 12:00–15:00 and dinner 19:30–22:00; it's closed on Thursdays and for the whole of July, and there's an Arab-Andalusian dinner-concert every Saturday.

11. Restaurant Dar Hatim

Dar Hatim is the closest most travellers get to a private Fassi home dinner: the same family has cooked here for around a century, in a building whose foundations go back to the 9th century, serving guests in their own tiled salon. There are three fixed three-course menus at roughly 220–300 MAD per person — Moroccan salads and bread, then pastilla fassia, steamed lamb or lamb m'hamer slow-roasted in honey and onions, then pastries and ice cream. There's no à la carte and no sign on the street: book at least a day ahead and the family will walk you over from Place R'cif or your riad. Vegetarian menus on request, and cash is preferred.

12. Café Clock

Café Clock is the medina's pioneer cultural café, opened in 2007 by former London restaurateur Mike Richardson (The Wolseley, The Ivy) inside a restored 250-year-old courtyard house at 7 Derb el Magana, off Talaa Kebira — about five minutes' walk from Bab Bou Jeloud, opposite the Bou Inania water clock the alley is named for. It's famous for a rose-spiced camel burger served with house tomato-and-cinnamon ketchup, and four floors wind up to a rooftop with a view of the Bou Inania minaret. The cultural programme runs Sunday-evening Houariyat drumming concerts, oud and calligraphy lessons, cooking workshops and film screenings.

13. Mezzanine

Mezzanine is a tapas bar, restaurant and lounge on Avenue Moulay El Hassan, between Fes el-Bali and Fes Jdid and a short walk from Bab Bou Jeloud, with a rooftop terrace facing the Jnan Sbil garden. It's one of very few licensed venues near the medina, serving cocktails, wine and beer alongside a menu of tapas, Mediterranean and Moroccan dishes. Evenings are lively and there's live music on weekends. Note that alcohol service may be suspended during Ramadan.

14. MB Restaurant Lounge

MB Restaurant Lounge is the Ville Nouvelle's fine-dining address, at 12 Rue Ahmed Chaouki opposite the Marriott Jnan Palace and a short taxi ride from the medina. Chef Thierry Vaissière cooks French food reworked with Moroccan spices, available à la carte or as tasting menus of around 450 MAD for three courses and 550 MAD for five. The two-level interior in grey natural stone is by architect Christophe Pillet, and there's a full bar and lounge.

Frequently asked questions

What food is Fez known for?

Fez is known for Fassi cuisine, the refined cooking tradition of the old Fez bourgeoisie, blending Arab, Andalusian, Jewish, Berber and French influences. Its signature dishes are pastilla — a sweet-savoury pigeon or chicken pie in phyllo, dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon — along with rfissa, lamb m'hamer slow-roasted in honey and onions, and couscous with seven vegetables and t'faya.

Which is the best fine-dining restaurant in Fez?

Nur and Gayza at Riad Fès are the two most acclaimed. Nur, opened in 2016 by El Bulli and Noma alumna Najat Kaanache, serves a roughly 10-course tasting menu improvised daily from the medina markets. Gayza, inside the Relais & Châteaux Riad Fès, holds a 2025 MICHELIN Key and is led by Meilleur Ouvrier de France Michel Nave, formerly sous-chef to Pierre Gagnaire.

Can you drink alcohol in the Fez medina?

Yes, but at only a handful of venues. Inside Fes el-Bali, Palais Amani, Fez Café at Le Jardin des Biehn, Ishq and Riad Fès all serve wine or spirits. Just outside the medina walls, Mezzanine on Avenue Moulay El Hassan and the Golden Bar at Palais Faraj are licensed. Many medina restaurants — including The Ruined Garden — serve no alcohol at all, and service may be suspended during Ramadan.

Do you need to book restaurants in Fez?

For the best tables, yes. Nur requires pre-paid booking through Tock. Dar Roumana has only about five tables a night. Restaurant Numéro 7 and Dar Hatim are both small and set-menu, and Dar Hatim asks for at least a day's notice so the family can shop and cook. Casual places like Café Clock and Mezzanine generally take walk-ins outside peak weeks.

How much does dinner cost in Fez?

A set-menu dinner at a family restaurant like Dar Hatim runs roughly 220–300 MAD per person. Mid-range riad tables such as Restaurant Numéro 7 sit around 350–400 MAD for a 4–5 course prix fixe, and Dar Roumana charges about 330 MAD for two courses or 440 MAD for three. At the top end, MB Restaurant Lounge's tasting menus are around 450 MAD for three courses and 550 MAD for five, and drinks are billed separately almost everywhere.

How do you find restaurants in the Fez medina?

Fes el-Bali is entirely car-free and mapping apps are unreliable inside it, so the practical answer is to let the restaurant guide you. Dar Roumana sends a complimentary porter to escort non-resident diners, The Ruined Garden's staff will meet you at Place de la Batha with notice, and the Dar Hatim family will collect you from Place R'cif or your riad. Taxis can reach the medina gates — Bab Bou Jeloud, Bab R'cif, Bab Ziat, Aïn Azliten — but not the alleys beyond them.

Fez rewards the traveller who eats slowly. Pair a long lunch with a guided walking tour of the Fes el-Bali medina to understand the city the food comes from, or spend a morning at a pottery and ceramic workshop learning the blue Fassi glaze your tagine is served on. Ready to plan the trip? Explore things to do in Fez and book with us — you pay the provider on the day, and our team confirms every reservation before you arrive.