Dar Hatim

Dar Hatim is a family house converted into a restaurant at 19 Derb Zaouia in the Fondouk Lihoudi quarter of Fès el-Bali, the medina of Fez in Morocco's Fès-Meknès region. The cuisine is traditional Moroccan home cooking, and the setting is a private home rather than a purpose-built dining room, so the experience feels closer to being a guest at a family table than visiting a commercial restaurant. Instead of a long a la carte list, the restaurant offers a short choice of set menus, which keeps decisions simple and lets the kitchen cook each dish to order. Typical orders include pastilla, the layered pastry that balances sweet and savoury flavours, tagines of meat or chicken with preserved lemon, olives or prunes depending on the recipe, and couscous. The pricing is modest, usually under MAD 200 per person (about $22), which makes it one of the better-value sit-down meals in the quarter. Listing data gives opening hours of roughly 12pm to 10:30pm daily, but these are unconfirmed and should be checked by phone. The dining atmosphere is homely, quiet and informal, with no dress code beyond ordinary modest clothing, and the pace is unhurried. Beverage choices are likely to be limited, and visitors who want alcohol should ask in advance rather than assume it is available. Reservations are recommended, particularly for dinner and for groups, because a small house has limited seating; the restaurant can be reached on +212 666 525 323, and a second listed number is +212 535 637 836, though both should be confirmed before relying on them. Fondouk Lihoudi sits in the northern part of the medina, away from the busiest tourist lanes around Talaa Kebira, so the walk in is quieter but can be hard to navigate, and visitors may wish to ask the staff for directions or meet a guide at a nearby landmark. Allow extra time on the first visit to find the door.