Fès-Meknès is a region of north-central Morocco that holds two of the country's four imperial cities: Fès, home to the world's largest living medieval medina and the oldest university in continuous operation, and Meknès, the 17th-century capital of Sultan Moulay Ismail. Between and around them lie the Roman ruins of Volubilis, the holy hilltop town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, the cedar forests and lakes of the Middle Atlas around Ifrane and Azrou, and the cherry-growing towns of Sefrou and Bhalil.
Fès-Meknès cooking is widely regarded as the most refined in Morocco. Fassi cuisine grew out of centuries of court and merchant-family kitchens: sweet-savory pastilla (b'stilla) of pigeon or chicken with almonds and cinnamon, lamb tagines with prunes or quince, chicken with preserved lemon and olives, and slow-steamed couscous served on Fridays. Meknès adds the produce of the Saïs plain: olives, grapes and wine from the Meknès vineyards, and fine olive oil. In the Middle Atlas, Ifrane and Azrou serve grilled trout, lamb mechoui, fresh cheese and honey. Visitors will find three tiers of dining: street counters and tiny medina eateries (harira soup, sandwiches, grilled kefta, bissara), mid-range restaurants in restored riads and dars, and refined hotel and riad dining rooms where a Fassi set menu can run to five or six courses.
Must-try dishes
Iconic dishes that define Fès-Meknès.
Pastilla (Bastilla) of Pigeon or Chicken
Crisp warqa pastry layered with shredded pigeon or chicken, eggs and toasted almonds, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar. Fès is the dish's classic home.
Where to try: Darori Resto, Palais Amani, Palais Jamaï, Le Collier de la Colombe
Price: 90-160 MAD ($10-17)
Tagine of Lamb with Prunes and Almonds
Lamb slow-cooked with onion, honey and cinnamon until it falls from the bone, finished with caramelized prunes and toasted almonds.
Where to try: Darori Resto, Palais Amani, Dar Baraka, Restaurant Zitouna
Price: 80-140 MAD ($8.60-15)
Mechoui (Slow-Roasted Lamb)
Whole lamb or shoulder roasted for hours in a clay pit or oven and served with cumin and salt. Several riad restaurants need the order a day ahead.
Where to try: Ruined Garden (order a day ahead); mechoui counters around Place El Hedim, Meknès
Price: 120-250 MAD ($13-27)
Harira Soup
Tomato, lentil and chickpea soup with celery and fresh herbs, served with dates and chebakia pastry at sunset during Ramadan and as a cheap bowl all year.
Where to try: Small soup counters in Fès el-Bali; Place El Hedim, Meknès
Price: 5-15 MAD ($0.55-1.60)
Couscous with Seven Vegetables (Friday Couscous)
Steamed semolina topped with lamb or chicken, pumpkin, carrot, turnip, zucchini and chickpeas, traditionally the Friday family meal.
Where to try: Most traditional restaurants on Fridays; Le Collier de la Colombe, Palais Faraj
Price: 70-130 MAD ($7.50-14)
Camel Burger
A Fès-medina specialty made famous by Café Clock: camel meat patty in a sesame bun with chips.
Where to try: Café Clock, Talaa Kebira, Fès el-Bali
Price: 75-95 MAD ($8-10)
Grilled Trout (Truite)
Fresh Middle Atlas trout, pan-fried or grilled with lemon and herbs, a specialty of Azrou, Ifrane and the Oum Er-Rbia headwaters.
Where to try: Cafe-restaurants in Azrou; Ifrane hotel restaurants
Price: 70-120 MAD ($7.50-13)
Rfissa and Msemen
Rfissa is shredded msemen layered with chicken, lentils and fenugreek in a rich broth; msemen is the flaky griddle bread eaten at breakfast with honey.
Where to try: Home-style restaurants and morning stalls in Fès el-Bali and Meknès medina
Price: 10-90 MAD ($1.10-10)
Top restaurants
Handpicked picks for the best dining experiences.
Ruined Garden
Popular Fassi Moroccan restaurant in Fès-Meknès.
Known for: Walled-garden dining with reimagined Fassi street food and slow-roasted lamb
15 Derb Idrissy, Sidi Ahmed Chaoui, Fès el-Bali, Fès 30110
Nur Restaurant
Popular New Moroccan restaurant in Fès-Meknès.
Known for: Contemporary Moroccan tasting menus by a chef trained in modern European kitchens
7 Zkak Rouah, Fès el-Bali, Fès 30110
Palais Amani Restaurant
Popular Modern Moroccan restaurant in Fès-Meknès.
Known for: Modern Moroccan cooking in a palace-style courtyard with occasional guest-chef pop-ups
12 Derb El Miter, Fès el-Bali, Fès 30000
Restaurants by cuisine
Browse picks grouped by cuisine type.
Moroccan
Palais Jamaï Restaurant
Known for: Historic 19th-century palace hotel dining with Andalusian gardens and a licensed bar
Palais Jamaï, Bab Guissa, Fès el-Bali, Fès 30000
Restaurant Dar Baraka
Known for: Home-cooked Meknès meals in a family house, popular with budget travelers
5 Rue Moulay Abdellah ben Ahmed, Medina, Meknès 50000
Restaurant Traditionnel Zitouna
Known for: Rooftop terrace restaurant in the medina with views over the rooftops of Meknès
44 Rue Jamaa Zitouna, Medina, Meknès 50000
Scorpion House Restaurant
Known for: Hillside house serving a generous buffet with views of the holy town and Volubilis plain
Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, high on the Tazga hillside, Moulay Idriss 50400
Restaurant of the Hôtel des Perce-Neige
Known for: Long-standing Ifrane hotel restaurant with a good reputation for quality alpine-style cooking
Hôtel des Perce-Neige, Ifrane 53000
French
Restaurant Vittorio
Known for: Long-established Italian and French restaurant in the Ville Nouvelle with a licensed bar
21 Rue Brahim Roudani, Ville Nouvelle, Fès 30000
International Bakery Cafe
International Cafe
Mexican
Nacho Mama Burrito House
Known for: Quick, inexpensive change from tagine with vegetarian-friendly burritos
30 Kantarat Borrouss, Rue Talaa Kebira, Fès el-Bali, Fès 30000
Food tours & tastings in Fès-Meknès
Eat your way through Fès-Meknès with a guide.
Browse food experiences in Fès-MeknèsWe may earn a commission from bookings made through these links.
Street food
Local flavours at affordable prices.
Bissara and Harira Counters
Bowls of thick fava-bean soup (bissara) with olive oil and cumin, a standard cheap breakfast in Fès el-Bali alleys.
Find it at: Around Bab Bou Jeloud and Talaa Kebira, Fès el-Bali
Grilled Kefta and Liver Sandwiches
Spiced minced-beef skewers or lamb liver wrapped in lamb fat, grilled over charcoal and tucked into bread with onion, tomato and cumin.
Find it at: Place R'cif and the lanes near Bab Bou Jeloud, Fès el-Bali
Snail Soup (Babbouche)
Small snails simmered in a licorice and spice broth and sold in cups in the evening, a medina street tradition.
Find it at: Street carts around Bab Bou Jeloud, Fès, and Place El Hedim, Meknès
Msemen and Baghrir Stalls
Griddle pancakes served warm with honey, butter or argan-and-almond spread, sold from small counters in the morning.
Find it at: Medina lanes in Fès el-Bali and around Bab Mansour, Meknès
Fried Fish and Sardine Sandwiches
Chermoula-marinated sardines and whiting fried to order and served in bread, a staple of Fès el-Jdid and Meknès snack counters.
Find it at: Fès el-Jdid and Place El Hedim food stalls, Meknès
Fresh Orange Juice Carts
Freshly squeezed orange juice sold from carts for a few dirhams, the cheapest refreshment in every town of the region.
Find it at: Place Mohammed V area and Bab Bou Jeloud, Fès; Place El Hedim, Meknès; Ifrane town centre
Food markets
Where locals shop and graze.
Place El Hedim Food Stalls and Covered Market, Meknès
The big square at the heart of the Meknès medina, facing Bab Mansour, is lined with cafés and grill stalls. A large covered food market behind it sells olives, preserved lemons, spices, dates and fresh produce.
Hours: Daily roughly 8AM-8PM; stalls busiest from late afternoon
Fès el-Bali Spice and Olive Souks (Talaa Kebira and Talaa Sghira)
The two main medina arteries have rows of spice sellers, olive and preserved-lemon merchants, dried-fruit stalls, butchers and bakers selling to local households.
Hours: Daily approx. 8AM-7PM; many stalls close on Friday midday
Place Seffarine and Souk Henna Area, Fès el-Bali
Quieter market lanes near the coppersmiths' square, with henna, herbs and dried goods for locals rather than tour groups.
Hours: Daily approx. 9AM-6PM
Marché Central and Ville Nouvelle Markets, Fès
Neighbourhood food markets in the modern Fès Ville Nouvelle with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and dairy at fixed local prices.
Hours: Daily approx. 8AM-1PM and 4PM-7PM (closed Sunday afternoon)
Azrou Weekly Souk
Mid-Atlas weekly market where farmers sell cheese, honey, walnuts, apples, cherries in season, and cedar-country produce.
Hours: Tuesday market day, approx. 7AM-3PM
Dining etiquette & tips
Navigate the local food scene confidently.
Dinner at riad restaurants in Fès el-Bali (Nur, Dar Roumana, Ruined Garden, Palais Amani) is by reservation. Message or call a day or more ahead, and for mechoui at Ruined Garden order a day in advance.
Most medina restaurants are hard to find in the lanes. Ask the restaurant to send a staff member to meet visitors at Bab Bou Jeloud or at a named landmark, or save the pin on an offline map before arriving.
Alcohol is not served at most traditional restaurants. Licensed venues include hotel restaurants (Palais Jamaï, Sahrai), Le Jardin des Biehn, Le Collier de la Colombe in Meknès, and several Ville Nouvelle restaurants.
Menu prices are fixed and not negotiable. A tip of 10 percent is customary in sit-down restaurants; in cheap eateries rounding up by 5 to 10 MAD is normal.
During Ramadan many local restaurants close during the day and fill after sunset (iftar). Hotel and tourist restaurants stay open but check hours in advance.
Tap water is not recommended. Order sealed bottled water (about 6-10 MAD) and avoid ice in small street stalls.
Eat from the shared plate with bread or the right hand at home-style places; cutlery is always provided at tourist restaurants.
Friday lunch is traditionally couscous day and many family-run restaurants prepare it only on Fridays, so ask when ordering.
In Ifrane and Azrou summers are mild and terraces are open, but winter nights are cold and snow is possible, so choose restaurants with indoor fireplaces from December to February.
- Vegetarian
- Widely available: vegetable tagines, vegetable couscous, zaalouk (eggplant salad), taktouka (tomato and pepper), bissara and mixed Moroccan salads. State 'sans viande' clearly, because broths and couscous are often cooked with meat stock.
- Vegan
- Possible at mid-range riad restaurants such as Café Clock, Nur and Dar Roumana with notice. Street food is mostly vegan-friendly only for bread, olives, zaalouk and fruit.
- Halal
- The default across virtually every restaurant; pork is rare and found only in a few licensed Ville Nouvelle and hotel venues.
- Gluten free
- Limited awareness. Grilled meat, salads and tagines without bread are usually safe; couscous, pastilla and msemen contain wheat. Mention 'sans gluten' (French) when ordering.
- Allergies
- Almonds, sesame, peanuts and argan appear widely in sauces, pastries and spreads. Staff at riad restaurants in Fès can usually adapt dishes with advance notice.
Food budget guide
What to expect at different price points.
| Level | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | 25-70 MAD ($2.70-7.50) per meal | Street sandwiches, bissara and harira counters, msemen breakfasts, and small canteen-style eateries in Fès el-Bali and Place El Hedim, Meknès |
| Mid-range | 100-250 MAD ($11-27) per meal | Restaurants in restored riads and dars in Fès and Meknès with a la carte tagines, pastilla and set menus |
| Upscale | 350-700 MAD ($38-76) per meal | Hotel and palace dining rooms such as Palais Jamaï and Amaraz at Hotel Sahrai, tasting menus at Nur, and multi-course Fassi set dinners with wine |