How-to guide
How to Eat Your Way Through Fes
Fes is widely considered Morocco's culinary capital — its imperial kitchens refined the dishes that define Moroccan haute cuisine, and Fassi cooking is famously rich, layered and labour-intensive. Eating well here means navigating the vast medina, knowing the local specialities, and mixing street snacks with at least one proper Fassi feast. This guide maps a few days of eating through Fes.
About 2 to 3 days of eating
Step by step
- 1
Start with a Fassi breakfast
Begin with besara (a warming broad-bean or split-pea soup) from a medina stall on a cool morning, or msemen and harcha with local honey and mint tea. The medina's breakfast stalls near the main streets set you up for a day of walking and eating.
- 2
Seek out the great Fassi pastilla
Fes is the home of pastilla, the sweet-savoury pigeon (or chicken) pie in crisp warqa dusted with cinnamon and sugar. A well-made Fassi pastilla is a highlight of Moroccan cuisine — worth booking a proper riad restaurant or palace dining room for.
- 3
Graze the medina's street food
Between meals, work through the medina's snacks: maakouda (fried potato cakes) in bread, sardines, snails (babbouche) in their spiced broth, freshly fried sfenj doughnuts, and nougat and dried fruit from the specialist souks. Follow the busiest stalls.
- 4
Have one proper Fassi dinner
Set aside an evening for a full traditional dinner — harira, a rich tagine or a couscous, pastilla, and a parade of cooked salads — in a restored riad or dar. Fassi home-style cooking is the peak of the cuisine, so this is where to splurge.
- 5
Finish with sweets and tea
Round off with Fassi pastries — almond briouats, kaab el ghzal (gazelle horns), chebakia in season — and mint tea. The dried-fruit and nut sellers of the medina are also the place to buy sweets to take away.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Eating only in the tourist-facing restaurants by the main gates rather than seeking out real Fassi cooking.
- Missing pastilla, the dish Fes is most famous for.
- Trying to see and eat everything in a rush instead of pacing over a couple of days.
- Overlooking the medina's street snacks in favour of only sit-down meals.
Tips from the kitchen
- Book ahead for a proper Fassi feast in a restored riad — the best ones fill up.
- Fes is the birthplace of pastilla; make it a priority.
- Besara soup is the classic cheap, warming medina breakfast.
- The specialist nut and dried-fruit souks are the place to buy sweets to take home.
Questions
What food is Fes famous for?
Fes is Morocco's culinary capital, famous above all for pastilla, its rich Fassi harira, refined tagines and elaborate sweet-savoury cooking. Its imperial kitchens shaped much of what's considered Moroccan haute cuisine.
Where should I eat in the Fes medina?
Mix medina street stalls (besara, maakouda, sfenj, snails) for daytime grazing with at least one proper dinner in a restored riad or dar restaurant for a full Fassi feast. Avoid eating only at the gate-side tourist spots.
Is Fes good for street food?
Yes. The medina is full of snacks — fried potato cakes, sardines, snails in spiced broth, sfenj doughnuts, nougat and dried fruit. Follow the busiest stalls for the freshest and best.
Learn it hands-on in Marrakech
Reading is one thing; doing it beside a local host is another. Book a Marrakech cooking class, or explore the medina on a guided food tour.