Best Medina Restaurants in Fes — Where to Eat Inside Fes el-Bali

The Fes el-Bali medina offers three broad kinds of table. The first is the rooftop terrace, often above the Chouara tanneries, where the draw is the view over the dye pits and the packed medina rooftops as much as the food — expect solid tagines, couscous and salads at tourist-facing prices. The second is the courtyard restaurant, a restored dar serving a fuller Fassi menu in an atmospheric tiled setting. The third, and best value, is the working lunch canteen where locals eat a daily tagine, harira and bread.

To eat well, step away from the immediate crowd at Bab Bou Jeloud, where menus are printed in five languages and quality dips. Head instead toward Place Seffarine, the Qarawiyyin quarter and the smaller lanes, where the ratio of Fassi diners to tourists rises and the cooking sharpens. A reliable strategy is to eat your main meal at lunch, when canteens are cooking fresh, and save the rooftops for a mid-afternoon mint tea and a view.

Because the medina is a genuine maze, note your restaurant's nearest landmark — a gate, a fountain, a square — rather than trusting a street name, as many lanes are unmarked. Local children and shopkeepers will point you toward well-known eateries. Order the day's tagine, a bowl of harira, a plate of seasonal salads and bread, and you will eat honestly for a fraction of a rooftop set menu.