Fez is Morocco's most intense city – but the best way to experience it is through its food. Founded in the 9th century, Fez is one of Morocco's oldest cities and has always had top-class culinary credentials. The local Fassi cuisine, a blend of Arab, Berber, Andalusian, and Jewish traditions, is known for its complex spices, sweet-savoury combinations, and slow, precise cooking. As tourism grows, Fez is slowly becoming known as the country's finest food destination.
The Hotel Hidden Behind a Door
I stayed inside the medina at Palais Amani, a restored 17th-century palace now operating as a boutique hotel known for serving some of the best food in town. With just 21 rooms, it avoids the vibe of a big luxury property dropped awkwardly into an old city. My room overlooked the courtyard below, with blue tiles, lush greenery, and a fountain running through the day.
Food at the Hotel
Breakfast is not the usual hotel buffet affair. Served in the hotel's restaurant, Eden, it arrives as a full table experience: fava bean soup, fresh breads, savoury pastries, olives, jams, honey, and olive oil. It's a serious amount of food – enough that lunch is not even a consideration. Come evening, the restaurant shifts into dinner service. The menu is short and traditional, featuring briouats filled with seafood, meat or vegetables; chicken and almond pastilla; tajines; seven-vegetable couscous; and fish dishes such as sea bass or sea bream cooked Fassi-style. It is rich food, but not heavy for the sake of it, with that distinct Moroccan balance of sweet, savoury, and spice.
The Best Way to Understand Fez? Cook It
Eating well in Fez is easy, but understanding how the food reaches the table takes more effort. The hotel's cookery school offers a class that involves shopping for ingredients in the medina. Loubna, the hotel's experience coordinator, leads the way through the alleys with confidence, showing where to stop, what to look for, and which ingredients matter. One stop takes us to a small tea shop run by Sidi Abdullah, known locally as the Tea Man of Fez. His shop has been open since 1969, and he lays out herbs with quiet precision: geranium, sage, sheeba, verbena, common mint, spearmint, peppermint, and marjoram.
Back at the hotel, the cooking school takes place in a large open-plan kitchen on the top floor, overlooking the city, with chef Oussama guiding us through each stage. I made a vegetable tagine, which sounds simple until you are suddenly very aware that you are cooking a Moroccan dish in Morocco while being watched by people who know exactly what it should taste like. The class is hands-on and informal, with enough guidance to stop you ruining dinner but enough space to feel as though you had made it yourself. Later, the finished tagine is served in the restaurant. There are more polished dining experiences, but few as satisfying as eating something you have just made, especially when it began with ingredients chosen in the medina that morning. The cooking experience costs €176 for two people, including ingredients and the souk visit, with larger group options available.
The Verdict
Fez is not the obvious choice for a city break. It can be confusing, noisy, and at times, claustrophobic. You need patience, decent shoes, and a willingness to accept that you will get lost, at least once. But it is also one of the most memorable places I have visited. For travellers interested in food, the appeal is in seeing how closely it is tied to the city itself – its markets, ingredients, family-run kitchens, and the daily rhythm of the medina. And if you find the right door to step through, it might be one of Morocco’s most rewarding food breaks.
Fez at a Glance
- Time: Morocco operates on GMT+1
- Weather: Fez experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate with strong continental influences, featuring average highs ranging from 17°C in winter to over 37°C in the peak of summer.
- Adaptors: Type C & E (European two-pin plugs)
- Currency: The local currency is the Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
- Visas: No visa required for UK passport holders for stays up to 90 days
- Check in / check out: 3pm / 12pm
- Disability access: Six ground floor rooms and lift access for all floors and terrace.
- Standout feature: Palais Amani’s large central garden courtyard and rooftop terrace overlooking the Fes medina
- Perfect for: Culture-focused city breaks, architecture lovers, travellers wanting a tranquil medina escape
- Not right for: Small children, very much adult-focused
