4 Best Restaurants in Fez and the Middle Atlas, Morocco

This popular bistro-style café-cum-restaurant is set in the delightful oasis of Jardin des Biehn. The daily changing chalkboard menu reflects the Moroccan chef’s love of Gallic gastronomy, as he happily mixes Moroccan and French culinary influences, using fresh ingredients from the market and the owners’ organic garden. Feast on meat or fish; vegetarians are well catered to with delicious quiches, soups, and salads. Eat alfresco in the garden or on the rooftop under the sun and stars, or in the brightly colored interior room with lots of creative decorative touches, including nods to the Biehns’ Provençal roots.  Cooking classes with the chef are available upon request.

One of the city’s best fine-dining eateries is in the strikingly beautiful courtyard of hotel Dar Roumana, where Moroccan chef Youness Toumi creates two- and three-course fixed-price Mediterranean menus with a Moroccan twist. The menu makes the most of seasonal produce from top local producers in creative salads, such as figs with crispy pancetta, goat cheese, and date dressing, and a meat or fish dish like a perfectly cooked veal T-bone or panfried John Dory. Desserts are sumptuous, like vacherin and black cherries or Sephardic bitter orange and almond cake. There’s an excellent wine list too.

Tired of tagines? This light, bright, contemporary riad has been turned into a family- and vegetarian-friendly café-restaurant that serves up pasta dishes, fresh salads, and soups, as well as delicious French desserts like tarte tatin. Set down a winding derb off the Talaa K'bira (there are signs), it's a great place to take a well-earned break from pounding the pavement with a tea, coffee, or soda, as well as exotic local fruit juices, such as almond, avocado, and date on the roof terrace. There's Wi-Fi, too.

The menu of this lounge bar and restaurant features French-influenced fare such as magret de canard (duck breast) and sole meunière, and international favorites such as Caesar salad and hamburgers, backed up with an impressive wine list. One of the city’s most stylish eateries, the minimalist design channels industrial chic with rough-hewn stone walls, slate floors, and floor-to-ceiling windows, complemented by sleek contemporary furniture. Reservations are recommended.