Fondouk Bazaar — Restaurant in Fez

We stumbled upon Fondouk Bazaar while taking a stroll up Talaa el Kebira, being drawn to the casual/warm sort of look and spotting “creamy houmous” on their menu. We were disappointed trying out houmous elsewhere but figured we’d give this place a shot. We ordered just the houmous much to the bemusement of Yousuf, our waiter. Expecting something somewhat mediocre, we were pleasantly surprised by the look of the starter. The taste was different to what we know and were expecting, however it was interesting. Wondering if we’ve found ourself a little goldmine of flavour, we bet on two more starters, the crispy chicken and the Lebanese cigars, both of which were sublime to put it lightly.

What followed was almost a religious return to Fondouk Bazaar for each of the remaining 5 days we had in Fes. And each time, the food was just magical. The chefs know their flavours. And despite some of the tastes being subtle, the balance of flavour is just perfect. The cook itself is just right, akin to what you’d expect at a fine dining restaurant albeit without the high price tags nor fluff. We had about 50% of their menu over the course of 5 days and each dish was like a gift that kept on giving. We probably wouldn’t order the tagliatelle or the green shakshuka again (personal preference), but other than those two, we’d love to eat pretty much any other item on their menu.

We’re big foodies and have eaten in about 30 different countries. We’d easily rate Fondouk Bazaar as one of our favourites as an all rounder - flavour, ambience, price, consistency, and delight. Enjoy it while you can - these chefs are going...

The contemporary Moroccan-European menu at Fondouk was certainly appealing after one too many one-note tagines. Between the millefeuilles and confits and extensive "tapas" menu, it looked like we were in for a confident and nuanced meal. However the majority of the dishes we tried failed to match their billing.

The crispy fried chicken was actually a fairly muted schnitzel; its salsa brava was poorly balanced and overly sweet. Better were the flavours in the orange and saffron chicken . It was a classic chicken a l'orange but with the fragrant inflections of a tagine. But technique let the dish down: the orange segments weren't candied and the chicken was very overcooked. With the lamb chops, both flavours and techniques were askew. The millefeuille was not a millefeuille - more an undercooked potato stack. The lamb's fat hadn't been rendered at all making for a chewy, sinewy chop. And the flavour combinations didn't work either: the softness and delicateness of a millefeuille (even a bad one) just doesn't work with a pungent red harissa. The "melty" aubergine - the dish's highlight - packed a punch with its caper and olive garnish but it massively overpowered the underseasoned lamb.

All in all it was a fairly fun meal - the variety of flavours and the attempts at creative cooking made for a nice change to the typically traditional medina fare. But unfortunately nothing really wowed more than the menu. And without technique to match, in the end it was the overly ambitious menu that was...

A rare find serving more modern Moroccan-influenced food. We ordered 6 small dishes to share between 2, which was an OK amount of food. Fried cauliflower, chicken, and sunchokes were all tasty. Cauliflower and sunchokes (2 separate dishes) could both have benefitted from a new recipe to help keep the batter crispy for longer - they were soggy within a minute of being served. I would recommend increasing the starch to flour ratio and doing a 2nd fry after some of the moisture has evaporated. Schnitzel was nice but unremarkable. The inclusion of herbs in the dredging mix gave a weird green hue and didn't taste great. Aubergine and houmous were both fine, although with a very slight taste of sewage possibly coming from the olives (they weren't off, they just give a funk that isn't universally appreciated).

Prices were quite high if ordering starter + main but felt more reasonable doing 3 small plates each. Service was fine, friendly enough but not particularly attentive. The best thing about the place is the building itself, nicely renovated in a central location, a good way to get up off the cramped streets for an hour or two.

My overall feeling for this place was great idea, mediocre execution. There aren't enough places in Fes Medina serving more modern food made with the local ingredients. It has given me good ideas about cooking to use at home, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't anything more than a pleasant,...