Al Fassia is the archetype of the Fez palace restaurant experience — an enormous restored riad with painted cedar ceilings, zellige floors, and musicians playing gnaoua and Andalusian music in the central courtyard while you eat a five-course set menu. The format is always the same: salads, bastilla, tagine, couscous, pastries, mint tea. It is designed for groups and tourist circuits, and makes no apology for that.
The quality is actually solid — the kitchen is experienced, the ingredients good, the pastilla flaky and properly seasoned. The issue is the price, which is high by Moroccan standards and includes the whole theatrical package whether you want it or not. Worth doing once for the full spectacle; the food alone does not justify the price when Dar Roumana and similar restaurants do better cooking in a less produced setting.