Travel Guide: A weekend of Eating in Tunis

What I ate, where I ate it and why you should absolutely visit - if only for the food

Kalimera from a grey and drizzly Athens,

In this week’s newsletter I feel compelled to take you all on a journey with me to Tunis. The capital of Tunisia and where I flew directly into from Athens just over a week ago, Tunis is a revelation. It’s a bustling, chaotic city, very much like my own but feels foreign enough to be an adventure - especially of the culinary kind.

I spent four days in the city - based in the pretty coastal suburb of La Marsa - cooking with grandmothers, strolling the streets of Arabesque architecture, exploring markets and dining out to discover a real taste of Tunis. I brought back an enormous branch of dates, what my man describes as a ‘vat’ of harissa and essential spices to recreate the flavours I fell in love with on my trip. Since then, I’ve been obsessed with all that I learned in Tunis and have made the recipes I cooked with the grandmothers there on multiple occasions.

I felt so welcomed in Tunisia, in a way that felt distinctly Mediterranean. It was another place on this year-long odyssey of cooking with grandmothers in which I had no idea what I would find but when I did get there, the red carpet was rolled out. The people that hosted me really welcomed me into their homes. Even the hotel I stayed at invited the entire family over and held a feast in my honour.

I can’t wait to share these dishes with you in my new book, Mediterranea, but as a precursor, I’ll give you my hot tips on where to eat and stay in Tunis. If you’re considering a city break before Christmas or in the early part of 2025, I can’t recommend this vibrant, soulful city enough.

I had few expectations of Tunisia. The only other north African country I’ve travelled to is Morocco and I have been told a number of times, in exasperated outbursts by Tunisian friends, “It’s not like Morocco!”

Now that I’ve been, I would agree with them. It’s relatively undiscovered in relation to Morocco and between these two countries is the largest country in northern Africa: Algeria. Tunisia is a world away, in many senses. The thing that first struck me was how relaxed people are. Even in the medina or at carpet shops, in which I’d usually expect to be hounded, I was left completely alone. I spent an entire twenty minutes completely unbothered, leafing through beautiful handpainted scenes in home-made wooden frames at one carpet shop in the village of Sidi Bou Said. The lovely man whose shop it was only spoke to me once I asked him the price and even then, told me he’d leave me to browse at my own leisure and went back to reading his book with a smile and a nod. After about an hour of lingering, debating and calling up my man to decide on a rug, I bought an incredible rug from him and he threw in the framed paintings that I was looking at as a gift. I’m sharing his details in my guide, below.

The food in Tunis also surprised me. It felt a lot more Mediterranean than the food I’ve eaten in Morocco. Arabs, Ottomans, Spanish, French - they all passed through Tunis and had a profound effect on how people eat. I was surprised to find that many Italians moved to Tunis in the 1800s, so pasta features frequently on Tunisian tables. Of course, harissa - a hot, chilli pepper paste that is often smoked - is a key ingredient and featured in almost all of the recipes I made with the matriarchs I cooked with in Tunis last week. The biggest revelation to me was Lablebi, an incredible, spiced chickpea stew that is served atop of dry bread (as a means of using up old bread) and topped with capers, a boiled egg, tuna and of course, harissa. It’s hearty and has a kick to it - a real soulful, winter dish.

Below, for my paid subscribers, I’m sharing a list of secret spots shared with me by locals to Tunis. It’s places to eat but be aware that most locals will say that the best food you can try in Tunis is not in new, fancy restaurants, it’s in the old, established eateries and within people’s homes. The best way to visit Tunis is with a local and of course, having an invite to lunch at someone’s house is an incredible thing but without that, you can still have the amazing, immersive experience that I did in this lively city.

A guide to Tunis: Where to eat, stay and play in the Tunisian Capital

This guide is full of tried and tested spots that made my trip to Tunis memorable. From food markets to sandwich shops and tips on where to explore and stay, this is how to spend a full and happy weekend in the bright and bustling Tunis.