Cook

One of the best restaurants in Brussels unveils a new address in the capital

7 3 minutes read

The idea of the century

If there is ONE address that is unanimously appreciated in the Belgian food landscape, it is My Tannour. The concept launched by chef and entrepreneur Georges Badghi Sar, of Lebanese and Armenian origin, grew up in Syria and began fiddling with the stove at the age of 11 in his mother’s restaurant. He perfected his skills with the biggest, including Comme chez Soi, before launching his first concept which we now find everywhere but which we saw nowhere at the time: high-end organic sandwiches that look like durums. In 2018, the first My Tannour was created, named after the bread oven found everywhere in the Middle East for baking unleavened bread pancakes.

Mallory Gabsi’s secret to perfect fries:

The concept was an immediate success. We line up at noon as well as in the evening. The address attracts day tourists as well as workers and local residents who quickly become regulars. Above all, it remains one of the rare places in the capital where you can eat extremely well for almost nothing. And the address has succeeded in maintaining this philosophy over the years. It can now be found in Saint-Gilles, Merode, Wolf, and most recently… at the Ixelles Cemetery. The new storefront was just recently unveiled during the month of August and, guess what? It has already been run.

A 5th restaurant

For this umpteenth address, My Tannour decided to see things a little differently, so as not to offer exactly the same product despite a well-established guideline. In the program ? New menu items, new branding, new interior design. We’re going from a “snack” address offering ultra-quality products to a real casual street food restaurant. You can sit down, whether inside or on the terrace, and benefit from a real restaurant experience. The decor mixes oriental codes, but with a hyper contemporary twist: tags and drawings on the walls, small wooden tables and chairs and oriental rugs superimposed to give benches and poufs with a pleasantly disconcerting look. In the middle of the room sits an imposing olive tree (a fake, but it looks great, don’t worry).

On the menu, we find the brand’s great classics such as breads and platters (lamb, chicken or beef smoked with spices), their authentic falafels and their legendary spicy fries. But also great new products that can only be found on site. We will mention the Mushroom Shawarma, spicy and hand-pulled oyster mushrooms, but also the Kofta Hash (lamb and ground beef with Middle Eastern herbs).

For vegetarians, there is also Syrian cheese called Msanarah (cow’s milk cheese and nigella seeds). To top it all off, we’re testing their new drinks which are also coming to the menu: Slushys with Middle Eastern flavors. Slushies are these mixtures of fruit, water, ice and sugar that come straight from the United States. We opt for their orientalized versions, two flavors are possible: cardamom coffee & almond milk or Tahini & date syrup.

For those who simply want to taste one of their timeless classics, there is the famous “Syrian platter” at €15.90 for two people. This results in a super generous platter that allows you to taste everything: hummus, moutabal (bread, grilled eggplant, tahini), falabels, msanarah and grilled vegetables with garlic cream and sesame cream sauces to die for. It’s exquisite in taste, it costs nothing and you can enjoy the pleasure of eating with your fingers thanks to their generous slices of pita bread. To change from the traditional can of soft drink, order an Ayran. This Turkish drink based on fermented milk or yogurt born in Turkey is particularly popular in the Mediterranean basin for its surprising salty taste and its highly digestible character.