Tunis Restaurants

After our failure to have a fine dining in Sidi Bou Said (one restaurant fully reserved the other closed), we returned back to Tunis and we went to Andalous restaurant located just off Av. Bourguiba. as mentioned in my guide book, it's a dim lit restaurant.
As the main dining area was crowded, we were directed to small patio even darker where we were all alone...
Service was a bit slow but they were kind and helpful. We had fish plus some extras. I can't say I was thrilled neither by the portion size nor by the cuisine and having paid 70TD (almost 40 euros) for 2 people (no wine, just 2 beers) I consider it expensive and not great value.
Price for a grilled fish (medium size): 18TD

Au Bon Vieux Temps has a delightful location in Sidi Bou Said, with views looking out over the Gulf of Tunis. Unfortunately, the food and service cannot be recommended. On a recent visit, my friend and I ordered main courses of lamb couscous and fish with preserved lemons, as well as a starter salad of greens, cheese, and walnuts. All three items were of mediocre quality: underseasoned and boring. If you are in the mood for similar Tunisian food, I would recommend instead going to one of the cheap restaurants in downtown Tunis, where the food is one-quarter of the price and of similar quality. Better yet, make friends with locals and eat with them, or make your own food in a rented apartment. The quality of local produce in Tunis is excellent, though restaurant food is almost universally disappointing.

Try some sweets from the street vendors in Tunis if you're peckish - jalabies and burfi are good. The first one I had was pretty good. The second one I had was covered in hairs and wasn't so good... it's hit and miss!

Located to the north of Ave Habib Bourguiba, this is a lovely large place that is well priced. I had a briq chevrettes (prawn crispy pancake filled with an egg) for starter and great 2 thin long pieces of veal for main course at TD12. Service was good but I had to wait a while for the veal to arrive. Beer is TD2.300. This place is popular with businessman whose mobile phones ring every 5 minutes! Good option.

I came here and entered upstairs where there was live music and singing going on and the place was packed. Managed to find a table where a guy near me (who was rather intoxicated with beer) nearly caused a fight by dancing with someone else's wife! Great start to a meal! But after about 15 minutes the music stopped and a lot of people left including the intoxicated guy and the atmosphere changed for the better. I ordered a pizza followed by profiteroles which was great with good service. The band started playing again so this helped with the atmosphere.

Ave Habib Bourguiba is Tunis' answer to Paris' Champs Elysees and like its more famous French cousin, is lined with several cafe where the locals sit out under unbrellas at all times of the day and people watch. A cafe aux lait varies in price rather dramatically depending on which cafe you plumb for. For example it costs TD1.200 at the Cafe de Paris and a rather expensive TD2.500 at the El Hana International whilst only costing 900 mills at a cafe opposite the 5-star Africa Hotel.

This restaurant is well located along Ave Habib Bourguiba and, indeed, you get a good view of the road from its high vantage point. I settled on the set menu at just TD5.800 which had salads and Hors d'oeuvres for starters, cous-cous, chicken and other meat dishes for mains. I had a salad followed by steak Dinine (turkey) which was a slab of thinly cut meat with fries. The food and general atmosphere are cheap so don't expect anything fancy. This place is ideal if on a budget and so the food reflected this.

This small restaurant is located a couple of blocks south of Ave Habib Bourguiba on Rue de Yougoslavie near Place Barcelone which lies outside the main train station. I looked at a couple of restaurants along this road which were rather smokey affairs before settling on this one. This was quiet with no smoke and is well priced with some good food and service. Alcohol is also served. Good option.