Le Chargui — Tunisian / Traditional, Sidi Bou Said
Le Chargui occupies a restored village house in Sidi Bou Said's residential streets — the lanes away from the main tourist terrace where the village's actual life continues. It serves the community that lives here year-round alongside the visitors who find it through local recommendation.
The menu is the Tunis culinary tradition: ojja (eggs scrambled with merguez, tomato, and harissa), lablebi (chickpea soup with stale bread, capers, and harissa, served traditionally for breakfast), and the various tajines that differ entirely from the Moroccan version — Tunisian tajines are egg-based frittatas, not slow-cooked stews.
The Tunisian harissa here is the house-made variety — prepared daily from dried chillies, caraway, garlic, and coriander, with a character specific to this kitchen. It arrives as a condiment with every meal.
The restored blue-and-white interior — Sidi Bou Said's characteristic colour scheme applied to the furniture and fittings — creates an atmosphere that is both aesthetically specific and genuinely comfortable.
Best Occasion: Great for First Dates
The village restaurant away from the tourist terrace, with Tunisian home cooking that few visitors find. The lablebi breakfast or the ojja lunch creates a genuinely specific and memorable shared experience.
Best Occasion: Perfect for Solo Dining
The lablebi — chickpea soup with harissa and capers — eaten in a restored blue-and-white Tunisian village house. Solo travel's most characterful Sidi Bou Said meal.