Where to sample Middle Eastern and African cuisine

Middle Eastern and African cuisine in Luxembourg will have you sampling dishes from Ethiopia, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Syria, Tanzania, and Turkey.

These regions incorporate a huge variety of spices and flavours, and provide a great option for vegans, vegetarians, meat lovers, and those on a gluten-free or lactose-free diet. The menus at many places are also surprisingly good value, with plenty of dishes under €10.

If we’ve missed your favourite Middle Eastern or African restaurant, let us know about it, and we’ll add it to the list.

In the city

Odum – 34 Rue du Cure

This African fusion place is getting good reviews for its dishes, mainly inspired from Nigeria, which include Asun, roasted meat with spices, skewered meat Suya, and Kuku Paka a type of African curry. You can also try cassava gnocchi, yam and mushroom tartin, and a non-alcoholic drink known as Nigerian Chapman, with lemonade, cassis and cucumber. It has a nice setting with banquettes and deep chairs. You can read the Luxembourg Times Table Talk review of the restaurant below.

Also read:‘Odum’ is a flavourful new arrival in Luxembourg City’s dining scene

Chez Doudou – François-Joseph d’Argent

Not new as such but new to Eich, chef Marie Doumbe moved her restaurant from Petange for an open kitchen in the city. Her Gault & Millau award winning cooking fuses Cameroonian accents with European dishes but also offering plenty of vegan options. Try the roasted cod with Mbongo sauce, the chicken stuffed with chorizo served with spicy sauce, grandmother’s mashed potatoes or the sweet potato gnocchi, Luxembourg crémant sauce with a side of plantain fries.

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Rice House – 12 Rue du Fort Bourbon

A newish place in Gare with a light interior decorated with circles, wooden ladders and photos, and offering an array of Persian food including rice with skewered meets or traditional stew, side dishes, and kebabs to go.

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Caftan – 37 Avenue Pasteur

Limpertsberg-located Caftan has plush velvet and gold trimmed banquettes, wicker chairs and soft lighting. The Moroccan cuisine offers a mix of mezzes (hummus, aubergine, falafel), tagines, couscous and plenty of dishes to share, although the prices are somewhat higher than those of its neighbours, reflecting the upmarket feel.

The restaurant café also incorporates a souk boutique in warm reds with soft cushions and seating on the floor, where you can tuck into a Spicy Souk cocktail of vodka infused with saffron, mandarin liqueur, cardamom, ginger, and fresh orange juice.

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Chiche! – 20 Avenue Pasteur (Esch-sur-Alzette, Leudelange and Bonnevoie)

Just down the road this establishment has moved premises a few times, but remains a favourite amongst regulars who tuck into vegetarian and meat dishes. Whitewashed brick walls and simple table settings are accompanied by comfy deep armchairs and fringed lamps to create a more intimate setting.

Share dishes from the dizzying list of mezzes, including Mutabel, grilled smoky aubergine, hummus, falafel, and Loubieh bi Zeit, a vegan dish of green beans, onions, tomatoes and garlic. Alternatively tuck into the vegan, veggie or lamb specials, with a side order of Lebanese fried potatoes with coriander and garlic.

A social restaurant, Chiche fosters social inclusion by empowering men and women to work. The décor includes upcycled furniture. There are now three other branches – in Leudelange, Esch-sur-Alzette and the newest, in Bonnevoie.

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Kicheneck – 66 Avenue Pasteur

Bring your own bottle of wine and tuck into a plate of couscous with vegetables or meat, or marinaded chicken or lamb, with batata harra, fried potatoes in a tomato sauce, at this simple Lebanese eatery. There are hot and cold mezze and a good selection of veggie dishes.

Miel et Safran – 15 Rue Notre Dame

Located centrally, this Moroccan restaurant has dishes inspired by Berber, Arab, Umayyad, Andalusian and trans-Saharan influences. You can tuck into couscous dishes with meat, fish or vegetables, tagines cooked in conical topped earthenware dishes, beef or lamb tanjias cooked with candied lemon, garlic and spices, or pastillas brought back by the Moors from Spain.

The food is lovingly prepared by Adil Soudani and it is open Tuesday to Saturday for dinner from 18.45 to 21.30 and Wednesday to Saturday for lunch 11.45 to 14.00.

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Persian Foodbox – 21 rue Aldringen/Infinity centre Kirchberg

Gluten and lactose-free rice and sauces mean you can cater to anyone, including strict vegans, at Persian FoodBox. Khorech is the Persian word for stews, and literally means “meal”. In the Iranian cuisine found at this restaurant there are many khorech, but most are characterised by the use of saffron.

Meat eaters can enjoy chicken fillet with a chopped nuts, saffron and pomegranate sauce (Fersenjan) and vegans can sample the aubergine, split pea, dried lemon, turmeric and saffron (Lapeh Bademjan). There is a huge variety of rice, and boxes with rice and sauce start at €11,30. The perfect place for a pitstop if you’re shopping in town or visiting a gallery or museum.

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Bazaar – 46 Place Guillaume II

Tuck into a cocktail of Bombay sapphire gin, cardamon, tarragon, honey, champagne, and orange blossom, before choosing from the hummus bar (including hummus with avocado, cashew nuts and spicy harissa) scooped up with pita bread or challah (a traditional Jewish bread, a bit like brioche but using oil instead of butter).

Mezze options include Jaffa Cauliflower, which sees this vegetable roasted with a zhug and tahini sauce. Try the Medina Pie which has lamb confit with nine spices, dates and spinach. A neat-looking interior, with cosy tables, perhaps not the place for an intimate romantic dinner, but located in the heart of the old town.

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Le Riad – 57 rue de Strasbourg

Also located in the Gare, Le Riad has a very extensive menu including their speciality Moroccan tagines, rice with seafood or meat, and a very long list of couscous varieties. Vegetarians will not go hungry as there is plenty on the menu for them.

The recipes come from a mix of Berber and Andalusian traditions, and spices from Morocco, and there is a dish of the day if you want to try the wild card. No alcohol is served, but you can bring your own.

Phenicia – 7 Avenue JF Kennedy

This Syrian and Lebanese place has closed in Gare and will open again at the Infinity Centre in Kirchberg later this yer. Its specialities include mezze such as Foul Medemmas, fried green fava beans with tomato, onion, parsley and lemon, plus all the usual stuffed vine leaves, hummus, falafel, and aubergine dip. For a starter with a difference, try the minced lamb drizzled with pomegranate syrup.

Main courses include Ouzi – filo pastry stuffed with lamb, rice, peas and pine nuts. Prices are a bit more expensive than some of the other eateries, with some interesting set menus, and it has a huge dining area which can accommodate larger groups or work outings.

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Kumpir – the happy potato – Place du Théâtre

Kumpir is Turkish for baked potato, a popular Istanbul street food. Served with a variety of toppings, from Turkish sausage and chilli, to chicken curry and goulash, with vegetarian choices including beans, Mediterranean vegetables and lentil salad. There are tables outside to chow down on this warm winter comfort food, or keep cosy inside on a sofa or seated at wooden tables.

OrientX – rue Alphonse Weicker (Kirchberg) & 25 boulevard WF Raiffeisen (Gasperich)

After enjoying a kebab in London, Mr Sen and Mr Witte were inspired to recreate the food and a quick, casual dining experience with gourmet kebabs, and thus created OrientX. Chicken, veal or shish beef kebabs sit side by side with falafel and veggie kebab offerings on their menu, plus some cold mezze options. All kebabs are under €10 and the most expensive main plate is €14.20, so this is Middle Eastern cuisine at rock bottom prices. Both restaurants have a clean feel with white tables and leather banquettes, perfect for a lunch or after-work pit stop.

Outside the city

Simbasisters – Goeblange

A unusual restaurant in Goeblange offers plenty of surprises – including crocodile, gazelle and ostrich on the menu. Open Monday to Friday at lunchtime, with a dish of the day at €13, then on Friday and Saturday evening, and with a Sunday buffet. The vegan and vegetarian selection is pretty good, and you can try dishes from Mali and Tanzania.

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The Place Restaurant – Differdange

Home-cooked dishes Senegalese including fish with rice or Thieboudienne, the national dish, and regional favourite, chicken yassa in onion sauce with rice, or seafood gumbo and of course, couscous. The interior is basic, but the service fast and reviewers give a thumbs up to the food.

Le Cèdre – Esch-sur-Alzette

Mezze, grilled meats, moutabal and stuffed vine leaves and cheeses, this menu has it all. Lebanese bread, sausages, and specialities such as croquettes with a good selection of veggie options, this is as good as it’s city counterparts. Simple decor but lovely traditional Lebanese coffee pots, and home cooking.

Chez Jimmy’s – Heiderscheid

Head to Heiderscheid for some authentic Ethiopian cooking at Chez Jimmy’s, serving up traditional Ethiopian coffee and various grilled meats, including lamb and beef, with vegetables and sauces. The interior is bright, with blue walls and red woven baskets, plus wooden seats, giving it a very authentic feel. Food is served on one big plate for sharing with breads, in the local style, and if coffee isn’t your thing, you can try and Ethiopian beer, Bedele.

La Métisse – 265 rue de Neudorf

OK, it’s not northern but central Africa, but La Métis deserves a mention for its authentic Congolese cuisine, brought to Luxembourg by Magali and Stéphane, and offering Moambe chicken, plantains, and a chance to see local artists and buy handicrafts.

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Edit preferencesFood Trucks

Taza – Bertrange

Tahsin grew up in Aleppo, cooking often for friends and family, and this inspired him to open his food truck in Luxembourg. Open Monday to Friday 10.30 to 14.30 at 10 rue des Merovingiens and serving up Syrian food including falafel and shish wraps, and sujuk paninis and manakish with spicy cheese.

Tabor – Kirchberg/Cloche d’Or

People have been raving about this truck serving Ethiopian specialities including a pancake-like fermented flatbread made from Teff flour known as Inerja, the Kitfoo spicy minced-beef stew, the national dish of chicken in a spicy sauce known as Doro Wat and their stir fried beef and lamb. You can catch them at either Rue Edward Steichen or at Place de l’Europe in Kirchberg Monday to Friday, except Tuesdays when they’re at Cloche d’Or, 11.30 to 14.30.

Home-made

Tahdig.lu

If you want to sample tasty Iranian food then Tahdig.lu can provide it for you. From unlevened bread, rice and lentils, to barbequed skewered spicy meats, falafel or baked fish. You can check out their Facebook page for more information.

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