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After bargaining for fruit at the Midi Market (see the Midi Market article), it is a cheap reward to sit at one of those hidden tables and taste Maroccan flavours. Along the sides of the station, in Avenue Fonsny in front of Hotel Continental, behind the huge display of olives and spices… there you are, a corner of Morocco.
On the menu: pancakes with olives, vegetables, cheese, honey, and any combination requested. Be careful, they are huge! And don’t forget to get a glass of that sweet Moroccan tea, very good on a warm winter day.
Details about this spot (Show on map)
Moroccan pancakes | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Pancake € 2.50
Avenue Fonsny | The South
Sun 08:00 – 15:00
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I don’t know if the guys at the shop are actually Moroccan, but what you call the pancakes were invented by the shop owners here in Belgium. It is not a Moroccan dish they’ve told me. They call their largest-include-everything sandwich “semen” believe it or not, and it is delicious. They put inside mainly mediterranean stuff like olives, dried tomatos, goat cheese, honey, onions and artichokes in olive oil etc, there is notnhing in the sandwich strictly moroccan. The tea is not Moroccan either, it is mearly mint tea, drank in almost every arabic country and it goes very well with their “semen”.
Cesar thanks for a great account, but you are not quite accurate with your comments. The pancakes were not invented in Belgium, they are definitely Moroccan and they are pronounced as “Masemmen”, not Semen :-) Traditionally they are served unstuffed so that you can add jam or honey to them. The Algerians also have this pancake which is called “Mahajjab” and usually comes stuffed with loads of wonderful ingredients.
With regards to the Moroccan tea, it is true that the gunpowder tea they use is chinese and that the spearmint can be found anywhere, but I have been to other arabic countries and the mint tea there is simply not the same. Moroccan tea is prepared and served in a way that is unique to Morocco.
I am off to Brussels this weekend and can’t wait to sample a bit of North Africa in Europe. Brussels sounds like a wonderful city.
Well hellooooooooooooooo people. I returned from my three day trip to Brussels yesterday evening, and all I have to say is that it was FANTASTIC. I went to the Sunday market (absolutely huge) and visited the same stall featured in the photo above, and bought tea form the same man too! The Masemmen and tea waa delightful, I had to get seconds. I paid 5 euros for two glasses of tea and two pieces of Masemmen with honey, but you can get them stuffed with olives, herbs, cheese, jams etc.
I also visited Rue Brabandt, which you can easily get to from Rogier Metro station. There are so many Moroccans in this area and loads of tasty Moroccan food to eat. I also paid a visit to the Molenbeek district (Metro Ribaucourt)and this place was just like being in Morocco. You could even buy traditional moroccan salons, but I found them to be quite pricey. They had closed the road to traffic the day I went :- something to do with May day holiday. Traditional chaabi music could be heard everywhere and the streets were full to the brim. I bought some Moroccan pastries from one of the local patisseries (17 euros a kilo). If you like Morocco but can’t afford to travel so far do visit Brussels for a slice of the Maghreb.