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Abid
With a busily tiled interior, TV, flickering neon and simple Tunisian staples (specialising in spicy Sfaxian dishes), this is a good-value neighbourhood favourite.
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Al-Mazar
As befits a bar cunningly disguised as a restaurant, this is buzzing and convivial; lone women might find it intimidating. With paintings on the walls and big globe lampshades, you might think yourself in Paris. The food is excellent, with special mention going to the harissa (spicy chilli paste) and to the chocolate mousse.
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Andalous
Dimly lit by ornate lanterns and decorated with carved wooden screens, this has a Moroccan feel, a discreet TV in the corner, affable waiters and tasty seafood and meat dishes.
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Bolero
Tucked down a seedy alley, this cosy corner with red tablecloths and low lighting is favoured by Tunis businessmen, who retreat here for long lunches to peruse the long wine list. It specialises in grilled meats and seafood and prides itself on its paella.
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Café Chaoechin
The oldest Medina café, where sheeshas (waterpipe used to smoke tobacco) gurgle among the ornate cubby-holes of the hat-makers' souq, with rickety painted tables under tiled arches.
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Café de Paris Brasserie
A very handy little place (great for kids), with a nice, clean little interior and a few outside tables. Choose from pizzas, couscous and a good range of salads, such as Roquefort and walnut. Also serves alcohol.
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Café Ez-Zitouna
Beautifully tiled arched rooms, full of fragrant smoke, open to the street.
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Capitole
This long-standing place has tasty traditional food, served in a slightly flouncy function room, with views over the busy main drag below.
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Capri
A bit cramped, with lots of pinewood on two levels, this is a lively place popular with heavily smoking businessmen. It serves alcohol alongside good simple seafood.
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Carcassonne
Remarkable value is the name of the game at this small, popular, friendly place, with good-quality traditional food in pleasant, relaxed surroundings. Service is fast.
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Chez Nous
This feels like an Italian-American mobsters' haunt. It's in a snug back room and is nothing fancy, but the food is good and there are faded black-and-white photos of faded stars on the walls.
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Dar Bel Hadj
This is a grand traditional restaurant in a sumptuous 17th-century mansion, an extraordinary surprise after the medina's narrow streets. The food is delicious and recommended. Try the Tunisian mixed hors d'oeuvres and the brochettes de mérou (grouper kebabs). The restaurant's golf buggy will pick you up and drop you off from Place de Gouvernement in the evening.
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Dar el-Jeld
This is special from the moment you knock on the grand bee-yellow arched doorway, which opens onto an elaborate 18th-century mansion - it's like stepping into a lavishly decorated jewellery box. The magnificent dining room is in a covered central courtyard, with secluded alcove tables around the edge.
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Dar El-Medina
Tunis' loveliest hotel has several salons and a roof terrace where you can take a tea, coffee, fruit juice or sheesha (waterpipe used to smoke tobacco).
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Dar Hamouda Pacha
Whitewashed alcoves around small, calm courtyards, and mute-coloured sofas - this is the chichi way to smoke your sheesha (waterpipe used to smoke tobacco); has good Turkish coffee.
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L'Orient
Cluttered and busy. Tall ceilings, brick arches, swords, shells, and yellow-and-green swirling tiling all supply a strong Andalusian flavour, matched by the seafood slant of the menu.
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La Croisette
The burgeoning lakeside Berges du Lac development is trendy and prices reflect this, but this popular salon de thé -restaurant has a lovely waterside setting, sells anything from ice cream and cakes to pizzas, and is surrounded by fairy lights.
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Le Carthage
Heavy on the camp and kitsch statuary, but with prize-winning couscous and specialising in seafood, this is an intimate, popular choice.
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Le Malouf
If you fancy some pasta, this Italian-owned place is where to head. It's smart, with big artworks decorating the interior and courtyard tables out the front - a charming find in central Tunis. A guitar duo cranks up the atmosphere on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
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M'Rabet
Above the busy traditional café, this is a formal small restaurant with good views of the Zaytouna Mosque, specialising in Tunisian dishes and mainly catering to groups.
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M'Rabet Café
Traditional Turkish café, with pillars painted in stick-of-rock stripes, rush-mat seating on raised platforms, and an airy courtyard.
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Mahdaoui
Central and cheap, here the tables fill a narrow alley by the Zaytouna Mosque. The simple daily menu offers couscous, fish, chicken, lamb (sometimes half a head - yikes) and so on - greasy but pretty good. If you get here late there won't be much choice left.
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Margaritas
You get good service, cooking and value at this business and tourist favourite: a small hotel restaurant decorated in dusky mauve and dark wood.
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Neptune
With its curly wrought-iron chairs, Formica tabletops and wicker-framed mirrors that could have been plucked from 1970s suburbia, this chirpy place has simple Tunisian favourites, including fresh fish.
