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EL MANSOURAH
During summer, the outdoor
tables at El Mansourah are laid
out in spectacular fashion across
the craggy cliff it sits on and you
can practically touch the lapping
Mediterranean below. Head chef
Gobji Mohamed’s focus is on locally
sourced seafood, and the seabass
with fresh mushrooms in truffle
cream sauce pairs perfectly with
a glass of local Selian rosé. The
restaurant also offers a good-value
breakfast and brunch, too, but with
views as spectacular as these, you
might well be tempted to stay all
day. Mains from TND 45,0 00 (£12).
facebook.com/restoelmansourah
LE BARBEROUSSE
Le Barberousse is as popular
with locals as it is with visitors.
Its Mediterranean menu doesn’t
offer too many surprises, but the
breezy beach setting is seductive
and the wine list extensive. Try and
grab a table as close to the seafront
as possible and order some of their
exceptionally presented seafood,
such as the wonderfully named
symphonie de la mer platter,
alongside a bottle of dry white
Muscat. Mains from TND 34,0 00
(£9). le-barberousse-restaurant.
business.site
BON KIF
Ceramics are sold on almost every
street in Nabeul and the city’s
ornate tiles and colourful mosaics
are put to wonderful effect in
Bon Kif. The white and sea-green
decor is evocative of Greek islands
and the menu is a delicious mix
of Mediterranean seafood and
traditional Tunisian cuisine. Start
with a seafood-stuffed brik pastry
before moving on to the John Dory
fillet on a bed of couscous for an
indulgent taste of Cap Bon. Mains
from TND 30,00 0 (£8). facebook.
com/bonkif.nabeul
A TASTE OF
Cap Bon
the hissing barbecue sends out waves of smoke
and sweet ocean aromas. Soon we’re served
the fruits of Gobji’s labours: a platter of tangy
red mullet, soft calamari, crisp and springy
langoustines and succulent swordfish on a bed
of ditalini pasta.
I can see why he returned to this
extraordinary spot where, surprisingly, few
tourists venture. “This beach was the first
place that I ever swam,” he says, looking over
his shoulder at the warm dunes of Plage de la
Mansoura. “My father used to bring me here
and now I bring my son. It’s a very nice place,
maybe the best place in Tunisia.”
I’ll have to take Gobji’s word for it for
now, but he certainly wasn’t the only one
to think so. This lush corner of Tunisia has
been coveted, conquered and reconquered
mercilessly over the past 3,0 00 years, from
marauding Roman armies to rapacious French
colonialists via the Ottoman Empire. Ancient
Carthage was a busy Mediterranean outpost
of the Phoenicians, but the Roman brutality
in the Third Punic War of 146 BC means that
almost nothing remains of Carthaginian life.
Yet at Cap Bon’s northern tip, the last vestiges
of this ancient civilisation are still intact. Just
a 20-minute drive north of Kelibia, the coastal
Punic town of Kerkouane and its necropolis
are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and
museum, and its ruined stone streets and shorn
columns constitute the only surviving example
of a Punic city in existence.
During a brief excursion there, I watch
mellifluous waves gently break against large,
cream-coloured boulders at Kerkouane’s
water’s edge below and, while it isn’t visible
on a hazy day like today, Sicily’s distant coast
is less than 100 miles away. It’s an indication
of how close these people were and how their
gastronomy became intertwined. Italy is
recalled again as we drive back south past hills
of Aleppo pine, densely packed olive groves
and rows of skinny cypress trees. I begin to
see why Roman historian Pliny the Elder
reportedly once described it as the ‘Garden
of Carthage’.
The vineyards between capital Tunis and
Cap Bon’s eastern coast have been home to wine
production for more than 2 ,000 years and the
Domaine Neferis estate even takes its name from
an old Carthaginian city. But don’t be surprised
if you’ve never had the pleasure of sampling
its full-bodied Syrah red or floral dry Muscat,
as Tunisian wine isn’t widely available across
the UK. The estate’s technical director Rached
Kobrosly is trying to change that, though.
“Around 90% of our wine is sold here, so 10%
to Europe and America is nothing, really. It’s a
challenge,” says Rached as he leads me around
hulking metallic distillation towers, before we
wander back through imposing stone gates to
their 19th-century townhouse.
“But it’s a stereotype that we don’t drink
here,” he says, handing me a deep ruby red
glass of 2019 Cuvée Magnifique. The wine has
an intense and perfumed nose, while the long
finish lingers with spicy notes. “We’re not a
conservative country, you know. The culture of
wine has existed here for thousands of years.”
Side dishes of sweet olives and crunchy
pistachios are served, though I imagine a red as
fruity and full-bodied as this would go equally
well with dark chocolate. Kobrosly then explains
Fishing boats on the waterfront
at Hammamet, a town beneath
the Cap Bon peninsula
Right: Chef Rafik Tlatli
cooks fish stew in Nabeul
JUNE 2022 53
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