Chana

Street food in a serene space, Chana (Hindi for “chickpea”) is a café that’s making mouths water with its vegetarian eats on the Parvis de Saint-Gilles! Dressed in traditional headgear alongside his two chefs from the Good Food initiative, Naseer Sheikh (alias Ali) remixes essential ingredients from his native Punjab, Pakistan with those sourced from local, organic producers – even when it comes to the decor (original Brussels tile floors, black and white portraits of migrants, hand thrown ceramics – also available for purchase –, bouquets of dried flowers). The other day at lunch, we devoured all of the following: satisfying falafel (sold individually) made with chickpeas, broad beans and leeks; authentic dry curry with more chickpeas, onions, carrots, ginger and cilantro, served with graceful purri – small, puffy bread made with spelt wheat flour; pakoras worth their weight in gold, the batter hiding a myriad of king oyster mushrooms, onions, potatoes or broccoli. Other things we’ve wolfed down in the past include healthy and hearty spelt wheat pita breads stuffed with falafel and your choice of tahini, hummus, baba ghanoush or feta. Life sure is sweet in Veggiestan! // Rosa Poulsard

FEELING THIRSTY? Everything you could need for a probiotic detox: a selection of kombuchas by Yugen (cherry/thyme, mango/turmeric, pineapple/chili… €3 for 350 ml) and Karma (raspberry/pomegranate, €6 for 500 ml), not to mention the perfectly divine homemade lassi (€3).
PRICE: Curry €15, pitas €8.50-11, pakoras €9-11 (mixture €19.50), sides (olives, baba ghanoush, etc.) €4-14, fruit tart €4.