At L’Horloge du Sud, you know what time it is when you enter, but not so much when you leave – which is often six hours later, after having danced about to zouk while making half a dozen new friends, including a European civil servant and a Gabonese artist. This mecca of diverse crowds and friendly faces is actually a pan-African restaurant, which we owe to Ken Ndiaye as much as to his customers, who come for more than just the moambe. As for us, we ordered: smart jeg-bi, a mango salad mixed with prawns and smoked chicken; cheeky chicken simmering in a peanut sauce, served with plantains; a lighter moqueca bahiana, a fish and prawn stew with coconut milk, baby veg and palm juice, mopped up with fonio (gluten-free West African cereal) or attiéké (cassava couscous); and a banana flambéed with Caribbean rum to finish. // Heloise Bartsoen

FEELING THIRSTY? Very simple cocktails with rather inspired names, such as Matongue Dreams (rum, lime juice, cane sugar, €6.50) or 2e Bureau, the Congolese term given to your mistress or lover (rum, ginger and lemon juice, 6 €.50), as well as a slew of Belgian beers (€2.50 to €7).
PRICE: Starters €6 to €9.50, mains €12-14, sides €2.50 to €3, desserts €5-7.