What to eat in Hammamet
Brik and couscous anywhere in town, fish by weight on the old-town quay at night, and a stall sandwich when everything else is too far.
- Brik
- Crispy pastry with egg, €1.50–3
- Couscous
- With lamb or fish, €5.50–9
- Ojja
- Eggs in spicy tomato sauce, €4.50–7.50
Hammamet eats Tunisian food like the rest of the country, just with the sea alongside: brik and couscous are on every menu, and in the evening fish is bought straight off the boats on the old-town quay. A stall sandwich is €0.30, a main course in an ordinary place €2–7.
The starter you eat with your hands
A thin sheet of pastry brushed with egg, sometimes with tuna and capers, folded into a triangle and fried until the egg sets. It's eaten straight away, with your hands, while it's hot — waiting turns it into something else entirely. It costs €1.50–3 in most restaurants, and almost no menu in town leaves it out.
A main course the sauce decides
Couscous in Hammamet comes with lamb or fish, rarely without a hot harissa sauce on the side. The price depends on the meat, €5.50–9, and it's the safest choice for anyone trying Tunisian food for the first time — a familiar shape, a new flavour.
When harissa leads, not garnishes
Eggs poached in a thick tomato sauce with harissa, often with merguez sausage, served in the same clay pot they were cooked in. It's spicier than couscous or brik, €4.50–7.50, and eaten with a piece of bread.
Fish on the quay: in the evening, by weight
Restaurants outside the hotels on the old-town quay buy fish straight off the boats coming in that evening, and charge it by the kilo — so the price shifts with the catch and the species from one night to the next. This is a dish that belongs to the old town; in Yasmine Hammamet fish is mostly eaten in the hotel.
A sandwich for €0.30
Fricassé, a small baked roll filled with tuna, harissa, olives and boiled egg, is sold from stalls across town for €0.30. It's the cheapest food in Hammamet and the fastest meal mid-way through a day trip.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
How much is a street-stall sandwich in Hammamet?
€0.30, usually a fricassé with tuna and harissa.
Where do you eat fish in Hammamet?
On the old-town quay in the evening, in restaurants that buy it straight off the boats and charge by weight.
What is ojja?
Eggs poached in a tomato sauce with harissa, often with merguez sausage, served in a clay pot.
Ready for Hammamet?
Where to next
The best time to visit Hammamet
→Hammamet is a charter destination, so summer brings crowds and price, not just heat. Outside July and August…
Sidi Bou Said · 58 km
→A blue-and-white village on a cliff above the bay and, two stops before it, what is left of the city that was bigger than Rome
How well does Hammamet suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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