The Belvedere

Three tiers facing the bay at the golden hour: tuna bourek, matlouâ with jben, cumin devilled egg; then kalb el louz, makrout, dziriette and a chocolate date; and the pot of mint tea poured from height. Per person.

The chef’s signature

Three golden cigars to share as the evening starts: jben and melted cheese, tuna and egg with parsley, courgette and potato with cumin.

The evening msemen, folded over a melt of tomato, onion and pepper cooked in smen, crisp outside, soft within.

Bite-sized mhadjeb filled with tomato, onion and pepper cooked down, gilded in butter: there is always room for one more.

Kabylie figs opened like flowers, creamy jben, a thread of mountain honey, toasted almonds and a few mint leaves. Summer at the end of the day.

In season: July – October

For the table watching the sun go down over the bay: green and black Kabylie olives, grilled-pepper hmiss, warm matlouâ, jben in oil, preserved lemon and dates.

The house mocktail, the colour of sunset over the bay: pressed pomegranate, rose water, bruised mint and fine bubbles.

Oranges pressed to order, a Khenchela saffron syrup, the bite of fresh ginger and a tear of honey: golden as six o’clock light.

Orange, lemon and lime from the plain, a wild-thyme honey syrup, bubbles: bright, just bitter enough, made for fish.

A purée of summer figs, thyme, lemon, a touch of ginger and honey: a deep glass, almost a course, that stands up to lamb.

Pressed cucumber, patio mint, lime and ginger, a tear of honey, bubbles: cool in the shade of the orange tree.

The lemonade of Algiers summers, made every morning: pressed lemons, lime, mint and a few drops of orange blossom that make it unforgettable.

Half a kilo of pomegranates seeded and pressed to order, nothing else. Ruby, tart, alive.

In season: September – January

A tall glass of Mitidja oranges pressed to order, pulp and all.

Gunpowder green tea brewed with a fistful of fresh mint, poured from height so it foams in the cut glass, pine nuts floating on top, as in the South.

The chef’s signature

Lemon verbena leaves dried in the shade, a sprig of wild thyme, a spoon of honey: the soothing infusion that ends a meal.

The coffee of winter afternoons, finely ground and gently boiled with a cinnamon stick and a clove, served in the small copper cup.

A specialty coffee roasted in Algiers, pulled short and tight, served with a date.

The double coffee softened with frothed milk — the terrace coffee of the morning.