Rue la Bastille

You'll smell Rue la Bastille before you see it. There's no menu: the owner-chef cooks whatever vegetables came in that morning, you choose couscous or rice, chicken or the vegetarian route, and three sides — roasted carrots, aubergine, beets — before it's finished in a steaming oven, never a microwave. Spicing is warm and aromatic rather than hot, portions are enormous, and the bill stays firmly in budget territory. Closed Sundays, dinner ends early. One of the Haarlemmerdijk's most genuinely loved doorways.