Atlas is housed by the old Vismarkt, and the restaurant’s address was formerly occupied by a fish shop. Evidence of the building’s age is apparent in the ceiling beams and ceramic wall tiles, but the space is utterly charming. Owners Kris Verreth and Erik Labordery have decorated the small room – holding little more than a dozen tables – with exotic artwork and world maps from different eras. The cosiness is reinforced with soft, warm lighting.
On the menu, diversity is key. Each dish is listed with a flag annotation, indicating its country of origin. For those of us who have a hard time reaching back to those primary school geography lessons, the menu’s first page features a cheat sheet of flags with their corresponding country names.
The starters reach around the globe from Jamaican jerk to Indian soup, and on to an Australian veal dish. We thoroughly enjoyed Jerk Mushrooms (the more classic chicken preparation is also available), which was marked as one of the spiciest menu options. We also stayed somewhat closer to home with a Swedish wrap, featuring thin, soft bread, green asparagus and a choice of sour cream or smoked salmon. It was pleasant, but bland in comparison with the Jamaican adventure.
For mains, the fajitas are encouraged – not just by me, but by the restaurant. A blackboard on the wall helpfully details the proper method of consuming this Mexican dish. You receive a hot iron pan, delivered straight from the oven, full of vegetables or chicken prepared with what they call “Faijta seasoning.” The exact mix was not detailed – I imagine it’s a closely guarded secret – but a typical mix would generally include strong aromatic spices like cayenne, cumin and garlic. Atlas’s seasoning combination was well balanced and strong, without being overpowering.
But of course this is but one element of the fajita. You place a few spoonfuls of this preparation in the centre of a soft, round tortilla shell. Shredded cheese, diced tomato, chopped lettuce, sour cream and mild salsa go on top (jalapenos are available on request). It is only then that your meal becomes an exercise in origami fajita folding; a diagram on the aforementioned blackboard is indispensible for fajita virgins (or if it’s been a while since your last fajita).
For our other main dish, we ultimately settled on Indonesian Bali – available either as a steak or vegetarian quorn fillet. This primary protein features an ample serving of delicious salty-sweet peanut sauce and a side of small, fluffy pumpkin pancakes. The only thing wrong with the dish was that to order it, we had to pass up the Greek, American and Thai options that looked equally inviting.
Desserts posed yet another challenge. I have discovered that in recent years, I will almost always be happier with a fruit-based dessert over a chocolate one (am I allowed to admit that in Belgium?). Nonetheless, deciding between the Brazilian lemon sorbet with caipirinha versus the Scottish whipped cream, malt whiskey and raspberries was truly a challenge.
Scotland won out and proved to be a marvellous combination of light, yet rich creaminess and tart fruit, complimented by the pleasant bite of whiskey. No regrets with that choice; just a vow to return to Atlas Wereldkeuken for some further world travelling.
Nauwstraat 4, Mechelen
Tues, Thurs-Sat 12.00-14.00, 18.00-22.00; Wed 18.00-22.00
unexpectedly solid dishes from across a handful of continents
Contact Bite at flandersbite@gmail.com
Flanders Today is a 
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