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Silk Road Tilburg Food Identity independently researched
Food Identity independently researched Researched

Silk Road Tilburg

Central Asian shared-plates restaurant in central Tilburg, drawing on Silk Road heritage to deliver Afghan, Persian, and Middle Eastern flavours in a warmly decorated setting.

The essentials, at a glance

Documented practices
Independently
researched
Social impact

Style
Casual
Cosy
Cuisine
Asian
International
Good to know
Terrace
Wheelchair accessible

The delicious details

Silk Road takes its name from the ancient trade routes that connected East and West, and its menu follows the same path. Dishes draw from Afghanistan, Persia, India, and the Levant, prepared by chefs Sadjad Ahmadi and Isa Ahadi using family recipes and traditional clay-oven techniques. The setting is warm and richly decorated, with an interior inspired by the caravanserais of Central Asia.

Behind the kitchen lies a deeper purpose. Silk Road is part of Stichting Sarban de Toekomst, a foundation that trains and employs people with a refugee background in the hospitality sector. From dishwasher to co-owner, the restaurant's model supports personal development, paid employment, and accredited vocational training.

Menu
What's on the table, and what's left off

Roughly thirty small sharing dishes spanning Afghan, Persian, Indian, and Levantine cuisines. More than half the menu is plant-based, with a dedicated vegan tasting route. In-house gluten-free bread and halal preparation throughout.

Cuisine
Asian
International
Dietary options
Vegetarian options
Vegan-friendly
Gluten-free options
Halal
Allergies & intolerances
How this kitchen handles the EU-14 allergens
Handled on request
Public sources point to a working level of allergen accommodation, but no dedicated preparation area — treat this as a starting point and confirm directly.
Allergens named on public sources
Gluten
Ask about any allergen not shown. Kitchen separation isn't published — ask directly if you need a trace-free dish.
Always confirm your allergy directly with the restaurant when booking.
Researched from public sources · thefork.com · not yet confirmed by the restaurant
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
1 - Starting

Social impact is the restaurant's standout area. Silk Road operates under Stichting Sarban de Toekomst, a foundation that provides structured employment, mentoring, and accredited MBO vocational training for people with a refugee background. The restaurant's founders arrived in the Netherlands as unaccompanied minor asylum seekers and have since helped more than 400 people build a future in hospitality. Community initiatives include a weekly table for the Quiet500 (families below the poverty line), benefit dinners, and partnerships with organisations such as Elftal tegen Armoede and the Samen Doen Board.

The impact dimensions
Social impact✓
Plant-forward menu

Silk Road operates under Stichting Sarban de Toekomst, providing employment, mentoring, and accredited MBO training for people with a refugee background; over 400 have been supported since founding.

Silk Road operates under Stichting Sarban de Toekomst, a foundation providing structured employment, mentoring, and accredited MBO vocational training for people with a refugee background. Co-founders Sadjad Ahmadi and Isa Ahadi arrived in the Netherlands as unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, trained within the system, and have since helped more than 400 people build careers in hospitality.

Community engagement runs deep: a weekly table is reserved for Quiet500 members (families below the poverty line), special meals are prepared during holidays for homeless and isolated individuals, and the restaurant partners with Samen Doen Board (connecting newcomers and residents) and Elftal tegen Armoede (poverty reduction initiatives).

In 2021, a benefit dinner raised over EUR 12,800 for Stichting Vluchteling (refugee support), with funds documented across multiple independent sources.

Strongest sourcesarban.nl ↗

Roughly 60% of the 33-dish menu is plant-based (18+ vegan, 3 vegetarian) with a dedicated vegan tasting route; meat and seafood remain structurally prominent.

The menu features 33 dishes, of which 18+ are vegan and 3 vegetarian, totalling roughly 60% plant-based. A dedicated vegan tasting route (chef's menu at EUR 37.50pp) is available alongside the standard version.

RestauPlant and HappyCow both rank the restaurant highly for vegan dining, and the restaurant itself emphasises that more than half the menu is plant-based. Dishes include dahl, stuffed dumplings, spiced vegetable preparations, hummus, and clay-oven breads.

The menu remains structurally mixed: chicken, lamb, veal, and shrimp dishes are prominent and not positioned as secondary to the plant dishes. Plants form a significant part of the offering but do not constitute the primary identity or foundation of the kitchen.

Strongest sourcerestauplant.com ↗
Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Heuvelring 112, 5038 CL Tilburg, Tilburg, Netherlands
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€
Format
Thirty small sharing dishes, bookable via TheFork.
Hours
MondayClosed
Tuesday17:00–22:00
Wednesday17:00–22:00
Thursday17:00–22:00
Friday17:00–22:00
Saturday17:00–22:00
Sunday17:00–22:00
Style
Casual
Cosy
Good to know
Terrace
Wheelchair accessible
Web
silkroad.nl
Reserve a table
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 29 Jul 2026
To website
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How we score
The My Treats impact scale

Every restaurant is assessed against SEERO, our six-dimension sustainability framework — covering sourcing, seasonality, waste, animal products, social impact, and plant-forward cooking. Each finding is weighted by how strongly it is corroborated. The combined result is translated into a planet rating from 1 to 5.

The five levels

SEERO is an acronym for Starting, Engaged, Endorsed, Recognised, Outstanding:

Starting First verified signals of sustainable practice.
This place
Engaged Credible practice across two dimensions.
Endorsed Meaningful practice across three or more dimensions.
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
Outstanding Top-tier practice, confirmed by recognised third-party audit.

How a level is reached. Each level needs two things together: a minimum number of dimensions covered, and a minimum overall strength of evidence across them. A dimension only counts once its evidence is specific and substantiated — a passing mention doesn't qualify. Meeting only one of the two keeps a restaurant a level lower.

Ratings of four or five planets require human validation and, at the top tier, an external audit. Scores are based on publicly available evidence and restaurant submissions at the time of assessment.

Full methodology→
Impact dimension
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How this dimension works
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How evidence is weighted
Self-declared Stated by the restaurant on its website, menu or in a submission. Plausible, but not yet independently corroborated.
Researched Found through independent research; one credible third-party source backs the claim.
Vouched Corroborated across more than one independent source. Some gaps may remain.
Audited Fully corroborated across independent sources or by a recognised third-party certification.
What the sourcing checkmarks mean
✓ Full check — independently verified: corroborated across more than one source, or audited / third-party certified (vouched or audited).
✓ Light check — self-declared or from a single source. Not yet independently verified.
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