Restaurants in Africa
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Salahadeen
Salahadeen offers a set menu of Egyptian dishes, served as if it were an Egyptian home – knives and forks are offered but guests are encouraged to eat in the Egyptian way by dipping bread in the various dishes. There are two choices, the ‘platter’ (E£85), which includes three courses with14 dishes of fresh home-cooked food to share, or the ‘Feast’ (E£125) with five courses including 25 different dishes. Most dishes consist of vegetables, and the vegetarian options are not cooked in a meat broth as in so many other places. The bar opens for pre-dinner drinks at 6pm, and alcohol is available in the restaurant, too.
reviewed
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Palais de Poulet
Looking down from the Hôtel Rif towards Ave Hassan II, this is one of several good and cheap rotisserie places where you can fill up quickly on chicken, chips, bread and salad. Although you order from the table, pay at the counter inside.
reviewed
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Source Café
Hit the Source for a fair selection of light bites, salads, brownies and pastries. This is the place for a coffee fix, as it has several speciality varieties.
reviewed
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Café Clock
In a restored townhouse, this funky place has a refreshing menu with offerings such as falafel, grilled sandwiches, some interesting vegetarian options, a monstrously large camel burger, and delicious cakes and tarts. Better still, their ‘Clock Culture’ program includes calligraphy and conversation classes, a lecture program and sunset concerts every Sunday (cover charge around Dh20), attracting a good mix of locals, expats and tourists.
reviewed
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a El-Fna Food Stalls
Around sunset, donkeys descend on the Djemaa hauling gas canisters by the cartload and all the makings of 100 small restaurants. Within the hour, the restaurants are up and running, with chefs urging passers-by to note the cleanliness of their grills, the freshness of their meat, produce and cooking oil, and their aromatic spice mixes.
The grilled meats and cooked salads are cheap and often tasty, and despite alarmist warnings your stomach should be fine if you use your bread instead of rinsed utensils and stick to bottled water. Adventurous foodies will want to try Marrakesh specialities such as steaming snail soup, sheep's brain, and skewered hearts - always go for the…
reviewed
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Mama Mia's
Expats swear by the thin-crusted, wood-oven-cooked pizza here. The pleasant outdoor garden dining area makes everything taste better. Spaghetti and kid-friendly chicken fingers also served.
reviewed
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Big Bite
Delicious Indian food, including numerous vegetarian dishes, in a no-frills setting.
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Carnivore
Vegetarians, please look away now. This is hands down the most famous nyama choma restaurant in Kenya. At the entrance is a huge barbecue pit laden with real swords of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, camel, ostrich and crocodile. As long as the paper flag on your table is flying, waiters will keep bringing the meat, which is carved right at the table.
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Flamingo
Like the famous Fang Fang in Kampala, the Flamingo has moved into an anonymous office block in Kacyiru, but it doesn't seem to be affecting its pulling power. The sizzling platters are quite a sight, plus there is a serious selection for vegetarians, not often the case in Kigali. That said, someone should probably tell them that bean curd with beef doesn't count!
reviewed
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Abou Shakra
Abou Shakra is where to come for a skewer or two. It's been serving up its kebab-and-kofta plates and shwarma sandwiches at this main branch since 1947 and locals love it to bits. There's a takeaway at the front and a dining room behind it. Believe it or not, on Fridays an Imam reading from the Quran is posted next to the toilets. No alcohol is served.
reviewed
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Africa Café
Touristy, yes, but still one of the best places to sample African food. Come with a hearty appetite as the set feast comprises some 15 dishes from across the continent, of which you can eat as much as you like. The décor, different in every room, is fantastic. Bookings are advised and it’s closed on Sunday from June to October.
reviewed
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Monsoon
Incongruously located above a fast-food court, Monsoon is Accra's most upscale restaurant. The menu includes interesting items like warthog filet and crocodile tail. You may get snooty looks if you're dressed for tro-tros (minibuses or pick-ups). A more casual cigar lounge and sushi bar is attached.
reviewed
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Anatoli
You can always rely on this atmospheric Turkish joint that’s a little piece of Istanbul in Cape Town. Make a meal out of their delicious meze (R12 to R30 a dish) both hot and cold.
reviewed
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Oasis Café
Set in a renovated 1930s building right in the centre of town, the Oasis is a good place to recover from the bustle of Luxor town, from the heat or from sightseeing. The dining rooms are cool with fans, high ceilings and old tiled floors, painted in soft colours with local artwork on the walls, and furnished with traditional-style furniture. With jazz softly playing, smoking and nonsmoking rooms, the New Yorker to read and friendly staff, this is the perfect place for lunch, to linger over a good morning latte or to spend the afternoon reading. The place is very Western, but in a nice way like your favourite cafe back home. The food is good too, with an extensive brunch…
reviewed
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Abou El Sid
Cairo’s first hipster Egyptian restaurant, Abou El Sid is as popular with tourists as it is with upper-class natives looking for a taste of their roots – Omar Sharif has been known to savour the chicken with molokhiyya (stewed leaf soup), but you can also enjoy a sugar-cane-and-tequila cocktail at the big bar, or a postprandial sheesha. It’s all served amid hanging lamps, kitschy gilt ‘Louis Farouk’ furniture and fat pillows. The entrance is on the west side of the Baehler’s Mansions complex; look for the tall wooden doors. There’s another branch in Mohandiseen, on Midan Amman ( [tel] 3749 7326). Reservations are a must.
reviewed
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Sofra
Sofra remains our favourite restaurant in Luxor. Located in a 1930s house, away from all the tourist tat, it is as Egyptian as can be, in menu and decor, and even in price. The ground floor has three private dining rooms and a salon, giving the feeling of being in someone’s home. There is also a wonderful rooftop terrace, which is also a cafe, where you can come for a drink. The house is filled with antique oriental furniture, chandeliers and traditional decorations, all simple but cosy and very tasteful. The menu is large, featuring all the traditional Egyptian dishes, such as stuffed pigeon and excellent duck, as well as a large selection of salads, dips (E£4) and…
reviewed
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Fang Fang
Chinese restaurants are surprisingly prolific in Kampala, but some are better than others. The consensus in the city is that this is the best Chinese restaurant and the sheer numbers that pack the place each night attest to the quality of the food. Located in an anonymous office block, the interior is typical of a Chinese restaurant anywhere, but there is a large outdoor terrace for breezy nights.
There's a full selection of Chinese classics, and specialities include fried crispy prawns with ginger and garlic.
reviewed
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Joe's Beer House
Similar to Carnivore's in Nairobi, Joe's Beer House is a popular tourist spot where you can indulge in a game-meat-oriented evening meal (such as oryx, kudu, springbok, crocodile, zebra, eland) - with prolonged drinking until early in the morning. Sure, it's touristy, but there's a lot of fun to be had here, especially on a warm evening when you can kick back a few cold ones underneath a faux African hut. Reservations are recommended.
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Moyo’s
The ‘Africa chic’ decor (Moroccan souq–style seating areas, African artefacts, candles glowing in alcoves) and entertainment (face-painters, musicians) of this busy chain is certainly crowd-pleasing, if a little touristy. Food here is pan-African with everything from Algerian chicken to Tanzanian fish curry and is good, if not exactly authentic. There’s also a top-notch wine list for oenoophiles.
reviewed
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Dar Bel Hadj
This is a grand traditional restaurant in a sumptuous 17th-century mansion, an extraordinary surprise after the medina's narrow streets. The food is delicious and recommended. Try the Tunisian mixed hors d'oeuvres and the brochettes de mérou (grouper kebabs). The restaurant's golf buggy will pick you up and drop you off from Place de Gouvernement in the evening.
reviewed
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Black Lantern
Bujagali's premier dining destination, this is the restaurant at the Nile Porch. Set under a traditional thatched roof, the extensive menu includes several stops around the world, including Western, Indian, Chinese and Italian. Spare ribs are a speciality and the portions are enormous. Vegetarians, quiver not at the mention of ribs; there are several non-meat options as well.
reviewed
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Le Capitaine
This is a popular place serving good standard seafood and fish dishes in a pleasant convivial space that combines style with informality and great bay views. Fresh lobster is the pick of the menu, while other delicious mains include whole crab cooked in white wine, and lobster ravioli with fresh mushroom and cucumber quenelles. Reservations are essential in the evening.
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Samakmak
Owned by Zizi Salem, the retired queen of the Alexandrian belly-dancing scene, Samakmak is definitely one step up from the other fish eateries in the neighbourhood. The fish is as fresh as elsewhere, but customers flock to this place for its specials, including crayfish, marvellous crab tagen (stew cooked in a deep clay pot) and a great spaghetti with clams.
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Le Petit Bistro
Like much of Africa, steak is very popular in Uganda and this simple little restaurant cooks up some of the best meat in the city. Prices are pretty low and a selection of sauces is available. That's the good news. The bad news is that it can take as long as two hours for food to arrive, so be patient and let the drinks flow.
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outdoor
One of Essaouira's best food experiences is the outdoor fish grills that line the port end of Pl Moulay Hassan. Just choose what you want to eat from the colourful displays of fresh fish and seafood outside each grill, agree on a price (expect to pay about Dh40 for lunch) and wait for it to be cooked on the spot.
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