French restaurants in Africa
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Restaurant Bar Bozo
While the food is average tourist fare and the service is incompetent (a two-hour wait for your meal to arrive is not unusual), Restaurant Bar Bozo is superbly located at the mouth of Mopti harbour. The passing panorama of Mopti river life could easily occupy an afternoon, so even if you don't eat here, stop by for a drink, preferably at sunset. It's a shame it starts running out of everything by 20:00.
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Chez André
Housed in a huge villa on the eastern extreme of Chaussée Prince Rwagasore, this is one of many contenders for the best restaurant in the city, with a flamboyant menu that wouldn't look out of place in Brussels or Paris. The wine list and desserts are well worth a closer look. There is also a popular health club here if you feel the belt busting after a major meal.
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Greenfield
Tucked away off Route de Kpalimé, near Tokoin Hospital, this funky French-owned garden bar-restaurant is decorated with dancing Keith Harring figures and colourful lanterns. It is family-friendly, with a menu for children and teenagers, and films screened for youngsters on Saturdays, in addition to the adult films on Tuesdays and live jazz.
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Agadir
The interior is thoroughly unassuming, but the checked tablecloths, red wine and Gallic crooning in the background give this place more than a hint of French bistro. Meals are good and hearty, with the free use of fresh herbs raising the succulent tajines to a level above the usual fare.
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Casino Terrou-Bi
Right on the sea, this chic garden restaurant serves highly recommended French cuisine. It's a favourite with Dakar's monied classes, and the perfect place to sip cocktails near the pool before blowing the holiday budget in the adjacent casino.
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Pâtisserie le Damier
This place serves some of the best French cuisine in the city and successfully pulls off a Parisian vibe. The handmade chocolates are expensive, but worth it, as is the all-you-can-eat Saturday brunch.
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Le Pavillon
Just when you think you've taken a wrong turn, a lantern-bearer appears to guide you down the long alley to this lovely riad and its fig tree-filled garden of Gallic delights with Moroccan touches. The duck breast with peaches is especially tender and juicy, and the fish is flaky and delicately scented with local herbs.
The downside is the wine selection: the house wine by the glass we tried was tannic with a vague aftertaste of tyres, so you'll have to spring for the overpriced wines by the bottle.
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1886 Restaurant
The 1886 is the gourmet restaurant in town, serving inventive Mediterranean-French food and a few Egyptian dishes with a twist, in a grand old-style dining room with very formal waiters. Guests are expected to dress up for the occasion – men wear a tie and/or jacket (some are available for borrowing) – and the food is superb and light. Delicacies include risotto of crayfish, truffle and chanterelles, sea scallops in artichoke broth and potato and celery ravioli. A grand evening out!
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La Brasserie la Bavaroise
Locals and expats like to hang out in this upmarket brasserie behind the Marché Central, partly for the French cuisine, partly to see and be seen. It offers a good selection of fish as well as French classics such as veal, steak and pheasant cooked to perfection. Meat is grilled on a wood fire. It has a pleasant atmosphere and a friendly welcome. Every month the menu features specialities from a different region of France. The same owners also run La Bodega next door, a great tapas bar.
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Le Grand Comptoir
Sleek, stylish and oozing the charms of an old-world Parisienne brasserie, this suave restaurant and lounge bar woos customers with its chic surroundings and classic French menu. Candelabras, giant palms and contemporary art adorn the grand salon while a pianist tinkles in the background. Go for the succulent steaks or be brave and try the andouillette (tripe sausage) or veal kidneys. A good place to have breakfast or coffee too, and there is wi-fi.
reviewed
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Le Coq Bleu
You get what you pay for here - the menu is pricey but the French cooking is of the highest order. It's the sort of place to consider when you've been on the African road for a while and you're looking to stimulate jaded taste buds with a touch of class. The blue décor is tasteful and soothing, but the schmaltzy background music will have you scraping off the wallpaper. It also has a well-stocked bar.
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Restaurant l'Eau Vive
This Ouagadougou institution is run by an order of nuns and promises an air-conditioned haven from the clamour outside; there's also a garden dining area out the back. The menu is mainly French but has the occasional nod to African flavours. Profits go to the order's charitable works and, for the truly surreal bit, don't be surprised if you're there at 21:30 and the nuns burst into song.
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Revolving Restaurant
Located on the 41st floor of the Grand Hyatt, the Revolving Restaurant boasts some impressive stats: at 30m in diameter, the room rotates 360 degrees in 75 minutes, and takes in views of the Pyramids, the Nile and most of Cairo. While the revolving experience is enough of a reason to visit, the French haute cuisine prepared here in the show kitchen is nothing less than exquisite.
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La Véranda
If you've just returned from Île Sainte Marie, you may find yourself dining with most of your flying companions here - this is the terrace of choice for the vast majority of French expats and visitors thanks to its wide-ranging menu and very reasonable prices. The three-course set menu changes daily, and is usually far too tempting to let you settle for a light meal.
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La Table du Marché
Chef Christophe Leroy remakes his St Tropez market menu Marrakesh-style: succulent filet mignon crowned with a slab of seared foie gras and Coquille St Jacques slipping into a silky pear fondue. The outdoor villa setting is convivial, the plush seats comfy and the music groovy. When the surprisingly modest cheque arrives, you'll be quite pleased with yourself.
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Les Trois Sources
If pressed, locals in the know will 'fess up and say that this cosy French restaurant in the Country Club is their favourite place to eat in Fez. The food is excellent, the wine list is well balanced and the atmosphere is extremely welcoming. The restaurant will collect you from your medina hotel and return you after dinner at no charge if you call in advance.
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La Salamandre
Just off Route des Ambassades, La Salamandre enjoys a deserved reputation for lip-smacking French cooking. Here you can warm yourself with salade périgourdine (salad), shrimps, beef dishes and côte d'agneau grillée (grilled lamb). The sleek setting, with lashings of bright colours splashed all over the walls, is another draw.
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1902 Restaurant
Considered Aswan's finest restaurant, and certainly its most formal, this beautifully restored Moorish-style hall is definitely a treat. Dinner is a set four-course French-influenced menu, with a performance by local musicians. Unfortunately here, too, the food doesn't live up to the grandeur of the surroundings at all. Book ahead to reserve a table.
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Le Rouget de l’Isle
Sleek, stylish and charming, renowned for its simple but delicious and light French food, Le Rouget is one of Casa’s top eateries. Set in a renovated 1930s villa, it is an elegant place filled with period furniture and contemporary artwork. The impeccable food is reasonably priced though, and there’s a beautiful garden. Book in advance.
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L’Entrecôte
The menu and attitude at this upmarket old-style restaurant in Agdal are very French but the dark woods and rough plaster are more reminiscent of Bavaria than Bordeaux. Steak, fish and game specialities dominate the classic French menu, and to further confuse the ambience there’s jazz or traditional Spanish music at night.
reviewed
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La Colombe
Well-travelled British chef Luke Dale-Roberts injects Asian sophistication to the menu with delicious dishes such as tuna tataki, in which the lightly seared fish is dressed with cheese marinated in miso and mirin (sweet sake). The shady garden setting makes it one of most pleasant places to dine in Cape Town.
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Restaurant Sigui
This popular place gets the thumbs-up from travellers for its hybrid of European, Asian and Malian dishes, with a few vegetarian options thrown in. It's the best place to eat in town. They cook up a mean capitaine a la Bamakoise (fried Nile perch with bananas and tomato sauce) among other dishes.
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Restaurant Dan Kan
With agreeable outdoor (but covered) tables, very reasonable prices and a varied menu, Restaurant Dan Kan is an excellent deal. It's kept spotlessly clean and service is attentive. If you just eat riz sauce or couscous and drink tamarind juice, you'll be well-fed. Highly recommended.
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Finesse
This French-owned place offers a smart and elegant setting under a covered terrace, and serves a good range of seafood and meat dishes. Specialities include duck à l ’ orange, and for dessert, rich chocolate cake (the owner’s mother’s recipe).
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Chez Marco
Hmm, will it be filet de boeuf sauce roquefort (fillet of beef with roquefort cheese sauce) or escalope de poulet au citron vert (chicken with lemon sauce)? This very French outpost serves delectable fare with a Mediterranean twist in a welcoming, light-toned interior.
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