Italian restaurants in Africa
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Don Brioni's Bistro
Don Brioni' Usually buzzing with a lively infusion of locals and tourists, this place under the Kiboko Town Hotel is suitably Italian in décor and flavour and the eccentric English owner is sure to come over and chat. Excellent steak, fish, chicken accompany pizzas and pastas on the menu.
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La Cucina
Run by Italians, this tiny place is predominantly a takeaway with a couple of outside tables. The pizzas come highly recommended, and there is also a limited range of pasta dishes and salads, plus the obligatory creamy tiramisu.
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Luigi's
Classic little trattoria serving authentic pizza and pasta dishes plus a range of daily specials, such as seafood gnocchi. Make sure you leave room for one of the scrumptious deserts.
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Osteria da Andrea
This sophisticated Italian restaurant has an arty, minimalist interior and daily-changing menu; the sign of an innovative chef. Each day's menu usually includes a risotto and unusual pizza among the dishes, such as the delicious berenjena al parmesano (aubergine with parmesan cheese). There's a tapas bar out front.
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Mamba Point
For the best in Italian dining, make for Mamba Point, where the pasta is home-made and the menu as close to the homeland as you might hope to find in Africa. Save space for the exquisite desserts, which include lime syllabub and chocolate truffle torte.
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Restaurant Kalisimbi
Just down the road from Hotel Gorillas, this continental restaurant has one of the best Italian selections in town, including reliable pizzas. Service comes with a personal touch making it a popular place with local residents.
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Napolitana
This quaint and romantic Italian bistro specialises in gourmet pizzas and pasta, as well as heartier meat and seafood dishes. If you're feeling lazy, ring them up and they'll deliver right to your door.
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Ant Café
This hole-in-the wall Italian eatery has a distinctly Bohemian edge to it and whips up tasty pizzas in snug surrounds. Note that only cash is accepted.
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Via Veneto
Small, intimate trattoria that serves the best Italian fare in town, including excellent pizzas baked in a wood oven and a great selection of fish.
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La Dolce Vita
On Port Môle, this place is situated right above the ocean and serves great Italian food in a fantastic setting.
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Trattoria
This long-running and very popular Italian joint could hold its head up in Melbourne or San Francisco, offering excellent pizza, pasta dishes, varied mains and a whole page of desserts.
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La Mezzaluna
Head down a tiny alley to find this funky bi-level space that’s frequented by Cairo bohemians. The menu is roughly Italian, from conventional combos such as tomato and basil to the ‘Illy pasta’ (beef bacon, cream, radicchio and coffee). Salads are enormous. No alcohol is served, but the little patio out front is a quiet place to take coffee. There’s also an outpost in Mohandiseen.
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Sindabal's
Most travellers who come to Ouaga on a budget end up here at some point. It's a low-key place with a varied menu (including spaghetti bolognese and some Lebanese dishes) and the only downside - vaguely disconcerting street smells at the outdoor tables if the wind's blowing the wrong way - could easily apply to any outdoor place in town. It's not a brilliant place but it's one of a kind in Ouaga.
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Lolo Quoi
Step into a deep-red inner sanctum with gilded poetry shimmering on the walls and mood lighting in tin buckets. Of all the restaurants where you're paying for the ambience in Marrakesh, Lolo Quoi delivers - but the food holds up its end of the bargain too. Now under the same ownership as Le Grand Café de la Poste, this place is jumping with a new alcohol license and a more daring seasonal menu.
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La Mama
The Italian restaurant on the terrace overlooking a little pond with wading birds, at the entrance to the Sheraton, is a good bet, particularly if you’ve got kids in tow. This is an Italian restaurant in 1970s style with red-and-white napkins, live Neapolitan music and a good selection of pizzas, pastas and mains, all served in clean five-star surroundings.
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Seasons Restaurant
One of Cairo's most expensive restaurants, the kitchen at Seasons is known for its use of quality ingredients and its Italian-influenced food. The elegant dining room, wonderful flower arrangements, live jazz and excellent service are more Manhattan than Cairo, although the Nile views remind you where you are. The perfect spot for an all-out splurge.
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Niagara
When Catanzaro is packed to the rafters, do what the locals do: head to the north end of town for wood-fired pizzas at an even better price than Catanzaro. Marrakshi families crowd in during the day and early evening, and hipsters flock like homing pigeons to the covered roof terrace as the evening wears on - reservations are a good idea here too.
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Bella
The top-billed restaurant at the Four Seasons is an elegant Italian-inspired affair highlighted by an open kitchen, two wood-burning stoves and lashings of contemporary art at every turn. Evening dinners are accompanied by a hedonistic antipasti buffet; it’s wise to save room for the rich risottos and handmade semolina pastas.
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L'Osteria
Mamma mia! Italian food does not always suit the tropics but this Mediterranean redoubt set in a rustic stone house fits the bill. Pasta offerings span carbonara through to tasty spaghetti with smoked swordfish, as well as pizzas dense enough to drown grandpa's dentures. Satisfying grilled meats too.
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Le Pilier
Hands down, this is the place for fine Italian fare. Enjoy a plethora of pastas, ranging from various raviolis to lasagne and even gnocchi dripping in gorgonzola. Dine in their air-con equipped lounge, within the vibrant courtyard terrace, or downstairs in the Taverne (evenings only), which serves great pizza.
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Bella Casa Trattoria
This efficient Italian trattoria serves lots of pasta choices, along with pizzas and salads. It’s a cheerful, family-friendly place with a cosy indoors and also has ample courtyard seating at blue-chequered-cloth-covered tables. The thin crust Naples-style pizzas are recommended.
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Centro Recreativo Italiano Il Cairo
In winter, Cairo's Italian social club is in a cosy, wood-panelled room; in summer, it moves out into a vast yard in the centre of the embassy compound. It's the place to savour rarities like great crisp-crust pizzas, affordable red wine and even pork products. Non-Italians pay an around £E10 cover.
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La Tavernetta
There's a smattering of breezy outdoor cafés and restaurants on Calle Ruperto González Negrín and La Marina. La Tavernetta is a winner with its picture windows and vast menu, including bacon-and-egg breakfasts, healthy salads, fish and meat dishes and a heavenly chocolate soufflé.
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Didos Al Dente
A noisy, crowded pasta joint with a small outdoor space, Didos rings with the clatter of dishes and often has crowds waiting out front for a table. It’s popular with students from the nearby AUC dorm and it comes pretty close to living up to its claim of making the best noodles in town. No alcohol.
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Crave
This little black-and-white eatery looks extremely chic but it has welcoming (rather than snooty) staff and a reasonably priced menu of pizzas, pasta and the like. Score one of the comfy corner couch set-ups, and you could find yourself lounging here for quite some time.
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