Restaurants in Africa
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Café 41
A beautifully designed bistro-style restaurant serving Mediterranean fare from an extensive menu (the great big meze platters are good value). There’s a large outdoor deck, and a hidden section that makes you forget you’re in a shopping village. Service is a little on the slow side though.
reviewed
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B
Catz Pyjamas
Eateries in New Melville are generally not as good as those around 7th St - this is where you will find the usual chain eateries - but they are generally easier on the pocket. The Catz Pyjamas can be a little sterile, but it's open 24 hours and the cheap food is welcome after a long night out.
reviewed
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C
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.
reviewed
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Rhapsody's
Jump on a minibus to one of the two modern shopping centres: Manda Hill or Arcades on Great East Rd. Arcades has a cluster of top-end restaurants, the most popular being wine-bar/restaurant Rhapsody's, a hang-out for nongovernment organisation (NGO) types and well-to-do Zambians at weekends.
reviewed
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D
Chef Khalil
Popular fish restaurant, just along from the train station, serving very fresh fish from Lake Nasser and the Red Sea, charged by weight, grilled, baked or fried to your choice and served with salad and rice or French fries. It’s a small place, but worth the wait if it’s full.
reviewed
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E
Table Mountain Café
Hallelujah! Table Mountain finally gets the café it so deserves. This self-serve place offers tasty deli items and meals, compostable plates and containers, and good coffee. They also sell wine and beer so there’s no need to cart your bottle up the slopes to toast the view.
reviewed
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F
Café Pap
A stylish café on bustling Parliament Ave, this might be the place to meet some movers and shakers. Uganda coffees are promoted here from the slopes of Elgon, the Rwenzoris and the Virungas, but there is also an excellent menu of sandwiches, paninis and full breakfasts.
reviewed
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G
Bangkok Restaurant
With the best Thai food in Lagos, the Bangkok is a treat. The cooks and waitresses are all Thai, and offer you a broad menu of fragrantly spiced dishes. Portions are very generous, and if you can't finish your meal, they're used to sending people home with a doggie bag.
reviewed
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Ling Ling
Formerly Fang Fang, this place has one of the weirdest locations for any Chinese restaurant - in the forecourt of a petrol station - but don't let that distract from the food. The best Chinese beyond Kampala, tuck into a good spread with drinks for around USh15,000.
reviewed
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Via via
Set in quiet gardens behind the Natural History Museum, this laid-back place is a popular meeting spot, with salads, sandwiches, fresh bread, cakes, yogurt and light meals (a mixture of local and European fare), plus a bar and live music on Thursdays from 9pm.
reviewed
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Roof Garden
The only Indian restaurant in Eritrea, this upmarket joint on the 5th floor of a modernish building is praised for its lip-smacking biriyani and tandoori dishes. Recommended if you feel the time has come to give your tastebuds something new to sing about.
reviewed
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Bangkok Chinese Restaurant
The Bangkok has been in business for a number of years but was clearly named by someone with no grasp of geography, as there's virtually nothing Thai on the menu at all. If the disappointment gets too much you can always crack open a bottle of Moët.
reviewed
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L
City Garden
A lunch buffet (Tsh8500; Monday to Friday) and à la carte dining, featuring standards such as grilled fish/chicken and rice. There’s a shady outdoor seating area, and it’s one of the few places in the city centre open on Sunday.
reviewed
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M
Empire Café
The surfies’ favourite hang-out is a great place for a breakfast or lunch of well-made pasta dishes and salads. Local art exhibitions enliven the walls. Call to see if it’s open for dinner on Thursday and Friday, November to March.
reviewed
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Amanzi's
Set in a stunning former colonial house with African décor and an even more amazing garden, Amanzi's has the tastiest food from around the world and a great vibe. You can also buy a painting from a local artist on the way out. A must.
reviewed
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Victoria 22
Yet another restaurant set in what was once a colonial house, this is a favourite of well-heeled locals. It is pretty formal (for Harare standards), with choices within a set menu of four courses, and probably has the best food in town.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Panorama
With its pleasant Nileside terrace, this is a great place to chill and sip a herbal tea or fresh juice. It also serves simple Egyptian stews cooked in clay pots, with salad, mezze and rice or chips, or an all-day breakfast.
reviewed
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O
Restaurant des Combattants
A huge colonial building with a wide-ranging African menu featuring escargot, sauce feuille (manioc leaf sauce with beef tail, fish and crab) and other dishes not often found in sit-down restaurants.
reviewed
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P
Kaldi's Coffee
While lawyers may eventually kibosh Kaldi's Starbucks-like sign, logo, interior, uniforms and menu, thirsty expats dropping around Br14 for fabulous frappuccinos will ensure Kaldi's contagious coffee lives on.
reviewed
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Q
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.
reviewed
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Beach Cafe
Durbs’ hot beach hang-out. Soak up the sun in a deck chair or sun lounge, or chill out with a cocktail on the restaurant deck, overlooking the beach and life guards.
reviewed
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Alt München
A Bavarian restaurant just east of Hôtel Mercure-Sarakawa, offering a good selection of German beers and hearty European dishes such as goulash and knuckle of pork.
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China Town
This surprisingly unkitsch, air-conditioned Chinese restaurant, with a well-stocked bar, is at the southwest end of the boulevard.
reviewed
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Café de Rome
You want to mingle with Dakar's jet set? This is the place. So pretentious it borders on hilarious.
reviewed