Restaurants in Mali
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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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African Grill
African Grill is a wonderful place to sample African specialties like foutou (sticky yam or plantain paste), kedjenou (slowly simmered chicken or fish with peppers and tomatoes) and poulet yassa (grilled chicken in onion and lemon sauce). There's a different plat du jour every day, a delightful oasis of a dining area, friendly service, and a steady stream of regulars. They also do sandwiches and have a branch restaurant in the Musée National.
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Bar Restaurant Amanar
Our favourite restaurant in Timbuktu, Amanar has a mellow atmosphere with a soundtrack of Malian blues (think Ali Farke Touré and Tinariwen), chilled and friendly waiters and a small and intimate garden. They do all the travellers' staples, but the soups are outstanding. Right outside the door stands the Flamme de la Paix monument and the Sahara. From Thursday to Saturday, they stay open late as a lively bar with a DJ from 22:30.
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San Toro
The décor here is charmingly African and the specialties are quality Malian dishes (the poulet au coco is especially good), which can take a while to appear, but are always worth the wait. There's no alcohol, but there are tasty fruit juices. In the evenings from around 20:00, there's live kora music.
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Patisserie Asco
The friendly Patisserie Asco does a range of pastries, the croissants are dense and stodgy, but their local specialties (Tuareg, Songhaï and Arab) are excellent. The riz alabadja (rice, cow butter, meat and lemon) is a highlight. The only drawback are the hangers-on who seem to appear whenever tourists do.
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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 Poulet d'Or
This is a popular (and recommended) travellers' restaurant, which does the usual chicken and chips, brochettes, rice, meat and sauce, but they do they them particularly well - also look out for some more adventurous dishes (like roast goat), which might need ordering in advance.
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Le Compagnard
Top marks for this place. High-quality French cooking, French wines and a switched-on ambience ensure plenty of regular customers among the expat community. The salad bar is a nice touch, and the wood-fired pizzas are as good as you'll find in Bamako.
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Bobo Bar
Numerous food stalls cluster around the gare routière, port and entrance to town. In the Old Town is a small Bobo Bar where bellaphone music is sometimes played, continuing as long as people keep drinking millet beer.
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Bellàh Rôtisserie
- Gao, Mali
- Restaurants › Café
Around the Grand Marché you can get coffee and bread in the mornings, and street food in the evenings (check out the excellent local sausages). Rotisseries are found all over Gao - Bellàh Rôtisserie is worth a try.
reviewed
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Café Restaurant la Casa
In Bamako Coura, this is a fine, relaxed backpacker hang-out opposite the Mission Catholique; their spaghetti, couscous and ragout dishes contain the freshest ingredients, but if you want meat you'll need to order in advance.
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Yérédémé Restaurant
In the southeast of the Old Town, opposite Stade de Taí'kiri, Yérédémé offers reasonable food served in a nice shady courtyard. It also sells mango and bissap jam and makes clothes to order.
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Patisserie Le Taubon
- Gao, Mali
- Restaurants › Bakery
A good range of snacks and lights meals are available here, including meat pockets, chicken burgers and nêmes (shredded beef in an egg roll). It's on the road to the airport.
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Le Petit Restaurant
This is a very popular place with tourists and expats, who come for the cheap and hearty lentils, liver, couscous and macaroni. Oumar, the kindly Algerian owner, is another drawcard.
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Soukhothai
Craving a pad thai? It's only around CFA6000 away. You won't find more authentic Thai cuisine in Africa, and expats swear by this place as one of Bamako's best restaurants.
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Bar-Restaurant Le Souvenir
On the roof of the Grand Marché, you'll find the pleasant Bar-Restaurant Le Souvenir, which serves cheap meals like couscous without/with meat.
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Appaloosa Restaurant
This is where Tex Mex meets Beirut with the merest nod to Bamako. There are many highlights, including Lebanese mezze, steaks and pizzas.
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La Source du Nord
- Gao, Mali
- Restaurants › Café
You can try wigila in this place, opposite the Shell petrol station in central Gao, and they also do a good braised capitaine.
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Pâtisserie le Royaume des Gourmands
This air-con haven amid busy Bamako is the best patisserie in town, with good croissants, coffee and fresh orange juice served with a smile.
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Restaurant Essakane du Nord
For cheap meals there are rotisseries all over town. Restaurant Essakane du Nord, on the roof of the Grand Marché,has good cheap meals.
reviewed
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Restaurant Koundji do a la Belle
Serves up the standard fare of brochette and rice and sauce, plus some other Malian specialities by prior arrangement.
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Restaurant de l'Amitié
Does good rice and steak and chicken dishes and they move up a gear come tourist season.
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Restaurant al Hayat
Restaurant al Hayat does a good breakfast and a range of couscous and spaghetti dishes.
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Restaurant le Fleuve
Restaurant le Fleuve offers simple Malian dishes which are best ordered in advance.
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Restaurant Baramuso
- Mopti, Mali
- Restaurants › Café
This is the place for a wonderful cheap lunch in the centre of town.
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