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Adonis
Masses of students, workers and travellers pass through this spacious, though invariably packed fast-food place. Why? The shwarmas are excellent.
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Ali Baba Snack Bar
Dakar's classic fast-food haunt keeps turning thanks to the undying love of the Senegalese. Serves the whole fast-food range: kebabs, and other quick snacks.
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Aux Fins Palais
It's easy to tire of French bread in Dakar. This is one of the few places that serve an excellent range of wholemeal breads.
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Caesar's
Sometimes only fried chicken wings, burgers and fries will do, and for those moments Caesar's is your place. Come here regularly and you'll gain precious insights into the complexities of teenage love life.
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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.
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Café Restaurant de l'Institut
In the cool shade of the Institut Français' mighty fromager tree, this oasis of calm has an excellent range of simple meals, delicious desserts and great coffee.
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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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Chez Loutcha
Ignore the air-conditioned front room and head out back to the fan-conditioned garden, where the fountains embellish an aquatic theme. The Cape Verdean and 'Euro-Africaine' cuisine is excellent and comes in enormous portions, and there's often a griot playing the kora here as well.
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Jardin Thaïlandais
There's no better Thai, perhaps no better Asian food altogether, in the whole of Senegal than that served at this pretty place in Point E. Prices are a bit steep, but every bite is worth it.
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Keur N'Deye
Highly recommended, this place offers well-prepared Senegalese specialities and a good range of vegetarian dishes. Most nights there will be a griot playing the kora, and this is a great place to watch a performance at close quarters.
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La Casa Créole
On a marvellous garden terrace, French and Creole food are served with a sprinkling of live jazz.
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La Fourchette
This polished food temple serves impeccable sushi and scrumptious dishes from around the world. Pricey - yes, but sinfully good.
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La Galette
This patisserie is slightly more down-to-earth, though still floating way above a simple bakery.
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La Palmeraie
This place is usually buzzing - but that's got to be due to the central location. It can't be the food, which is ordinary, nor the setting, which is gloomy. The service? Disgruntled. Still, for a quick bite in the centre of town it's a reasonable option.
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La Royaltine
Guarded by a uniformed porter and drenched in soft, golden lighting, Dakar's most polished patisserie oozes class. Affluent Dakarois swagger in here for tasty cakes, desserts and chocolates.
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La Villa Chez Yannick
French food and a few miscellaneous international dishes are served in an airy outdoor setting.
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Lagon I
In this expensive restaurant the nautical theme is consistently pursued, from cruise-ship décor and cabin-style toilets to the terrace suspended on stilts in the ocean and scrumptious platters of seafood.
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Le Dragon
This is one of Dakar's oldest Vietnamese restaurants, and the one that started the popularity of Asian food in the city.
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Le Méléa
This tiny French restaurant is all simple elegance, and the food, such as Moroccan couscous, tastes divine.
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Le Niwa
Right above the Île de Gorée ferry departure hall, this usually crowded place is the obvious 'waiting lounge' if you've missed your boat. Its seafood is recommended.
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Le Sarraut
This is a Dakar classic: the tasty French and international cuisine in this calm, central place is hard to beat.
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Le Seoul
The leafy courtyard setting is a welcome respite from the inner-city streets, and the Korean food is carefully prepared and subtly spiced.
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Le Toukouleur
It's all about tasteful African chic in this mud-red painted, patio-adorned restaurant de classe . The food fits its environment, too; a refined mix of international flavours.
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Les Grilladins
This is a good address for pizzas and crêpes. Food here isn't fancy but it's reliable, and even served relatively speedily. Les Grilladins also does home delivery.
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Metissacana
This is a haven of peace in the inner city - a leafy patio where you can enjoy a coffee and simple meals. And best of all - you can browse through the original creations by internationally acclaimed fashion designer Oumou Sy and her students in the adjacent boutique.
