Restaurant News

New Openings:

Le Seven, Rue Mohammed V x Felix Faure
Re-opened by the people who used to own La Fiesta, this place has been given a welcome transformation - gone are the red walls, badly dressed 'socialites' doing cocaine in the toilets, and high volume cheap techno soundtrack. Instead the new look Seven is a bit more grown up, a bit more sophisticated and altogether brighter. Judging by the welcome and service at last night's soft opening this may become a Plateau hotspot for all the right reasons. Lunchtime menu focuses on creative salads, while the evening menu keeps to straightforward French cooking (Menu Degustation 18,000 CFA). I'll be stopping by for dinner in the New Year.

I-Cone, Route de Ngor, Almadies
New fancy Cafe recently opened on route de Ngor. Expect an updated version of the classic Dakar patisserie. With the new Casino supermarket up the road I expect they'll do well from passing trade.

Restaurant News

Sea Views

As you'd expect, there are many restaurant in Dakar with sea views. Here are a handful for breezy Sunday afternoons.

Le Dionevar, Pointe des Almadies
Perhaps cheese and onion crisps are considered to be a sophisticated amuse in France. I somehow doubt it. This place is trying hard to be an upmarket French-style joint, but is outclassed by the cheap as chips seafood offerings across the car park.

Recommended:

• Service was fine
• Nice christmas decorations

Avoid:

• The oysters. You know when something doesn't smell quite right... but its too late because you've just knocked it back...
• Cheese and onion crisps on a dining table. *Shakes head*.

Le N'gor, Almadies, by the sea
Another breezy beachside venue which is very popular on Sundays. The restaurant has bags of character, but service is slow, and the food is ony worthwhile if you've spent the afternoon getting drunk here.

Recommended:

• Meet of with some friends and soak up the seaside vibes.

Avoid:

• Drinking all of your wine while waiting for service.

Hotel Sokhamon, Bd Roosevelt x Av Nelson Mandela (website)
A boutique hotel with an unusual cave-like restaurant cut into the cliffs. The awkwardly sloping decking at the edge of the cliff is a fine place to spend an evening supping a drink and watching the sun set / planes fly over. The upmarket restaurant tries hard, with some poncey experimentation that doesn't really work out.

Recommended:

• For drinks on the deck before moving on elsewhere
• For formal dining if you stay away from the wackier items

Avoid:

• It's pricey
• Service is a bit fussy, and slow

Lagon I, Rue de la Petite Corniche
Some sort of ridiculous nautical / sport fishing themed restaurant. Does that float your boat? Then you are as vulgar as this restaurant. Overpriced grub for French tourists who have been allowed out of the Club Med prison walls for a couple of hours. On the plus side I saw a very nice dog in the restaurant, sitting calmly at the feet of an elderly lady.

Recommended:

• You actually laugh for the first few minutes, particularly at the faux crocodile pit. Then you remember that you have to eat there, and consider throwing yourself in.

Avoid:

• Just avoid

Le Relais Sportif, Route Corniche Ouest
If you enjoy eating in the dark, come here in the evening. If you'd prefer to see what you are eating come in the day. Actually, don't bother eating. If you can catch the attention of a waiter (perhaps try setting fire to something), have some beers and enjoy the breeze off the sea.

Recommended:

• For afternoon beers.

Avoid:

• Coming after dark
• Eating

More sea view tips from Almadies coming soon.

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Other Restaurant News:
The Christmas decorations are up at Les Ambassades bakery in Point E. I shall be keeping my eye out for some of the more vulgar festive decor around town. Any tip-offs most appreciated.

Many thanks to L'Institut Francais (the CCF) for letting us use their grounds for our informal Petanque championship a couple of weeks ago. The staff there were superb and did us a great favour.

Look out for a detailed review of 'Le Lodge' on Experimental Jifflings at the end of next week.

Bon appetit

Random factor, like a tractor...

No regional theme this time, just a few odd ones I've missed out.

New Africa, 9794, Sacre Coeur III
A bar / restaurant with a pool table and a creative menu. Popular with moneyed Senegalese and French ex-pats. Get crunching on crab claws and all manner of sea critters by ordering the spaghetti a l'oceane, or try one of the thoughtfully assembled tagines. Check the ridiculous map of the World on the wall in the porch for whole continents you never new existed.

Recommended:

• The Spaghetti a l'Ocean is a thing of wonder.
• Good casual vibes for a game of pool and a beer with friends

Avoid:

• Service can be slow
• Parking is tricky in the sandy backstreets

La Noix D'or, Rue Aime cesaire x Rue E, Fann.
Since this is only a step away from the Chinese Embassy one would have thought that it must be the best place for Chinese food in town. A shame then that it's ghost-town empty. Perhaps there is a bit more trade early in the evening. Pricey, but reasonable take-away.

Recommended:

• Take away is reasonable quality, with a few more unusual dishes than the standard efforts

Avoid:

• The spooky emptiness of the restaurant itself

Le Celtic, Rue 6, Point E
Back to Point E again, this place is a cracking bar on Rue 6. Staff are friendly and the vibes are good. A shame more people don't drink there are its a great neighbourhood bar. Food is fresh and comes in healthy portions - the staff even came around with leftover pommes sautes from the kitchen.

Recommended:

• Good steaks and grills
• Cocktails (watch out for the daily cocktail special offer)

Avoid:

• A little bit too much Sting on the stereo if you ask me.

Zaika, 14 Fann-Hock
This Indian restaurant has an indoor water feature. Frankly, if a restaurant has an indoor water feature, I expect the waiters to wear bow ties and moustaches, and to have my food brought to me by trained monkeys dressed in gold lame. Its OK. Bit pricey. (note - Zaika is currently closed for rennovation)

Recommended:

• The deep fried starter selection.

Avoid:

• You may meet David Bowie throwing a baby into the air on the way to the toilet and end up never returning from the labyrinth. To hell with it, just go in the water feature.

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In the news:
A new chef at Ethiopian restaurant Lalibela (Rue A, Point E) has improved both the quantity and the quality of the food. The cooking now complements the delightful rooftop setting.

Plateau Part Deux

Some more places to enjoy / avoid downtown.

La Croix du Sud, 20 Avenue Albert Sarraut, Plateau
Like walking into a Blackpool bed and breakfast on the weekend of a dogging convention, you can almost feel the middle-aged suburban sleaze dripping down the walls. Shrivelled expat divorcees share Calvados with rotund drunks. The restaurant is alright, but half an hour in the bar was enough to put me off going near there again.

Recommended:

• If you're into swinging.

Avoid:

• The drunken, lecherous men and women.

La Forchette, 4 rue Parent, Plateau
Upmarket, stylish, and popular with the French and Lebanese contingent. Service is sharp, but food can be inconsistent. Take a fat wallet, and don't miss the desserts.

Recommended:

• There is a weekday lunchtime deal - 6,000 CFA for two courses. Great value.
• Puds - the Roti Chocolat is divine, and the cheeky Creme Brulee en coque is as smooth as silk

Avoid:

• It gets pretty smoky

Chez Loutcha, 101 Rue Moussa Diop, Plateau
Cape verdean, Senegalese and European food. A menu like a telephone directory, and portions that could feed a sasquatch. Chez Loutcha is just grubby and disorganised enough for visiting foreigners to rave about, as they feel like they've had some sort of 'African experience'. On the other hand its just clean and organised enough to fleece the toubabs with large portions of poor quality food.

Recommended:

• Portions are large. You won't go hungry.

Avoid:

• The so called Cape Verdean dishes - large quantities of beans with gag inducing chunks of stale fat.

Le Seoul, 75 rue Amadou Assane Ndoye, Plateau
Bizarre Korean / karaoke joint. Don't feel embarassed about singing, as you'll be the only customers, despite the restaurant being a tastefully decorated quiet haven in Plateau. Food choice is buffet, or nothing. At least its a decent buffet. For a more detailed review, click here.

Recommended:
A decent enough buffet with a bit of sushi and a few different flavours
Bizarrely enough, Some of Radiohead's twitchier moments on the karaoke machine
Private room for karaoke

Avoid:
Restaurant kicks out at 11pm.
Spooky feeling that the restaurant is a cover for something more sinister...

Fast food coming up next. And there should be an option to subscribe to the blog appearing to the right of the text...

Plateau Part 1

Here are a few upmarket places in the busier part of town.

Mezzo, 26 Rue Jules Ferry, Plateau
Smart. Leather sofas, antipasti, trip-hop on the stereo... Well French trip-hop, which is a pretty dire facsimile. Anyhow, this place is cool, and modern, but not expensive or rammed to the gills with teenagers with big hair, oversized sunglasses, and DOLCE & GABBANA screaming from every conceivable orifice. The atmosphere is more Italian families, courting couples, and folks warming up for a night on the tiles.

Recommended:

• Great pizzas. Possibly the best in town.
• Pasta is good too...
• The salty chocolate cake is surprisingly ace.

Avoid:

• Music gets a bit loud later on.

Farid, 51 Rue Vincens, Plateau
Slick, high end Lebanese food, this is one of my top picks in Dakar. A varied menu with fantastic mezze. Frequented by Lebanese for celebrations - I witnessed an engagement party where a whole roast sheep was brought out (with a little paper hat on its head) by a rotund chef. The party then enjoyed dancing in a circle around the sheep. Thats my kind of party.

Recommended:

• The mezze
• Reasonable wines
• Can cater for parties

Avoid:

• It can get a bit dark on the street outside the restaurant. Take care.

Cafe de Rome, 32 Bld de la Republique, Plateau
This is a favourite with the Dakar glitterati according to some. There is a fancy airconditioned restaurant, or a more laid back terrace. the Italian food is unremarkable, with a bit of a microwaved vibe.

Recommended:

• To see or be seen, if that's your thing.
• Nice terrace

Avoid:

• The food isn't very interesting, and it's a bit pricey

Le Toukouleur, 122 Rue Moussa Diop, Plateau
Warm terracotta walls and Mediterranean vibes make this a relaxing haven in Plateau. Upmarket prices for high quality creative cooking.

Recommended:

• Very willing to put together something interesting for vegetarians if you ask

Avoid:

• Red wine comes thoroughly chilled

Plateau Part 2 next week.

Culture and Cuisine in Plateau

Fancy a spot of culture with your food? Here are a few spots in Plateau for when getting drunk is not necessarily the main aim of the evening.

Le Bidew Bi at L'Institute Francais Leopold Sedar Senghor (aka the CCF), 89 rue Joseph T. Gomis, Plateau.
A nice semi-outdoor space that hosts plays and concerts (sometimes attracting big stars from West Africa), has a decent menu, laidback social atmosphere, and quality artists workshops to browse. http://www.institutfr-dakar.org/

Recommended:

• Great fruit juices
• Decent salads

Avoid:

• Sometimes it's randomly booked for private functions, so call ahead.
• The kitchen has often run out of your first choice, and your second choice.

Kadjinol station Avenue Albert Sarrault X Salva, Plateau.
A cinema / bar / restaurant all in one. Pull up a sofa and watch arthouse flicks with a beer in hand. Movies are often shown in their original English or Spanish verision, with French subtitles. They'll even take requests if there is a particular film that you've missed. http://www.kadjinol-edu.com/

Recommended:

• The food isn't bad, some Thai bits and bobs and the odd brochette.
• Films come free

Avoid:

• You pay a premium on food and beer, which pays for the film
• You may be the only party in the place.

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Since my previous post about Point E, I've been enjoying a few drinks at a cosy car called 'Le Celtic' in Point E. You can find it on an un-named (to the best of my knowledge) avenue, one street east of Rue 5/Birago Diop. I guess it would by Rue 6, or 5-and-a-half.

The owner is part Irish, hence the Celtic, but its not an Irish pub by any means. I haven't eaten there yet, but it seems popular. A bit of live music here and there, and pleasant outdoor seating (bring the insect repellent) makes it a decent place to go to wind down after work.

Apparently Lalibela has a new chef and is back on form, so a visit there in the next couple of weeks is on cards.