In search of a breeze

It's getting to that sticky time of year again when you sometimes just feel like lying down on a cool tiled floor wearing only your underpants. I find this particular posture both uncomfortable and undignified when taking lunch. You'll find me at the air-conditioned Les Ambassades with a battered paperback, squeaking on the leather seats and supping my Orangina.

Roof terraces are an ideal place to catch the breeze at this time of year, and there are a couple of venues worth checking out for a cheeky after work snifter.

Vounda-Bar
See what they did there? Vounda-Bar? I bet whoever came up with that is still chuckling. Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour? Vounda-bar's roost atop the Goethe Institute in Point E affords a different view of Point E. You can spy on people at the nearby piscine while enjoying the, ahem, wonderful breeze. You need to hang on to your quotidien though, otherwise the aforementioned breeze will carry it off all the way to Zone B.

Bar prices are reasonable, and proper panino come in at the 1500 FCfa mark. A small selection of larger meals are available from a weekly menu for around 4000Fcfa. Alternate Sundays host an impressive buffet brunch at 10,000FCfa a head (booking advised).

Café Vounda-Bar sur la terasse du Goethe-Institut
Piscine Olympique angle Rue Diourbel
Point E - Dakar - Senegal /
Tel.: +221 77 560 21 60
Email: movingafrica@yahoo.fr
11am to 7pm.
http://vounda-bar.com/

Hotel Le Djoloff
This smart boutique hotel (rates from 50,000FCfa/night) has an attractive rooftop terrace overlooking Soumbedioune and the Iles de la Madeleine. The bar is comfy with tinkling salsa music while a blackboard advertises today's menu choices. The fish is reportedly good, which it should be given that you can see the fish market from the terrace, but veal escalopes were somewhat leathery. Smoked salmon came blistered with lemon juice, rather like a Dakar fish carpaccio.

Despite slightly mediocre food This place is hard to beat for a cheeky apres work beer on a Friday evening. Even Soumbedioune looks nice from up on high.

Hotel Le Djoloff
7 Rue Nani
Fann-Hock
Tel: 33 889 3630
info@hoteldjoloff.com
www.hoteldjoloff.com

Restaurant Rumblings:
For a look at the Collines de Niassam Lodge in Palmarin, click here.

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.

----------------------------------------------------------

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.