Today’s post in the ‘My favorite restaurants’ series comes from Melinda, an American mother of two who moved here from Laos with her husband.

If you’d be willing to participate by sharing your recommendations, please email me!. Thanks!

Favorite Pizza: Terrou Bi pool/beach side bar – they have a small selection, but the ones we have had have a perfectly crispy crust, plenty of cheese and yummy toppings. Plus you can’t beat the setting – great with kids as they can play on the beach while you wait. We love it for a little family escape. The pizzas all cost between 5,000 – 7,000cfa.

Favorite hamburger: My husband likes to make finding the best hamburger his mission when we come to a new place, but so far he has not found it. I’m afraid the Dakar style with egg and fries all smashed in together isn’t up his ally. So if anyone finds a more North American style Hamburger in Dakar, let us know!

Favorite ice cream: We have to say that our vote goes to N’ice Cream, though we have to say we definitely prefer it freshly dipped in their shop down town to the pre-packed containers you can find around town. They have the best selection, most flavors we like, plus you get the most for your money! We always make a stop when down town!

Xocco at Sea Plaza would be our number 2 vote mostly because it’s convenient for us and makes an easy family outing, but I must say also they have the best ever dark chocolate ice cream!

Favorite ethnic restaurant: Le Jardin Thailandais all the way! It’s liking walking into a little piece of SE Asia for a few hours and we love that having moved here from there. They have excellent Thai curries and a good selection that even includes more ethnic NE Thai dishes. We didn’t think those were as good as the standard Thai fare they offer though, but over all we love this place.

Our second vote would go to Indiana down town just off of Place d’Independence. We are big fans of Indian cuisine and liked everything we ate there, the setting also felt very Indian.

Favorite Senegalese restaurant: We really haven’t disovered the joys of Senegalese cuisine yet, so don’t have a favorite for this category.

Favorite brunch: Our favorite Sunday morning treat is take home goods from La Graine d’Or in Ngor, we think it’s worth the morning drive. We are especially in love with their new raspberry pastries. We have tried a couple places out for breakfast and so far have been disappointed so would love to know if we’re missing out on something great!

Favorite little beach restaurant: We actually liked the little shack on le petit plage on Isle de N’Gor, not the one up by the water but the one to the back of that one that is truly a little shack. They took forever, so we learned that we need to order while we are still happy playing on the beach but after that we found their food to be the cheapest decent beach shack food we have found.

Favorite old standby: Shady Shack for when we want something simple, easy and inexpensive!

Au Fin Palais (next door to N’ice Cream) for lunch out down town, of course part of the perk is we’ve got dessert next door, but we actually also really like their lunches.

Le Récif for a relaxing dinner out either with or with out the kids. We love the food and the atmosphere.

Favorite splurge: It’s gotta be Le Jardin Thailandais… love it. Though I must say we haven’t yet checked out the Dakar sushi scene so that just might be the next splurge and may become a new favorite, we shall see.

Favorite evening date spot: La Crêperie in Almadies across from surf shack with a great view of the sunset and delectable savory and sweet crêpes as well as other menu items. We love it!

If I were stranded on a deserted island which Dakar Restaurant would I want: Send me some Thom Ka Kai and Kao Niao from Jardin Thailandais and I’ll be just fine as long as there is also a good Mango tree somewhere on that island! 🙂

What is missing from the Dakar food scene? A good quality cafe offering North American food such as Mexican, good cinnamon rolls, cheese cake, waffles, breakfast burritos, English Muffin breakfast sandwiches, etc. Something like this…
http://www.joma.biz/Joma/Welcome.html
or this…
http://jclao.com/archives/1659

A place with a quality indoor and/or outdoor play area is also missing.

Thanks, Melinda!