Today’s post comes from Heather, a Dakar Eats readers and my new BFF because I have been meaning to figure out what the deal is with El Toro, the big orange restaurant across from the stadium in Ngor. Well, she did – and it’s good news…

When we first moved here a year and a half ago, we kept trying to go to El Toro because it was walking distance from us. It was always closed. Today we were walking by it, looking for a new place to eat and we noticed it was open.

We sat on the second floor balcony, which was a little chilly this time of year and we had to use spray against the mosquitoes, but it was nice sitting out there watching the traffic below and enjoying the fresh air. Other seating areas were on the first floor/street level terrace, first floor indoors, first floor bar area and second floor indoors.

We began with fried calamari, which was served with mayonnaise rather than an American seafood sauce like we are used to. However, it was absolutely delicious. Not rubbery at all, and spiced just right, even though it was very subtle. We ordered two plates, thinking we would have leftovers.Wrong! It was too good.

For the main course, my husband and I each got a pork filet. Fantastic! Wonderful flavor. One child got Yassa Poulet (I know, Spanish restaurant, Senegalese food) but he said it was the best he has had at a restaurant. The other child had a more typical child’s dish of fried chicken strips with a large portion of French fries. The chicken was gone at the end of the meal, and he is a picky eater.

We are looking forward to going back and trying other items on the menu. There were many choices of Paella (see below!) as well as Tapas. There was also a selection of Senegalese dishes and a selection of Lebanese dishes on the menu, although I am not sure if they are currently offering the Lebanese dishes.

The service was wonderful. We did go right at 7pm though, when there were only a few people in the restaurant, which may be a little early for some people.  The servers were very attentive and friendly. The owner (we think) was also present and friendly, stopping to speak with us several times. He didn’t know much English, so we made it work with a mixture of Spanish and French. We received individual attention and asked for recommendations in Spanish. The waitstaff all spoke French.

The bill was very reasonable. For 2 appetizers, 4 entrees, 3 beers, and 2 wines (nice house white), we were right at 43,000 CFA. And the owner also brought us Spanish Jambon, kind of like a cooked prosciutto, which was a lovely surprise.

Overall, we are very excited to have another good restaurant in walking distance from us, and are looking forward to going again.

Note: I’ve also heard that El Toro makes a great Paella to-go for large groups, but that you need to order a day in advance. Has anyone tried this?

El Toro
Across from the Stade de Ngor on airport road
Tel: 33 868 2958