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There are a great variety of delicious local dishes to be tried in Ivory Coast, although it can be a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. We found that in general, hotel restaurants are over-priced and the food is not that great, especially if they try to cook French dishes.

Let's Eat

Ajcairns
2005-11-04 20:48:05

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There are a great variety of delicious local dishes to be tried in Ivory Coast, although it can be a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. We found that in general, hotel restaurants are over-priced and the food is not that great, especially if they try to cook French dishes.

The first hotel we stayed in - the rather touristy Hamanieh - had three meals included with the price of the room. It would have been better if they also had the option of paying a bit less, and not taking any meals, because frankly the food was crap - tough chewy bits of meat badly cooked, barely warm vegetables, not to mention the unfriendly and very slow service.

The Grand Hotel had excellent food (both African and European specialities), although the prices were expensive (basically what you'd pay in a European restaurant). What we found to be the best deal was to eat in the Maquis or even buy stuff from little stalls on the street. Here you could get delicious Atikée (made from manioc) and fish for 200 FCFA, washed down with a Coke or a beer for about the same price.

Other stuff available in the street or maquis included foutou/plakalé (mashed bananas/manioc) with fish or meat sauce, rice with various sauces, aloko (fried plantation banana - a banana less sweet than what we're accustomed to eating in Europe) with fish and chili sauce, grilled kidneys, and all kinds of fresh fruit such as pineapples, oranges, mangos, papayas, bananas, grapefruit. The pineapples were more or less straight from the tree - ripe, juicy, and sweet - the best I've ever tasted.

Coconuts were available almost anywhere for around 25 to 100 FCFA each. It was a new experience for me to drink fresh coconut milk and then eat the pulp from the inside - the first one I got was near the beach in Grand Bassam. The women selling them skin the coconut, then cut a hole in the top for you with a machete, you drink the cool, sweet, refreshing milk inside, and then ...