Conakry - Post Report Question and Answers
What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?
We rarely ate out. The places we do go to are 1) Kaki – they have really great pizza 2) Bombay to Beirut- good Indian/Lebanese fusion restaurant that will deliver. 3) Avenue – pretty good Asian food 4) Hanoi – pretty good Vietnamese food. There’s also a couple good Indian places, though so heavy that we didn’t return to either restaurant. We cook some local dishes – sweet potato leaf sauce, peanut sauce. We do not eat local cuisine, cooked locally, because of sanitation fears. - Sep 2022
We're not big restaurant people, but we have tried Chinese, Italian, French, Vietnamese, Indian, Lebanese, Turkish, both haute and plebeian West African, pizza, ice cream, burgers, and been pleased with all of them. There are hotels with decent food, and a number of downtown restaurants. The Noom hotel's Sunday buffet is delightful, with pool access included. Just to put it out there: Guineans eat A LOT of rice. In Conakry most rice is imported, but in the rest of Guinea it’s produced and parboiled on-farm. You probably won’t want to eat rice three times a day, but do take advantage of being in Guinea to find a reliable, sand-free source of local rice, and eat as much as you can stand. It’s a healthy and practical thing to always have on-hand if you’re living here, and your Guinean employees and guests will appreciate your integrating the local staple into your rotation. If you hire a cook, or if you cook yourself, it's a great chance to dive into Guinean food, but on your own terms, so you can include the stuff you like but filter out any ingredients you don’t. We've been introduced to fonio, millet and sorghum and corn porridge, sour milk (like kefir), amazing seafood, leaf sauce, spicy paste, peanut sauce, meat pies, taro pepper soup, booto and other new fruits. We are not crazy about slimy okra, or super smoky smoked fish, or stinky fermented nere seeds. We enjoy red palm oil in moderation, now that we're used to the strong smell. The bottom line is that there is lots of good stuff to discover in Guinean cuisine, but because a few of the ingredients are alien and overpowering in smell or flavor, you're probably not going to get things to your taste in a restaurant. Better to experiment at home, on your own terms. Lots of expats are turned off initially from Guinean food, and they end up missing out because they avoid it their whole time in country. There’s lots of really good stuff to try and add to your diet. - Jun 2021
The Sheraton has a buffet. Some people like a restaurant called l'Avenue. If you live downtown, there are more options available, but overall, the quality of restaurants here is not great. - Nov 2019
Minimal selection, local is cheap, "western" is expensive. - May 2016
No fast food and few restaurant options. Still, there are some good options- Lebanese, Continental, Chinese, and local spots (serving brochette, chicken/fish and chips, cold beer). Fancy hotels (Palm and Millennium) are decent come with fancy prices. - Dec 2014
There is no American fast food, but there are a few hamburger joints and schwarma restaurants. There are a few decent Chinese, Lebanese and French restaurants. There are also a couple of Vietnamese restaurants. - Sep 2009
That depends on your definition. There are Lebanese shwarma restaurants that are fast. No McDonald's or even anything close. There are a few decent restaurants, though nothing too fancy. - May 2009
Very little is fast in Conakry, but a few fast food type restaurants have popped up. Al Forno, a wood stove pizza place downtown, is a hit with the embassy crowd. Their popular 4-cheese pizza costs about 50,000 Guinea Francs, or US$15. The two Riviera restaurants have consistently good food - chicken, steaks and the like. Hotel Cameyenne is supposed to have the best burger in Conakry. The Novotel has a good Sunday brunch that rivals any you'd find in the U.S., but it's pricey for Conakry -- US$40 at last check. For fabulous French pastries and chocolates Le Damier is the best, and they too have an extensive Sunday brunch. Some of the best ice cream you'll ever find anywhere is available downtown next to MounaNet cyber cafe. The best food will probably be whatever your cook prepares. Conakry has a surprisingly good supply of cooks who can prepare almost anything from traditional African fare to American favorites to frou-frou French cuisine. - Mar 2008
