Algiers Restaurants

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This is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Algiers. OK, the guidebook is a bit out of date. I couldn’t tell you because they never served me any food! I guess when I showed up with boots, t-shirt and some combat style trousers that I didn’t fit in with the rest of the suit and dress wearing crowd. When I walked in they ignored me before giving me table. They had some nice looking fish tanks and a loud huge screen TV showing sports hanging from the ceiling. Waters walked past me to go see to other guests as they were all farther into the restaurant. Waiters went past again with orders. Waiters returned with food and back to the bar. Waiters returned with drinks and returned somewhere to the rear of the restaurant. After 20 minutes of watching and waving the Manager saw me and finally brought me a menu. Then the waiters walked past me for another 15 minutes before I ordered a beer. Small, expensive but cold. Then I waved some more and 10 minutes later I finally got one of these ignorant bastards to bring me my bill.

It should not take 1 hour to get a bottle of beer!

I watched wine carts go past, desert carts go past. Why would you even contemplate trying to eat here?

So anyway you can find lots of reviews on the internet about this place that essentially report:

• Bad service
• Possible fraudulent abuse of credit cards
• Illness after eating here
• Poor, old seafood
• Over priced

I can only confirm the first one.

They do serve over-priced alcohol if you really want a drink….

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So you are wondering why I ate here aren’t you? This restaurant (more of a bar) is inside a brand new shopping plaza and outdoor event venue. Somehow this place still manages to look old, dirty and worn inside this new complex. I was looking for a restaurant where I could get alcohol nearby my apartment and this was the only option. When I walked in the first time I thought I could probably put up with the smoke as the meat and fish inside the glass case looked good, so did the menu and they had a bar. Even sports on TV. So I ‘saved’ my visit to my last night in Algeria.

Big mistake.

When I showed up and tried to take a photo of the outside a large, slightly gangster-like, character not only said “Non! Privée!”, I thought he might actually physically do something unpleasant to me. Once I explained I would be dinning and drinking, he became smarmy and friendly. He told me his name, but who cares?

Inside I watch a very strange ‘hostess’ with massive boobs all but falling out of her blouse talk to the mostly male clientele. I was offered expensive small (but cold) bottles of Heineken.

I ordered a delicious salad and an excellent tasting peppercorn sauce steak. Both were greasy and I though I was probably in for an upset stomach unless I drank enough to sterilise my insides. There were no side dishes – just slightly stake bread. So it was a bar meal, although better tasting than most bars. My other indication I might have trouble was the filthy state of the toilets. They had soap, but even that looked filthy.

So I went back to my apartment to get some sleep. Within hours – you guessed it. And for the next 8 days I spent at least $50 on diarrhoea tablets and a lot of time regretting my meal whilst inside many many toilets.

I once had a bad kebab on the streets of Yemen and had issues for 24 hours. That was the worst until these morons. 8 days!

So if you want to spend time in public toilets for the next week – this is just the place for you!

Favorite Dish:
You would need to be crazy to eat here. The beer was ok.

In the small streets close to the ferry terminals, there are plenty of small restaurants that have "brochettes" (grilled food on skewers).

Favorite Dish: Regular brochettes were lamb flesh but there were also kidney, liver and the famous "white kidney" brochettes! They were the most expensive and I suppose they are still! For those who do not know, white kidneys are ram balls (testicles). They taste great, a little like brain.

On several of our travels, when coming back from the south, we had to wait the ferry departure for a few hours, did we ate plenty of these brochettes! After the desert, that was like heaven though we would have rather drink a glass of wine instead of Fanta (orange drink)! But if you eat local, you have to drink local! No alcohol!

We have not been often to restaurants in Algiers: on arrival, most of the time, we immediately drove south. When that was a flight, we had dinner at Hotel Albert 1er. No comment about the food!

Luckily, on one occasion we went to the Sindibad. We were 6 altogether and a we knew that in the Sahara, food would be mostly canned and scarce, we had a large grilled mérou (grouper). It was excellent but though several of us had a good (or very good!) appetite, we were unable to finish it! However, we did not left much but sometimes, too much is too much!

This is a touristic restaurant which you can try the alferian food.
you can start with a soup than some mezes after you can decide about fish or meat ( or both)
after they serve you sweets which is very typical for a middle east meal .
Your cafe has to be "sade" ( without sugar)

Restaurant La Colomba is accepted as one of the best restaurants in Alger with the Local food and European. I suggest you to try the fish.

Favorite Dish: The menu includes paellas, fish, couscous, and mechoui