Places to eat in Djibouti

4 more images

I went up the stairs to investigate what the L'Historil looked like inside one day at lunch time. I was greeted by a very pleasant gentleman and shown the big fish tanks and my table. Its air-conditioned and absolutely wonderful inside when you escape the heat. I had a simple lunch of spaghetti, french bread and cold water. It was ok. The menu has much better dishes, especially many seafood delicacies including shark. For non-seafood lovers the prime rib with roquefort cheese sauce sounds gorgeous.

The restaurant does most of its business at dinner time and its recommended you stop by and make reservations beforehand. They do serve beer and wine, but the price of the wine is fairly expensive.

I never made it here for a full meal, but the menu looked great.

4 more images

This is, quite simply, the best bufet in Africa. It’s also the most expensive, but may be worth it if you drink. The restaurant offers a buffet every night as well as theme nights on Saturday (Arabic night), Monday (Tex Mex night) and Tuesday (Asian night). The friendly staff bring you into a large hall filled with wonderful smells and you are seated at your table. The drinks order is taken first. Ah! That’s right – free wine & beer. Yep, all you can drink & eat. Then there’s the food! Sushi, hot meat roasts, cooking stations, wonderful varieties of vegetables dishes, wonderful fish and cooking stations. The cooking stations make all sorts of goodies for you the way you want it. There is also a huge salad choice and the dessert are is the size of a small restaurant itself. Yes, you are eating and drinking at the best buffet in Africa.

This place is not cheap. $45 for normal buffet nights and $50 for the theme nights. I sat and drank beer for 3 ½ hours along with my meal – no questions were asked. Its good value if you are a drinker.

Favorite Dish:
I enjoyed the Tex Mex night. I did mix fajitas and other Mexican dishes with sushi and curried fish. Fantastic. And of course – Mexican beer (pictured).

2 more images

This is the best French meal I have ever had and the least I have ever paid for one. My meal was gorgeous, had regular sized portions, looked nice with our being a miniature piece of art and left me with plenty of change in my wallet.

I read about the restaurant and its signature dish in a guidebook. The dish is the “Filet de Boeuf Sauce Roquefort”. That’s fillet steak with Roquefort cheese sauce. I thought ‘I have to give it a try’. I am so glad I did. Strangely they are only open at night – unless you make a reservation – and I was the only person in the restaurant when the other diners left as I entered. I was prepared for the worst. I was not prepared to be blown away by the food. WOW!

I had the Niçoise salad to start. Fantastic! Then came the Filet de Boeuf Sauce Roquefort with the house red wine. The steak was massive given that it was fillet. It melted in my mouth. The wine was great to and I felt like I was dinning in heaven. Absolutely unforgettable.

And the prices? Affordable. I am truly impressed with this place and I cannot recommend it enough.

My server was polite, quiet and nothing was a problem. Especially the food and bill he brought me.

If you are here in Djibouti – get in here!

Also know as
Le Niçois Chez Marco

Open Saturday to Thursday 6pm (18:00) to 11pm (23:00)

Favorite Dish:
Filet de Boeuf sauce roquefort with house red wine! A world class meal at reasonable prices.

2 more images

PLEASE DO NOT EAT HERE! I walked into this restaurant to have a look and the staff ignored me at first. When I put my hand on my camera several started shouting at me. Weird. I was going to take a picture of all their pictures of movie stars. They continued to shout at me and I took the picture anyway. I have never had staff of any restaurant in Africa ever be anything less than very polite. The staff continued to shout and be rude to me until I left. I had originally gone in to get at least a beer. I highly recommend you give this place a miss. The décor is not that great anyway.

3 more images

The Kempinski Palace Hotel has 3 restaurants but we only used the Lac Assal as this was the best value with the biggest selection of food, being an International Buffet. The buffet area is the biggest I have ever seen with so much choice of dishes from all over the world.

The best meal was Brunch at €32 per person. This had the biggest selection of dishes and included some African ones which I was pleased to see and try.
The Bread occupied one whole counter and I didn't even try to count all the varieties - see picture.
Starters included whole salmon, sushi and sashimi, salads, cold meats, pates.
Mains included Chinese – duck pancakes, beef stir fry, Italian – Bolognese seafood and other pastas, Local – stuffed goat, Ossobuca, Roast pork, chicken and beef, Various rice and potatoes, Vegetables, Couscous, salads.
Desserts were pancakes, cakes, cheese, sorbet, ice cream, yoghurt, pies.

Dinner was also €32 per person but there was not as much choice as lunch.

From the wine list we paid €20 for very decent South African Merlot which we didn't think was at all bad, as we expected it to be more pricey.

I am not a big fan of Breakfast but you could have all types of eggs, breads, French toast, hams, pates, smoked fish, sausages, bacon, toast, hash browns.

Other Restaurants are the beach bar and an Italian which was extremely expensive which we didn’t try.

The Lac Assal is open to non-residents and is popular with business people and military personnel and their families. It is particularly busy on Friday which is a holiday and many people go for brunch so I would advise booking.

Favorite Dish: We were particularly impressed by the roasted stuffed goat we had at the lunch buffet and had to have 2 portions even though we had already eaten too much. It was tender and so tasty!

In Djibouti you can go to several european restaurants. they cook french and international food, they are cleans and good but really very expensives. About 30 €.
If you don't have prejudices, you can go to eat Djiboutian food. It's very hot but you can ask it without hot. To me it's good but you must taste it, maybe it's too strong.
Food for one person about 3 €.

Favorite Dish: Lamb with onions over Djiboutian bread. Very hot and strong taste.

Nicely appointed restaurant, with terrace for those not wishing to sit in the a/c. French and Lebanese cuisine. Swimming pool available for use of patrons. Friday buffet + swimming for 3500 fdj.

Favorite Dish: Good steak and many other gourmet dishes. Fresh ingredients flown in regularly on Air France from Paris. Together with the restaurant at the Kempinski Palace the best in town. Prices are accordingly high, but acceptable value for money. (Excellent and large tournedos in red wine sauce 3800 francs.) Reckon about USD 50 pp.

1 more image

L'Etoile is a great restaurant for a night out between friends or family. If there are more than 2 or 3 of you, you must book in advance as it is very popular. Ask for the traditional tables if you want to order ethiopian food or the classic tables for something else such as beef fondue (French dish favoured by expats and legionnaires on leave).

Arrive around 8-8.30pm, enjoy an aperitif and watch the show from 9pm onwards. Lovely couple of dancers and good musicians will keep you entertained. The guys in the audience should look forward to the moment when the female dancer goes around to kiss a random selection of customers' knees!

Photo 1: the food
Photo 2: the show

Favorite Dish: The Ethiopian food will be served on a big flat pancake in small portions. There is no need to share as each person will have his or her own little piles of food. You then scoop the food with bits of pancake provided in a bread basket.

Our selection included boiled eggs in tomato sauce, spicy chicken wings, tangy lentil salad, cubed beef in sauce, minced beef with onion, tangy cabbage and a portion of very mild goat cheese. All was delicious!

Price quoted here was with beers and wine and was fantastic value.