The food of The Gambia and Senegal shares Wolof and Mandinka roots, with French and Portuguese influence on top. It's built on rice, fish and groundnut — generous, slow-cooked, and rarely chilli-hot, since the heat comes from a pepper sauce on the side. The dishes worth seeking out:
The dishes
Thieboudienne (Senegal) / Benachin (Gambia) — Senegal's national dish, and a Gambian staple under another name: a one-pot rice dish with fish, vegetables (cassava, carrot, cabbage, aubergine) and a tomato base. Eat it with a spoon, or with your right hand from the shared bowl.
Yassa poulet — chicken marinated in lemon, mustard and onion, then slow-cooked. Sharper in the Senegalese version, sweeter in the Gambian one. Comes with rice.
Domoda — groundnut (peanut) stew, usually with beef or chicken. Creamy, savoury, pure comfort food.
Mafé — the Senegalese cousin of domoda, a slightly richer groundnut stew.
Plasas — a leafy green stew with palm oil and smoked fish, served over rice.
Afra — grilled spiced meat (lamb or goat) wrapped in bread with onion and mustard. The best street food on the coast; eat it after dark on Kairaba Avenue.
Drinks
JulBrew is The Gambia's local lager — cold and unfussy. For something soft, wonjo (hibiscus) and bouye (baobab) are sold on every corner for pennies. And don't refuse attaya — the slow ritual of sweet mint tea poured in three rounds, each stronger than the last.
A few manners
Greet before you order — "how are you, how is the family?" is expected, not small talk. If you share a communal bowl, eat from the patch in front of you and use your right hand. And skip the tap water: bottled is cheap and everywhere.
Where to eat
In Dakar: Chez Loutcha (Senegalese-Cape Verdean) and La Calebasse (smarter Senegalese). In Kololi: Yabouy Home Cooking School for a hands-on lesson, or Calypso in Bakau for the casual beachfront version.
More? The Dakar travel guide maps the city's best restaurants, and the Gambia holidays guide covers where to eat across the coast.
