Friday, December 29, 2006

Just another Thursday dinner at a Senegalese joint in the 11tharrondissement


ile de goree 2, originally uploaded by sindlinger.

Deciding to try something new, we headed out to the 11th arrondissement to see what we'd find and try something different. Good news - we did indeed try something different.
Other news - it wasn't terrific.

We must have passed 10 - 15 restaurants as we walked around Rue Oberkampf and Rue Jean Pierre Timbaud. Many of them looked nice [even nicer on the walk back to the Menilmontant metro stop after our dinner at Ile de Goree]. But we didn't stop at any of them. While I couldn't translate the entirety of menus posted in the windows, I could pick up that they had duck [canard], foie gras, rabbit [lapin], etc., and pretty much assumed it wasn't going to be right for us.
When we stopped to check the menu of Ile de Goree, the manager/owner appeared on the other side of the window, wiping away the condensation that somewhat obstructed our view. And he did this with a big welcoming smile, and we were suckered in.
They had little english, I had little french, but we managed to order. Judy liked her shrimp [surprise], my beef and potatoes dish was alright, and the wine was fine. Not terrible, but definitely not the best way we could have spent the money.


'Learn something new' sidenote: The Ile de Goree is just off the coast of Senegal, quite near Dakar.