Some time back, I wrote a bucket list of all the things I wanted to do while we’re here in Marseille. One of those things was going to a Senegalese restaurant and trying out a new cuisine – and we got to do just that last night!
The idea to go to Ziguinchor restaurant had been floating around for a while. We’d brought it up with a new friend from America when we first met up about a month ago, but then life things got in the way as they tend to do. Eventually we found a date that worked for all of us and enthusiastically made the booking. This friend happens to be flying out today to begin a working holiday in New Zealand, so talk about getting in just in the nick of time!
Ziguinchor is just off Cours Julien (aka the coolest bit of Marseille). It’s quite cosy (read: small) but it had a really friendly and welcoming vibe going. It was like all the patrons and staff knew each other and were just there to socialise together. The restaurant is only open from 7:30pm to 11:30pm Tuesday to Sunday and our booking was for 9:00. So not only did we get to try a new cuisine, but also really got into the spirit of it by eating way past our normal dinner time!
There was plenty to choose from including entrees, mains, desserts and drinks. From my own uninitiated view point, everything appeared to be authentic West African dishes. I ordered Senegal’s national dish, thieboudienne, which was a grouper cutlet and vegetable stew served with a heaping mound of fragrant rice, and a little bowl of the broth it was cooked in off to the side. The fish had been stuffed with herbs and I think it had been fried before being cooked with the vegetables, which were eggplant, cabbage, carrot, and a starchy vegetable that I didn’t recognise. Josh had a chicken dish with an onion, lemon and olive sauce, and our friend, being vegan, had the veggie option which appeared to be the same thing as what I got, minus the fish. Of course, we gobbled it up before I remembered to take a photo for this post!
We were way too full after that to even consider dessert, but I saw some appealing sweets being brought out to other customers and it would be fun to go back to sample those one day.
We all agreed that the food was good, wholesome, and a great way to experience a totally unknown (to us) culture and cuisine. The service was friendly and quite efficient, and we’d go back there one day to have a taste of other dishes. Most importantly, it was a fun night out to send off a friend to her next adventure on the other side of the world!
Restaurant details:
Restaurant Ziguinchor
20, rue Pastoret
13006 Marseille
Ph. 04 91 47 72 91
Seven Months in Marseille 
