What is the national dish of Ivory Coast?

Attiéké with grilled fish. Attiéké is grated, fermented and steamed cassava, similar to couscous and slightly sour, served with a whole grilled fish, raw onion and chilli.

What is a maquis in Ivory Coast?

An open-air street restaurant: plastic chairs, a charcoal grill at the front, music, and whatever is fresh that day. It is where most people eat and where the best food is.

Attiéké with fried tuna, chopped with onion, tomato and chilli and eaten from a paper wrapper. The cheapest proper meal in the country.

Is street food safe in Ivory Coast?

Generally yes if it is hot, freshly grilled and from a busy place. Be careful with pre-cut fruit, raw salad and open-container drinks, and drink sealed bottled water.

What are the traditional drinks in Ivory Coast?

Bandji, a palm wine tapped that morning; bissap, a cold hibiscus infusion; gnamakoudji, fresh ginger juice with lime; and tchapalo, a cloudy millet beer from the north.

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Ivorian food: attiéké, kedjenou, garba and the maquis.

The food is one of the best reasons to come, and almost nobody outside West Africa knows about it. It is grilled, fermented, slow-cooked and eaten outdoors, and you will spend a few euros on the best meal of your trip. This page covers what to order, where to eat it, what the local drinks are, and the handful of rules that keep you well without keeping you out of the street kitchens.

A bowl of attiéké with fried fish, tomato, onion and chilli

Garba: attiéké with fried tuna

What a maquis is

The maquis is the open-air street restaurant, and it is the centre of Ivorian eating. Plastic chairs, a grill going at the front, music, and whatever is fresh that day. It is where people eat lunch, where they spend the evening, and where you will have the best food of your trip. The test is simple: a busy one is a fresh one.