Where to Eat in the Worst Places in the World

It's true, you really can get Chinese food anywhere.  In Kabul, the Chinese restaurants served alcohol under the table; the rumor was that some doubled as brothels.  (Or, apparently more than a rumor.)  There was also a great dumpling restaurant not too far from the CARE office, on the way to Chicken Street.

Panda Chinese restaurant in Khartoum served beer in teapots; there was also a place to get Chinese and Indian in Nyala, in South Darfur, or at least there was a few years ago.  We once drove past a Chinese restaurant in Hargeisa, in Somaliland, but I never made it inside.  Decent Chinese in Bujumbura and Kampala and Kigali.

Not to mention Thai and Croatian and Lebanese food in Kabul; also some surprisingly good fish in Goma.

(Granted, there were plenty of meals I would just as soon as have skipped - sorghum being close to the top of that particular list.)

A few years ago, Paul Currion at humanitarian.info had the idea for aid worker restaurant reviews, a public service if ever there was one - a guide about where to eat (and where not to eat) in the worst places in the world.

Considering that it was Paul's original idea, he was kind enough to let me repost his original review of K2 restaurant in Nyala, South Darfur.  I was there in the spring of 2008, and it's still as Paul described:

"I nearly didn’t make it out of Nyala - not due to insecurity, just due to the UN Humanitarian Air Service booking system. The plane (an 18-seater Beechcraft) took off five minutes after the airport closed, and ended up over Khartoum 3 hours later in some of the worst turbulence I can remember. If I’d had any breakfast I would have lost it, but (as with most things in this world) it made me think of food. I’m therefore launching a new humanitarian initiative: Aidworker Restaurant Reviews.

If you’ve ever done any humanitarian work, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Wherever a substantial number of international aid workers turn up, restaurants appear to provide them with a brief respite from the local hang-tough beef jerky, weevil-infested rice and semi-toxic bean stew. Nyala is no exception, so welcome to K2!

K2 is owned by my good friend Fouad, and is pretty much the only dining avenue for internationals in Nyala, possibly in the whole of Darfur. (People keep telling me there’s an Indian restaurant, but nobody can tell me the name of the place, so I reckon it’s a collective hallucination.)

K2 offers a range of pizza, pasta and cooked meat dishes, all served in a pleasant al fresco location. A thatched roof keeps off the insects to some extent, and there’s a range of table sizes, whether you’re having a leaving party (for the 300th time that year) or a romantic dinner a deux (probably out of desperation).

Let me say this first: the juice cocktail is a winner. A nice mix of fruit, a pulpy texture and just enough ice to help it go down; I had three. Anywhere with juice this good is worth going to, although it can’t compete with Tweety Juice in Khartoum. I started off with an aubergine salad - the dressing was a little tart, but the aubergine itself was nicely done.

We avoided the fish on the menu, since the nearest fresh fish to Nyala is several thousand miles away. I went for a Pizza Rustica, which was quite rustica but not very pizza. For some reason, the Sudanese prefer their bread to be as floury as possible, which meant that pizzas tend to taste as if they’re not fully cooked. I wasn’t complaining, as I believe that it was real cheese instead of la vache qui rit.

So overall, my night out at K2 was a winner - I would suggest that you make your way there if you’re in Nyala, but that’s pretty much guaranteed.

[UPDATE: Fouad has just told me that the profits from K2 go to a local non-profit venture working on livelihood improvements for vulnerable people in Nyala, another good reason for eating there.]"

If anyone has any other restaurant suggestions, in Darfur or further afield, would love to hear.

[Panda Chinese restaurant in Khartoum - Photo from the New York Times]