Zenabou’s Dumbou Stand (I): The best street food in Niamey! It’s well worth the trip. Take a taxi to “Sonara Deux”, which is a tall 9-story building covered in tan crosses. If the taximan does not know it, say “Maternité Issaka Gazoby”, which is across the street. Alternately, you can walk from Petite Marché, past Rip-off Row, past La Cloche Restaurant, and keep going – Sonora Deux is the second tall building on your right. Wrap around the building to the front (walking towards the bridge). She has a yellow & red Maggi hangar on the right. Sit down on the wooden benches and when it’s your turn she’ll point to you and ask what you want. Expect around a 15-minute wait to be served as she is quite popular. Get the dumbou with everything. Dumbou is a popular specialty of Niger, consisting of corn couscous, steamed moringa greens, black-eyed peas, a tomato-squash sauce, and spices. Women might get for 150F (waranza in Djerma) and men for 200F (way-tachi in Djerma). Meat is extra but an incredible addition to the dumbou. Try the pounded/pileéd guinea fowl mixed with sesame and hot pepper, for 100F (To say “meat for 100F” in Djerma, say “Ham, waranka”.) Careful, the pounded guinea fowl meat contains bones. Open Mon-Fri 12:30-4:30 or later. The guy with the cooler next to her has a gingery lemu-hari drink for 50F (small) or 100F (large), PureWater, and yogurts. Nice place to go if you are in the neighborhood of Petite Marché or the Musée.
Nigerian Hot Pockets stuffed with curried mashed potatoes, and other goodies Take a taxi to Rond Point Liberté. Head north for 1/3 block and she is on the left, with the hot pockets displayed in a glass case, next to a tiny blue-painted shop. She is Nigerian and speaks English. Prices are cheap. This is a good place for a snack if you are at the Grand Marché. From the Grand Marché, go to Côté Maourey and walk down the road that goes towards the Stade. In a couple blocks you will see Pharmacie Liberté and the round point. She also has delicious fried dough cakes wrapped around hard-boiled eggs.
almost across the street from the travel agency SatGuru, but further east.
The Meat Sandwich Guy The meat sandwich guy is on the left Mali-Bero road, just west of the Stade road. Taxi to “Pharmacie Mali-Bero” then with the pharmacy on your left, walk a half-block and look for his red Nescafe booth just past the technical school. He is open to coincide with the breaks at the school. He is ready to serve around 10h and 16h. Most Peace Corps volunteers use him for a quick stop in passing for his delicious meat sandwiches stuffed with fries. However, he is more than just meat sandwiches. Vegetarians should try his omelet sandwich. However, very highly recommended is his version of nacho fries. This is a mountain of fries topped with seasoned ground beef or a fried egg, sauce, mayo etc. all for about 750F. Sit down, order the fries, and get a coffee to boot. Well worth taking your time there rather than just doing take-out.
Fried cheese (Wagashi) (I): In season, this is a delicacy coming to us from Benin and Togo. It sells in the Petit Marché as red discus-shaped rounds that you can then cook up yourself. We do not recommend eating it raw. Alternatively, there are two women who sell it fried and ready to eat. One is just behind Score near the Senegalese Restaurant with the blue walls. Ask around as she is not always there. The other is near the gas station “Station Katako” on the road leading into town from the Stade, in the trees on the North side of the street that form the Tillaberi and Gotheye bush taxi station. She sells all sorts of chichena (fried bean cakes) and patats (fried sweet potatoes) etc. so the cheese can sometimes be hidden in the pile. Look for it in the center of her wares in a small plastic bowl. Buy some (25F apiece) and then eat it with rice from the rice lady a little to the west.
A great street food lady with fufu and wagashi under a big tent (I): Wagashi (friend cheese) is also sometimes available at a very popular food tent that runs from 9am to 1pm across from the Grand Mosquée, on the street heading south. It is basically at the crossroads on the south-eastern corner of the grand mosquée compound. There is usually a swarm of taxicabs parked there while drivers grab breakfast/brunch. Good pounded yam (fufu) and lemu-hari drink too.
Good hand-made grilled sausage (I): Take a taxi to Cinema Soni and get out at Avenue Arewah. Start walking north on Avenue Arewah. Pass one intersection and then look for him half-way along the blank wall of the school on the right. He is sometimes hidden in among the Ghanaian semi-trailers that use the wall as a waiting point.
“Pepperoni-style” hand-made grilled sausage (I): Take a taxi to Rond Point Eglise. Walk south towards Marina Market. He is at a Maggi grill on the left just a block or two down. 250F/sausage with condiments. He is there in the afternoons and evenings. He may not look like he has sausage if he is not grilling, but he keeps the cooked meat covered and warm so step up and ask!
Grilled Meat (I): Down the road from the bar La Toulousain/Ebenezers is a meat griller with a Maggi stand. There are always cars parked next to it waiting for well-seasoned meat. Rumor has it that President Tandja likes to get his meat from here. However, there is grilled mutton on almost any street corner in Niamey and it is always delicious. Specify that you prefer meat to fat. 500F gets you a small serving for 1-2 people.
Fried plantains In season, find them on either side of the intersection just North of the Grand Marché, formed by Avenue Arewah and Boulevard de l’Independence. One of these women makes them as little fried balls of banana bread, which are excellent with sugar or her spicy salsa. She is from Ghana and speaks English.
Delicious Kilishi (beef jerky): Kilishi is a specialty of Niger. There are three varieties: plain, hot pepper, and spicy peanut sauce. Never buy it from Katako Marché as it is dried right over the aluminum smelters (worth seeing sometime). Try instead one of the smaller operations around town, such as the drying racks just east of Round Point Liberté or at the Yantala night market. If you buy it on the street, ask the seller where it was made as you really do not want the stuff that has been dried in Katako.
DéguéDégué are little millet balls, and when they are in yoghurt they are reminiscent of a whole-grain tapioca pudding. Excellent dégué is available next to “Nigelec siege” in Plateau, within easy walking distance from the Centre Culturel Americain. Martine’s stand is slightly hidden, next to a lady selling dumbou but if you ask someone will point you in the right direction. It is usually sold in increments of 150, 200, 250 and so on in sachets or sit in and enjoy the dégué with a plastic bowl and ladle. Dégué is also available from sellers in the Grand Marché if you are in there and need a snack while shopping. Or ask around where you are and see if someone is not selling out of their concession nearby where you are staying.
Best bisap and apollo in town (I): Bisap is a sweetended hibiscus-leaf drink with mint. * Apollo is a frozen slushy made from the baobab fruit, with a deep rich flavor. Take a taxi to Lamordé Ganda from the Grand Marché or Petit Marché for 200F. Pass the big mosque and then get out at a white-walled square boutique with a blue-green door a ways along on the left. If it is closed, ask for Rashida in the courtyard to the right.
Masaki’s Some nights there is live music at Masaki’s,. Taxi to Mairie Commune 1 and walk east. Look for their fliers or drop in and ask what is planned. It is run by a French guy and his Nigerien wife. Also serves as a hotel with nice rooms.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Niamey
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Niamey - updated Apr 2024
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Niamey Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
