3 Best Restaurants in Luanda, Angola

Have a flip flop-free beachside experience at this casually elegant open-air seaside dining room popular with the business community. Fusion dishes are artful but approachable: codfish confit with lobster and shrimp breadcrumbs, chicken cordon bleu with pasta in tomato sauce, tenderloin with coffee sauce and mushroom risotto. Vegetarians will also find plenty to enjoy. Desserts might include orange cheesecake or fruit mousse. For after-dinner action, hit Chill House lounge for beer, classic and signature cocktails, late-night pizza, and sandwich snacks.

Prices are high, but locals and visitors agree this is the place to go for fish and shellfish. The fresh seafood is flown in daily from southern Europe (mainly Spain and Portugal), and preparations are up to you—it's brought to your table to discuss how you'd like it cooked. The seaside setting makes the open-air dining room all the more inviting. The look is clean, with earth-tone touches softening the mostly white palette. Don’t miss the signature black caipirinha cocktail and cold draft beers. After midnight, the restaurant becomes a hot nightclub.

Dishes at the crossroads of Portuguese and Angolan cooking are served in the modern and sophisticated setting of Pimm's. Part of the dining room feels Space Age, a sleek chamber that's all white and blue-trimmed, with the top-notch selection of wines peeking from tunnels cut into the wall. Another room sports similar colors, but with homey touches like cushioned wood chairs and fringed tablecloths. The menu is urbane without being stuffy: goat stew, chicken curry, prawns with garlic and coriander sauce, fish carpaccio in sweet lime juice. Pastas and vegetarian dishes are served, too.