Local Food in Ghana

During my stay in Ghana, I didn't go out to restaurant for lunch, or even for dinner. For my lunch, usually the local partner will bought the food from outside and usually I ordered the normal food which I take in Malaysia. And for dinner, I also did the same, ordered the normal food.

After few days, the local partner said I must tried the Ghanaian cuisine and they bought me this food. The food is made up of plantain, bean and underneath the bean was fish. It was nice, but for me the bean is too much and creamy. I thought with the size, I could finish my lunch but at the end I couldn't even though it tastes nice.

Paloma Hotel

Location:
Coordinate: N05°34.3762′ W0°12.3159′
Contact:
Website: http://www.palomahotel.com/

I was assigned to Ghana to conduct training for a local partner in Accra. The hotel was booked by the partner for me, though I didn't expect much for the hotel. However, upon checking in to the hotel, the perception changed to better.

The hotel has lot of mural reflecting the joy in the country. One could see it on the walls, either on the pathway to my room or even at the restaurant. It can be seen trumpet, drum etc rejoicing on their daily life. At least seeing this everyday could make our life happier.

The restaurant looks a bit classic for me. It gives me the natural feeling. I would say the food in the restaurant not bad, however the portion is quite big for me. Most of the time I couldn't finish the food that I've ordered, what a waste even though I tried very hard to finish it. I also like the coffee served here every morning.

This is the guard house at the main gate.

Generally, the staff here is friendly. During the stay, just has a little comment on the wifi services where the signal wasn't very strong when inside the room.

When heading to airport on Friday, the jam was quite terrible. By the time reached airport, the person told the counter was closed for check-in. Wow, what a surprise to me even though it's 1 hour before the flight (at least on my watch). The jam was terrible on the way to airport, due to Friday. If I missed the flight, I need to wait for another 2 days to catch for the next flight, not knowing whether there was any available seat or not. But when confront again the counter and reasoning with them, luckily they allow me to check-in. Actually I've done my online check-in the night before. Once I'm at the departure hall, I need to wait for another 30 minutes before allow to boarding the plane.

It's a quite a adventurous experience for me for my first trip to Ghana. The memory of almost missing my flight will always stay in my mind forever.

Levain Boulangerie & Patisserie

Location: No. 7, Jalan Delima, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
Coordinate: N03°08.7553′ E101°43.2357′
Website: http://www.levain.com.my/
Contact: +603-2142 6611
Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday 7.30am - 9.00pm

This was the second visit for Serene but this is the first time I came here. We reached here about 4.00pm after did some visiting with my sister and brother-in-law. Together 4 of us came here for a late tea time. We just want to come here to try out some of the bread and relaxing ourselves during the weekend. Since we came here late, the crowd is considered ok. There is a car jockey available, to my surprise.

By the time we reached here, I like the place as it is located at quiet street in city center, furthermore at colonial style bungalows with classic and cosy environment gave further umpphh... The breads and pastries offered here are baked in a specially imported stone oven. Averagely, 4 new items are introduced every month.

Inside Levain, it is a 2 storey-bungalow decorated in neo-classical environment and has high ceiling, give us a spacious feeling (not those normal rat race of city life). Once we found an empty table, we went to order our own foods.

There weren't much choice of breads available for us. Guess fresh and popular breads were sold in short period of time once placed on the shelves. We ordered a maple log bread to be shared.

Since I liked durian so much, I just couldn't resists the tempatation when seeing durian cheesecake. The durian taste is strong enough, but I guess is a bit sweet for me.

I also ordered a bolognese spaghetti to share with Serene. Nothing much special for us. For other foods ordered, I couldn't have enough time to take photos before the foods end up in my sister and brother-in-law's stomach.

Another famous thing in Levain is their macaroons and cookies. I just loved too see those colorful macaroons on the display, though we didn't order any on our trip this time. We do hope to taste some in next visit.

Also famous for their cakes, this could be a good afternoon hang out place with friends to catch up or relaxing through out the weekend. No wonder lot of my friends told me this place is packed during weekend.

Recommend to come over here to try out the food, those English style evening tea and the environment here. At least this is something different, and unique enough that this is located in bustling city center yet at a quite corner of city life.