As I stepped into the dinery that is L'Escale de Maristes, I took a moment to breathe air that didn't smell like manure. When I opened my eyes, I had the sense of being at a friendly home, maybe about to feast on one of grandmothers' special dishes. This is probably because I was, in fact, in a house. But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain, to those of you who don't speak french, what the meaning of the name is. I have been led to believe that "escale" means "layover," and the sector of Dakar the restaurant and our apartment shares is called Hann Maristes. So this was essentially "The Layover of Where we Are Right Now"
Now, after the overwhelming feeling that I was breaking into someone's house passed, I took the chance to sit at one of the establishments marvelous plastic lawn chairs, of which there were about 15. This presented a bit of a problem, as I was in a group of 20, but if the Senegalese know anything, it's how to pack large quantities of people into small spaces. I next got the feel of the temperature, which had changed from outsides' blistering heat to a much more stagnant blistering heat.
This was about the time when our waitress, whose name I cannot spell or pronounce, came to take our orders. Chicken or Fish. As usual, it took me a while to decide what I'd choose, there were just so many good options. After much debating, I decided to be a little daring and choose the fish, expecting a small fillet with maybe a dab of seasoning or, dare I hope, barbeque sauce. I suppose I've never really gotten fish at a restaurant that is not called Long John Silver's, but I'm quite sure that it was not served like this.
But again, I'm getting ahead of myself. after I ordered the fish and exchanged pleasantries with several other diners, I realized a TV was sitting right next to me. As a turned it on I was greeted pleasantly by a video of a waterfall while several men shouted different things at the same time. In arabic. "Good," I thought, "my stories are on." I now realize the reason behind the name, for two hours and no food later, it was a whole lot like a layover.
But the food finally came, and I sort of figured out how to get the meat put of an entire fish, before loosing my appetite to the fish's lonely, black eyes. But, it was kinda of tasty, especially the parts without bones in them, and they even had a variation of ketchup to go with my side of the greasy potatoes they called "french fries." Overall, I'd give it a solid 2 stars, and would recommend another fan and a maximum occupancy of more than 17.
How I wish I had picked the chicken.
-Will
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read."
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