Gaborone

Abyssinia Ethiopian Cafe

Botswana's only Ethiopian restaurant. On Fridays through Sundays this cafe serves pretty good injera with all the trimmings for P80. Also does great coffee and is cleaner and quieter than Equatorial Coffee around the corner. Closed evenings Sunday-Thursday.

Beef Baron

Perhaps Gaborone's most expensive restaurant. Serves excellent and huge meat dishes, including some game, but beef is in the ascendancy. Desserts are good also (including the lovely malva pudding). Atmosphere is pretty nice for a hotel restaurant, although there are no windows.

Lunch and dinner·Mains from P120

Bull & Bush

Bar & restaurant serves up a range of meat-centred dishes; does a pretty good job.

Cafe Dijo

Free wireless, great coffee, delicious and healthy food. A great place for catching up on e-mail or chatting with friends on a lazy Saturday morning. Frequented by expats. Inside Game City.

Caravela

One of the few suburban house restaurants in the city. Nominally Portuguese menu including a good selection of seafood, and Mozambican beer. The outdoor patio area has a very nice ambiance. Open for dinner 7 nights a week. Food is a little hit and miss, and the prices are in expat territory, but worth giving a try.

Chutney's

Excellent Indian food including southern dishes such as dosas. Not much for ambiance but great food.

Deli's

One of the best lunch places in down. Real Italian food. Imported products. Amazing pastas and pizzas. Beef lasagne especially, at P55 for huge portion.

Embassy

Excellent Indian food located in the Riverwalk Mall. Note: food can take up to one hour, especially if with large group. Mains around P60.

Funyama Holdings Chinese Restaurant

Authentic and good value Chinese with an extensive menu, including such delights as Crispy Pork Intestines with Hot Dry Chili. Also covers more standard 'beef in black bean sauce' type dishes. The Devil Soup at P10 and the noodle dishes at P30 are particularly good value.

Mugg & Bean

South African chain coffee and lunch place. Located upstairs in Game City Mall, makes for a noisy indoor shopping mall vibe with adequate coffee.

News Café

Close to the Mondior Summit, News Café is popular even with outside guests. The menu centres on "European style" dishes, but with some interesting twists. The place really shines in the cocktail department. On Friday and Saturday nights, the music is often cranked up loud even though there is no dance floor, so sit outside if you want to make conversation. Staff are young and sometimes inexperienced, but most of the time the service is quite good. Prices are somewhat above the regular fare in Gaborone, but then so is the quality. They have Happy Hour from 17:00-18:00. Buy 1 get 1 free on all cocktails.

Closed · opens 6:30 am tomorrow

Par 5 Indian Restaurant

Unfussy south Asian cuisine serving a range of meat and veg dishes, including several daals. Nice setting overlooking the golf course, with indoor and outdoor seating. Closed Mondays. Mains P40-60.

Pavilion Restaurant

Upmarket restaurant which serves buffet lunch, à la carte lunch and dinner. It seats 96 people inside and has a terrace which seats 120 people. One can also relax in the Pavilion Bar for snacks and beverages.

Daily 07:00-22:30, including holidays·From P100

Pie Time

Pies are flaky dough filled with meat or vegetables (called Patties in some other parts of the world). Costs about P5.50 for a pie, P6.75 for a drink. Wide variety of fillings.

Sanitas

A hidden gem. It's a garden centre that has a large cafe for breakfast, lunch or brunch. Has a children's playground also.

Tue-Sun

The Moghul

Set under a thatched roof at the back of the Oasis Motel this place serves up flavoursome Indian & Pakistani cooking. However, perhaps because of its hotel location, prices are a little steep and portion sizes disappointing. Takeaway and delivery possible.

P50 for a veg curry up to P80 for a Rogan Josh

Nando's Chicken

Nando's is a bit spicy, and much better chicken than at KFC. Costs about P50 for a meal (chicken, soda, chips). It's in the African Mall, Game City Mall, BBS Mall and Riverwalk Mall, one is under construction in the Main Mall, at the east end adjacent to Orange. For a different taste, try Barcelos which is just across from Nandos in African mall.

White box food

sold all over the government district on weekdays

Quick and simple lunch of rice and veg (P10) or rice, veg and meat (P20). Tasty and filling.

Debonairs

A popular pizza restaurant that also does deliveries.

P55 cheapest pizza