Pointe-Noire eats fish. The Atlantic catch — bar (sea bass), capitaine, daurade, sole, lots of prawns and lobster — is brought into the port and the smaller fishing harbour at Songolo daily, and most restaurants will grill or fry whatever has come in. Local Congolese cooking adds chikwangue (steamed cassava blocks), poulet moambe (chicken in palm-nut sauce), and saka-saka (pounded cassava leaves), often served with grilled fish.
The seafront in the evenings, especially the stretch along the Côte Sauvage and the bars in the Centre-Ville, runs informal grilled-fish stalls — pick your fish, watch it cook over charcoal, and eat at a plastic table on the sand. It is the most enjoyable way to eat in the city. For something more formal, the Centre-Ville and Mpita quarters have a handful of French, Lebanese and Italian restaurants that serve a more international expatriate crowd.