The Halle de la Gombe is a well-established bar in the Gombe district, with a terrace that catches whatever breeze comes off the river and a crowd of local professionals, NGO workers, and the odd traveller who has found their way here. It is the kind of place where you can sit with a cold Primus for a couple of hours and watch Kinshasa go about its business -- which is itself a kind of entertainment.
The bar occasionally hosts live music on weekend evenings, and even without it the atmosphere has a warmth that good bars in any city develop over years of regular use. It is a useful base camp for an evening out in Gombe -- a place to start the night or to end it, depending on how far your ambitions have taken you into the city. The staff are used to visitors and the security situation is as straightforward as Kinshasa gets.