Gorée is small but a handful of restaurants line the eastern waterfront and the square near the ferry pier. The signature meals are Senegalese — thieboudienne (the national dish of fish, rice, and vegetables), yassa poulet (chicken in a tart onion and lemon sauce), and grilled fish straight from the boats — usually served at terrace tables under thatched roofs with the Atlantic a few metres away.
Chez Aida and Le Saint-Germain are reliable for traditional Senegalese cooking, while Hostellerie du Chevalier de Boufflers runs a slightly more upmarket dining room in a 19th-century house. Lunchtime is the busy time, when day-trippers from Dakar fill the terraces; the evening is quieter, with most ferries returning by sunset.