Togolese food is particularly good. Most restaurants catering for visitors tend to be French-orientated, although some do serve African dishes. In Lomé in particular, there are many small cafes serving local food. Meat, poultry and seafoods are plentiful and well prepared, as are the local fruit and vegetables. A good selection of alcoholic drinks is available.

National specialities:
• Pâtes or akume (maize flour mixed with water served with different sauces usually made with vegetables such as okra, spinach or meat).
• Fufu (mashed yam eaten with sauces made from groundnut, goat or palm nut).
• Riz sauce arachide (rice with peanut sauce).

National drinks:
• Palm wine.
• Tchakpallo (fermented millet), produced locally.

Tipping: When not included, a tip of about 10% is customary.

There are numerous nightclubs, particularly in Lomé. Most serve food and are open until the early hours for dancing to a mixture of West African and Western popular music. There are also cinemas showing French and English-language films.

Market purchases include wax prints, indigo cloth, Kente and dye-stamped Adinkira cloth from Ghana, embroideries, batik and lace from The Netherlands, locally made heavy marble ashtrays, gold and silver jewellery, traditional masks, wood sculpture and religious statuettes. Voodoo stalls display an extraordinary range of items used in magic, among them, cowrie shells.

Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1730, Sat 0730-1230.