There is a fairly good selection of restaurants and hotel dining rooms offering a number of different cuisines. The majority of them are in Cayenne, although French, Continental, Vietnamese, Chinese, Creole and Indonesian restaurants can be found elsewhere.

National specialities:
• A local speciality is the bouillon d’aoura, a dish of smoked fish, crab, prawns, vegetables and chicken, served with aoura, the fruit of Savana trees.
• The forest also provides a rich supply of game such as, collard peccary, paca and tapir. These are usually eaten as a fricassee and are accompanied by rice and kidney beans.

National drinks:
• Ti' Punch, a traditional aperitif of lime, sugar cane syrup and rum usually accompanied by cod rolls and black pudding.

Tipping: In hotels and restaurants, a 10% tip is usual.

There are nightclubs in Cayenne, Kourou and St Laurent du Maroni. Cayenne also has one cinema featuring French-language films. Cinemas can also be found in Kourou and St Laurent.

Within the past few years, a great many new boutiques have opened offering a wide range of merchandise. Good buys are basketry, embroidery, hammocks, pottery, wood sculpture and gold jewellery.

Shopping hours: Mon-Sat 0800-1300, 1600-1830, Sun 0900-1230.