In my humble opinion, Shark’s is the best ice cream in all of Monrovia, and thus all of Liberia, hands down. As soon as it hits your lips you’ll instantly recognize the distinct taste and texture of real cream. No soft serve mix, none of that gelatin nastiness from Monaliza, but real delicious cream, the way ice cream was meant to be. When I was a kid my mom would buy heavy whipping cream, throw in some sugar, salt, and vanilla extract, kick on the churn, and make some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. That’s exactly what Shark’s taste like, it’s great.

Shark’s is located down a small side road off of Airfield Road right before Sprigs Airfield. If you’re coming from Tubman, Shark’s will be on your right. Just look for the sign, turn right, and then it’ll be on your right. Can’t miss it.

Shark’s sells its ice cream in a variety of sizes that are reasonably priced. I go with the 75LD small cup, about 6oz. Unless you’re preparing for rainy season hibernation it’s about all the creamy goodness I can handle.

Shark’s also has a mobile ice cream sales force. You’ll notice that they’re ice cream cones retail for 15LD. This is in contrast to Shark’s main competitors, Quench Your Thirst International, who sells cones for 10LD. But once you have a Shark’s cone, you’ll gladly pay that extra 5LD. It’s just so good.

Shark’s Ice cream, the closest thing you’ll find to a Cold Stone/Marble Slab in the whole country.

So first things first, now that I finally have a camera again I’ve decided to put some pictures up of the place I moved into May 1st. This is the view from our front porch. As you can see we’re overlooking Mamba Point to the right and off in the distance is Capital Hill. It’s a great view, and note the hammocks. I don’t think it gets any better than lying out in a hammock swaying in the breeze. Next time I’ll try to remember to take some shots of the inside of the place. I suppose some people might find that interesting. Click on the picture to see the rest of my pictures from the balcony.

Anyway, so this past weekend I went to, you guessed it, Robertsport. Kent, from Universal Outreach Foundation, and I spent Saturday and Sunday surfing it up. Saturday was pretty windy. The waves were choppy and the wind kept pushing us around. It was another one of those days where you spend all your time paddling to be in the right spot, and then are never really being in the right spot when a wave comes. Needless to say I didn’t have much luck. But it was good to get out after being sidelined by bosses in town and malaria.

Sunday though was perfect. The wind died down, the sun came out and a lot of good surfing was had. I caught quite a few waves and had some nice long rides. I even caught a couple rides were I surfed all the way across the beach and had to stop before hitting the rocks on the other side. That was a super cool feeling. I think I’m starting to finally get the hang of things. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do it again before I forget.

Kent and I stayed at the UNMIL guest house. I had no idea they had a guest house, but Kent had stayed there before, so we tried it again. We walked up to the little UNMIL compound in Robertsport and asked to stay there. They let us. It was really nice and easy. We had our own rooms with power and AC all night, that’s better than my apartment in Monrovia. And best of all we didn’t have to pay. It seemed a little too nice, but I was cool with it for sure.

They also had this palava hut at the compound with mats nailed to the ceiling. I thought it looked pretty cool so I took a picture. Kent and I hung out at the palava hut for a bit Saturday after surfing, but before returning to the beach and hanging out at Nana’s Lodge. This is the place I wrote about last time I was in RP. I met the new manager, a guy named Dan from Canada. He was really nice, we played darts together on a team, we came out 1-1. Nana’s was about the same as last time. Though now they have a satellite TV dish, but no TV.

They’ve also started serving dinner at Nana’s. Kent and I stuck around for the Liberian chicken and rice which was the meal of the day. It was really good. The chicken was well cooked and the rice was nicely seasoned, but without burning my mouth out. Best of all they had a bottle of Tabasco sauce on the table. The meal was $15 USD, which is a bit much for a local dish, but considering the context of a “beach resort” bar on a nearly deserted beach, I decided to let it slide. The next day I started a tab at Nana’s when I came back from surfing and bought a Coke. I had no money on me so I started the tab. If all goes according to plan I’ll be staying at Nana’s next week so I’ll settle my accounts then. Be expecting a full write-up of staying in their “luxury tents” next week, or the week after if I’m busy.

I end this post with a pic of some friends. From left to right we have Amy (does public health, Mike’s girlfriend, learning to surf), Mike(works for Right To Play, surfs with me, dates Amy), Me, and Gwen(PhD student studying Pentecostal Christianity in Liberia, and my apartment mate). They are all very cool people. And I’m quite happy to know them.

John
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I had lunch at Sadia’s the other day, and I figured it was time to do another restaurant review. Overall not half bad, Sadia’s has a fairly varied menu for a Liberian restaurant. Though they were out of jala rice by the time I made it there, granted it was 3:00pm, but who’s counting. Anyway, I had palava sauce and rice. It was pretty good. There was even some beef in the sauce that tasted pretty good. The service was alright and the price wasn’t too bad, 150LD per plate. The décor was also pretty nice for a local restaurant, though I didn’t make it to the bathroom to do my usual check. Though I’m not sure they had one. On the whole a pretty good lunch spot.

Sadia’s
Capital Bye Pass, between UL and Cellcom on the swamp side of the road
Monrovia, Liberia
06-512-386

I had the pleasure of eating at PA’s Express for lunch today. PA’s Express is located on the ground floor of PA’s Rib house, which is located off of Airfield Road, Sinkor, Monrovia. Just follow the signs you can’t miss it.

Anyway, lunch was really good and pretty cheap. I had the fried chicken and biscuit. For only $150LD I got a large drumstick and a large thigh. The meat was really good and much bigger than fried chicken at a lot of other local places. If you’ve had chicken in Liberia before then you know what I mean. The biscuit was just OK. I also had the side of fried rice for $60LD. This could have been a meal all by itself. It had mushrooms, onion, and even little pieces of  ham. It was delicious and filled up a whole plate.

My friend Layal had the Burger. According to her it was the best burger she’s had in Liberia. I would agree. It tasted much like the $8USD half pound burger served up stairs, but smaller, and for only $200LD. I’m guessing it’s around a 1/4 lbs.

We also had the soft server ice cream for $75LD a cone. I’ve had better soft serve before, but it was still really good. The best soft serve I’ve had in Liberia for sure. And the cones were a pretty decent size.

Some of the prices seemed a little weird. Like the club sandwich ($500LD) that costs more than the rib plate($300LD). I also thought that $600LD was a little steep for the American breakfast. Not like you have much of a choice here, and good food is good food, I shouldn’t knock it till I try it.

Just like PA’s Rib House, PA’s Express is a pretty darn solid eating establishment. Really good food, and pretty good prices. The service was also great, no waiting. We were in and out in no time. Oh yeah, and free WiFi. Can’t beat free WiFi.

John

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The Plaza Pizzeria, located next to city hall on Tubman Blvd in Monrovia, has added a bar area to their establishment. They were building it when I was here in May 2007, and it’s now open. I walked in the other day to meet a friend, and a waiter asked if I wanted the bar. I was like, “what bar?” He shoved me through a non-descript side door, and I thought I had stepped back into the first world. Leather couches, pool table, and Heineken on tap. The space is very well decorated and designed. It has two floors, a downstairs bar area, and an upstairs lounge space, connected by a very attractive spiral staircase.

The bar has a modern, but laid back feel. It’s up to date, but not snobby about it. The walls are painted with warm colors, and decorated with posters and photos. Upstairs are some very trendy Posters of Che Guevara. Overall a very warm and inviting ambiance.

The prices are reasonable, a O.5L of Heineken is $4.00 USD. Not bad. Whiskey starts at $5 USD a glass. They even have a liquor locker. You can buy a bottle, and then get the key to your own on site locker for safe keeping. Very snazzy. They also have free peanuts to munch on while enjoying your drink. I’m a peanut fan.

And best of all you can order food from the pizzeria, which I already love for their cheap and tasty feed. This place is great. The nicest bar I’ve been to in Monrovia.

Oh, and the bathrooms are good. Not great, but this place isn’t going for super fancy. It’s trying to be your local-taste-of-home-watering-hole-for-expats, and does a good job of it (I hope that didn’t sound too neo-colonial, but that’s their target market). It’s not like bars in the states have good bathrooms any way… At least bars go to.

Plaza Pizzeria
Tubman Blvd., next to city hall
Monrovia
+231-6-424-242
Excellent Bar!

When my boss was in town we ate at the sushi restaurant in the Mamba Point Hotel. This place had the ambiance, design, and finish down, first world all the way. We could only find one exposed wire in the whole place. It looked like they used studs and drywall in their construction, no doubt a first for Liberia. Even the bathrooms were perfect. No smashed up tiles trying to fit around an awkwardly placed fixture.  You do pay for all of this fanciness. Though not outrageously, but still a little pricey. The sushi was good. I also had some shrimp teriyaki. The shrimps were good, though the teriyaki sauced seemed a little off. We also had a ‘06 bottle of white. I was told by those more versed in wines that it was the best they had sampled in Liberia. Five stars, great place. If I was trying to impress a date, I’d hire a driver, and take her here.

The Sushi Restaurant at The Mamba Point Hotel is located off of UN Drive in Mamba Point Monrovia.
The Hotel’s phone number is +231-6-511-202, +231-6-544-544

So I’ve decided to write little reviews of the new restaurants I’ve been to. Now I know I’m in no way qualified to do this. There are much better writers out there, and certainly much more refined tastes. But no one else is doing it, and these places could use some advertising. Plus, new restaurants are kinda exciting here. It’s not like home where there are hundreds of places to eat, and most of them pretty nice. A fancy new restaurant that reminds you of the first world is pretty sweet find.

So thanks to the boss man’s arrival last week, a going away party (see picture), and a Friday night splurge, I’ve been fortunate enough to have three meals at P.A.’s. They were all pretty good. As you might guess P.A.’s specializes in barbeque ribs.

The restaurant itself is quite nice. The interior is nicely decked out with a high ceiling and wood paneled bar. They also have a 200+ person conference room. P.A.’s also has free wifi. The bathrooms though, as usual for Liberia, could use a little sprucing up. But that’s just a pet peeve of mine.

I had the Carryesburg half slab of ribs on my first visit. For $12 USD this isn’t half bad. The ribs were also pretty tasty. They weren’t fall off the bone tender, and seasoned like Mama used to do it, but they were still good. Kinda like a Sunny’s perhaps. The real treat was the sides. Delicious. I’m told the ingredients for sides are grown in the garden behind the restaurant. I had the green beans and the mashed sweet potatoes.

My 2nd visit was with Marry Miller’s going away party. I ordered a burger, but they were out. So they gave me a steak at the same price. Not half bad. The steak was also really good. Well seasoned and a decent size. And as before. Great sides.

Wanting to try the burger that the owner had raved about, I went back a third time. At $8 this burger is a little steep, but pretty darn good. The best I’ve had in Liberia. The burger was still a little more seasoned than I would have wanted, but far better than the meatloaf on a bun some places try to pass off as a burger. The fries it came with were also great.

P.A.’s is located off of airfield road in Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia. They have a lot of signs up, so you can’t miss it.