Child-friendly restaurants and cafés in Accra

This restaurant and play place, by the Morning Star School, off the Danquah Circle, is a handy stop off for families. For the children there is a bouncy castle and games room, while the parents can hide in the pleasant restaurant that serves Ghanaian dishes, as well as fried chicken and other items. Healthy options include a juice bar, or a drink in the coffee shop.

This ice cream outlet and snack bar is probably the best place to get some cooling cream in the city. There are more than 20 flavours that look sumptuous in the cabinet (although there’s often a few empty spaces). The Italian owner has also added specially made ice cream for diabetics as well as interesting flavours such as cookie and tiramisu, mango and sesame. The ingredients are high quality, importing pistachio nuts from Sicily and lemon paste from Sorrento. It’s not as cheap as nearby Frankies at GH¢8 for two scoops.It also serves real coffee and small snacks such as sandwiches, pasties and focaccia.

Everything at Café Dez Amis is prepared from high quality ingredients. Reasonable prices and its central location around many embassies make it popular, and when the president moves into Golden Jubilee House soon business should rocket. The service is casual and friendly. A great spot for a brunch in the breeze, a sunset supper or a long lunch with friends, having meetings with colleagues or absorbing a book by yourself. Café Dez Amis offers live music, usually on Sundays.

It’s tempting to say that Little India does the best salads in Accra. There’s little doubt that it has the broadest selection – there are 29 different varieties in all, and portions are generous. As well as its salads (split into seafood, vegetarian and chicken categories), there’s also an assortment of curries and wraps.

This branch of Accra’s favourite chicken chain also has a bakery and an ice cream parlour. Think Nando’s and you are pretty much there, and the food is of similar quality. The chicken is very juicy, the jollof rice has a bite, and there’s a selection of pepper and peri-peri sauces from mild to steam-coming-out-of-your-ears cartoon style. Salad, coleslaw and other embellishments are available for side dishes. There’s also a selection of chicken burgers. With prices from around GH¢12 for chicken and chips, it’s a reliable and quick option – with a good ice cream for dessert.

Iced cupcakes, golden pastries, crunchy baguettes and bulging paninis are the staple at this very European of cafés. From the humble sausage roll to a light and salty spinach and ricotta puff pastry, find a bevy of bakery favourites chalked up on giant blackboards behind the serving counter. DeliFrance’s piled-high trays of treats can certainly lay claim to being the real deal – they’ve all been prepared and frozen in France and shipped over for baking in Accra. Baguette fillings include into the likes of a bresaola, parmesan and olive oil baguette in this air-con-fresh pocket of calm.