Algiers eats like a Berber-Ottoman-French crossroads: rechta and chorba frik in colonial brasseries, grilled sardines at the port, chickpea karantika sold from copper trays, and kalb el louz syrup-soaked at dusk.
The capital's largest daily produce souk runs roughly 07:00–18:00: Boufarik oranges, Mitidja tomatoes, brined Sig olives, bunches of coriander and mint, dried figs and open sacks of chickpeas sold by the kilo.
Below the Ketchaoua ramp, the working fish market sells sardines, rouget and merou straight off the boats, and the quayside stalls will grill your pick with cumin, garlic and harissa while you wait.
A covered neighbourhood market wedged off Rue Didouche Mourad where spice sellers blend ras el hanout to order, alongside dried mint, caraway for chorba, harissa paste, smen butter and semolina graded fine to coarse.
A 1930s zinc-counter brasserie on the city's main uphill boulevard, still serving qahwa arbi, café crème and croissants to students and civil servants under ceiling fans, with pastries laid out on the marble bar.
The 1950s milk bar on the square still scoops ice cream and serves mahalabia, rice pudding and citrus juices behind its curved counter — a mid-morning Algiers ritual watched from tables facing the Emir's statue.
The theatre-district brasserie beside the Théâtre National plates the Algiers canon: rechta hamra with chicken and turnip, chorba frik thick with cracked wheat, and dolma courgettes stuffed with spiced lamb.
The Ottoman sea-palace complex on the shore road keeps a Moorish tea room with a terrace over the bay: gunpowder mint tea poured from height, plus makroud, samsa and pine-nut griwech from the pastry tray.
The former Hôtel Saint George sets a formal Algerian table in its garden pavilion: mechoui shoulder of lamb, tajine zitoune with green olives and lemon, and couscous seffa dusted with cinnamon and grilled almonds.
The working-class heart of Algiers street food: karantika, the baked chickpea-flour flan, cut into squares and stuffed into a baguette with cumin and harissa, sold alongside griddled mhadjeb semolina crêpes.
Below the Casbah steps, charcoal grills turn out merguez and lamb brochettes pushed into half a baguette with chips, salad and hot sauce, plus bourek cigars of minced meat fried to order at the corner windows.
A whitewashed Andalusian-style harbour west of the city where quayside restaurants cook whatever the trawlers landed at dawn: sea bream, king prawns, calamari and a garlicky Algerian fish soup served with kesra.
The 1975 modernist block on the ridge has one of the few licensed terrace bars in Algiers, pouring Tango and Beaufort beer and Mascara wine over a full sweep of the bay, the port cranes and the Casbah at sunset.