La Marsa beach is one of the closest strips of sand to the center of Tunis. You can make it here from the city center in twenty minutes by car, or a little longer if you’re travelling by tram. It’s a beach resort, but a local one, popular with Tunisians living in this affluent suburb that flanks the ancient ruins of Carthage. Les Coquillages (‘seashells’ in French) is a classic beach eatery. It’s on the far right edge of the beach, a ten-minute walk downhill from the main shopping street (which has a mall and a couple of supermarkets.)

Les Coquillages isn’t a fine dining experience. But it’s a good place to eat if you’re spending the day at the beach and don’t want to trek into town for a big sit-down lunch. That said, if you’re going to head here, we recommend coming early. It’s a popular place for lunch and the salads and fresh fish sometimes sell out quickly.

We arrived just as the lunch service was winding down, so our options were a little limited, but the four seasons pizza turned out to be fine. For a starter, we ordered the homemade breaded calamari, which arrived with a tangy tomato salsa and garlic mayonnaise sauce. And for dessert, we had a bowl of lemon sorbet, which was delicious. The service here isn’t as fast as we would have liked, and the waitstaff had too many tables to take care of. But service came with a smile.