La Tante DC 10

Anyone can board the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 passenger jet parked on Airport Road. The aircraft sits along the route to Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, but it won’t take you anywhere. However, the food is a far cry from the tray of disappointment that most passengers are accustomed to picking at while aboard a plane.

Now a restaurant known as La Tante DC 10, this aircraft was once operated by Ghana Airways on flights to Europe and the United States. In 2005, the DC-10 ended up impounded at London’s Heathrow airport as a result of unpaid company debts.

Nearly a decade later, a business partnered with Ghana Airports Company Limited, to transform the retired vehicle into an eatery. Today, curious visitors and residents alike can enjoy unique meal service delivered by waitstaff in flight attendant uniforms. Customers board just as they would an operational vessel, by embarking up a covered stairway. For some, it’s their first look inside an airplane.

The plane’s new management reduced capacity from 380 seats to 118, clearing space for wider walkways and dining tables. First-class seats accented with festive pillows serve as a waiting area and bar seating, while the economy section houses the dining room, which is composed of tables with rows of airplane seats facing each other.

Menu offerings include an extensive array of traditional cuisine, as well as international dishes. Foreign fare, such as spaghetti and sandwiches, populate one section of the menu, but the “Proud to be Ghanian” page offers diners a selection of the country’s authentic culinary mainstays. Don’t miss local specialties such as palm nut soup, grilled tilapia, and garden eggs stew.

Update as of February 2023: The restaurant no longer has a dine-in option on the plane. They only offer food to go and do not allow you into the plane. It is unclear if this is permanent.