Eat around the world in Dar es Salaam

Tanzania’s busiest city has a thriving food scene to match with plenty of international cuisine options. So let your taste buds travel and take a globe-trotting culinary trip, Bongo-style, with us.

Ethiopian

Addis in Dar

This restaurant has been a hugely popular part of the Dar es Salaam dining scene for almost a quarter of a century. Its Ethiopian owner ensures an authentic culinary experience by sourcing all the grains and spices the country’s cuisine is famous for from his mother, who lovably sun dries them at her home in Addis Ababa. The restaurant also encourages the cuisine’s hands-on approach to eating with dishes served on injera, a spongy flat-bread made with gluten-free grain teff, used to scoop up thick vegetable or meat stews (called wats or wots). It’s a style of eating that lends itself to sharing and many of Addis in Dar’s most popular options are the set menus that offer a mix-and-match variety of mouth-watering stews and sauces with plenty of vegetarian options and stacks of injera to go around. For the full Ethiopian experience, you can complement your food with a glass of the sweet homemade honey wine known as ‘tej’ or a cup of traditional home-brewed coffee. Word is spreading. Addis in Dar’s success is such that a sister restaurant in Cape Town has opened recently.

Try this: It’s hard to look past the set menus, but the Doro Wot, a selection of chicken drumsticks marinated in fresh lime juice, simmered in chopped onions, garlic and red pepper spice berbere is a fiery alternative.

Opening hours: 5.30pm to 10.30pm every evening except Sunday.

Address: Ursino Street, Dar es Salaam. Call +255 713 266 299

Italian

Ristorante Bella Napoli

This family-friendly eatery in the bustling thoroughfare of Haile Selassie Road brands itself the “The Best Italian Restaurant in Dar es Salaam” and it’s hard to disagree. Executive chef Giuseppe Vitiello, a Naples native, leads the kitchen with his team crafting a menu of southern Italian delights cooked in the traditional style and making use of homemade pasta and the freshest local ingredients. For proof of the love and care that goes into the food, check out the range of ravioli dishes in which every one of the filled envelopes of pasta is individually hand crafted. As you’d expect, there’s plenty of pizzas to choose from – including a half-metre size ideal for sharing – but more surprisingly much of the pasta and pizza menu is also available gluten-free. The restaurant goes out of its way to cater for young diners with a play area in its lush outdoor area, a kids’ menu and even dedicated nannies to take care of young charges and give mum and dad a break!

Try this: Italian culinary expertise and the seafood spoils of the Indian Ocean come together in the Pasta del Tagliere alla Pescatore, which features fresh pasta mixed in with chopped calamari, cuttlefish, prawns, tomato and chili and topped with fresh parsley. Deliziosa!

Opening hours: Open 12pm to 9.30pm every day except Tuesday.

Address: 530 Haile Selassie Road, Dar es Salaam. Call +255 222 600 326.

French

Epi d’Or

This French family-run restaurant and bakery has been in Dar es Salaam, in one guise or another, since 1999. Its growing popularity prompted a series of upsizing moves – from Mikocheni to Samora Avenue and then the retail village at Sea Cliff Hotel – before, in 2008, the owners opened a spacious restaurant in Haile Selassie Road. Hard to believe, given the mass of bars, restaurants and nightclubs that now populate the thoroughfare, but Epi d’Or was the road’s first restaurant. The welcoming, relaxed place has held its own amid all the development that has sprung up around it and established itself as one of the most popular food destinations in Dar es Salaam. Pop in for a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu of French and Lebanese delicacies, an extensive wine list, freshly made juices and specialty coffee as well as freshly made pastries, breads and cakes from its onsite boulangerie. The bakers here have quite a reputation and many of the city’s top hotels order their fresh breakfast pastries here, but anyone can turn up and get a host of baguettes, brioche, pain au chocolat and croissants hot from the oven.

Try this: A ribeye steak with béarnaise sauce and dauphinoise potatoes. If you’re going out for ‘l’experience française’, the owners suggest you pair it a glass of Spier Chenin Blanc.

Opening hours: Every day from 7.30am to 10.30pm

Address: Plot 520, Haile Selassie Road, Dar es Salaam. Call +255 786 669 889.

Indian

Mumbai Spices CBD Hotel

There is a large community of Indians who have migrated to Dar es Salaam and you will find a good number of them regularly dine at Mumbai Spices – always a good sign of a restaurant’s authenticity. Of course, the Indian influence in Tanzanian cuisine goes back to the early maritime spice trade and at Mumbai Spice you’ll find that tradition of delicate seasoning enriching the flavour of the classics such as Tandoori dishes, chicken tikka masala and a host of biryanis. You’ll also find classic Indian street food such as pani puri – crispy, fried, hollow dough balls that are stuffed with boiled potatoes and served with a spicy dip. Located on the ground floor of the Best Western Hotel in the heart of Dar’s CBD, this is a great spot for an evening meal or a business lunch – with a number of specials always on offer.

Try this: Guju Thali is a selection of vegetarian curries, chutneys, salads and rices, which is ideal for sharing.

Opening hours: Every day from 11am to 11pm Address: Best Western CBD Hotel Nkurumah Street. Call +255 689 933 010.

Japanese and Thai

Thai Kani

This family-run waterfront restaurant offers a winning combination of sushi and sunsets with diners able to take in views of Msasani Bay while enjoying dishes that fuse the flavours of Japanese and Thai cuisine with fresh ocean-caught seafood. Its signature sushi rolls are packed with fresh octopus, crab, lobster and now salmon while there are also a range of aromatic Thai curries to try. Thai Kani is a sociable spot with a live band on Friday evenings, happy hours Monday to Thursday with discounted cocktails and local craft beers as well as a weekly curry night with a free bottle of Kilimanjaro beer to accompany your food, and free snacks to nibble on.

Try this: The vitamin, mineral and protein-packed Thai raw tuna salad is an energy-giving treat with raw tuna chunks, chopped red onion and crushed rice grains topped with a tangy dressing.

Opening hours: Every day from 11.30am to 10.30pm

Address: The Slipway, Dar es Salaam. Call +255 715 486 014.