The best restaurants in Tanzania Tanzania

Excellent value for money in a friendly, country atmosphere, on the banks of the Themi River, which flows a little lower down. This small, eco-friendly restaurant is run by a community of women who have been damaged by life and is supported by an Italian NGO. For a handful of shillings, you will be served a nice plate of vegetables (spinach, beans, lentils...) with delicious eggplant cakes and unlimited fruit juice. Everything is grown on site, in the association's vegetable garden. Closed in the evening and at weekends.

Mzee Husa is the new gastronomic gem from Jussi, a Swedish chef who has worked at the renowned Essque Zalu and Zuri hotels. In his democratically priced restaurant, he cooks according to his inspiration, at the crossroads of Swahili, Mediterranean and Nordic influences. Like this eggplant millefeuille with shrimp and avocado cream, or this fish with beet purée and citrus sauce... Everything is delicious and the plates are decorated with flowers. Signature cocktails and original desserts. Tables with your feet in the sand or upstairs, overlooking the ocean.

Perched on the 21st and top floor of the Golden Jubilee Towers, Akemi is the city's highest restaurant and one of its best. The large, rounded, glass-walled room offers a panoramic view of the Indian Ocean to the west and Kurasini Creek to the south. The tables are arranged in a circle around the central buffet which is a sure bet. The menu is a delightful mix of Indian, Asian and Western specialities with Zanzibar spices. Live music every Friday between 5 and 7 pm. Reservation recommended for dinner.

This new local restaurant in the village of Jambiani is already a favorite with regulars, who love its low-cost dishes. It has to be said that the cooks have been trained in lodge restaurants and have mastered the art. It's a pleasure to watch them busy themselves in the open kitchen. The sheltered outdoor room is modest, but clean and fresh. The menu of dishes on the slate, copious and served quickly, changes often. We loved the cashew-encrusted seared tuna fillet with mango sauce, and the grilled slipper lobster at a bargain price.

This beautiful beachfront house has been converted into a trendy bar. As soon as you arrive, cosy white sofas invite you to bask in the sun on the terrace, along with tables for lunch, dinner or sipping a cocktail as the sun sets. Well-chosen DJ background music at weekends and during Sunday brunch. We come here for a glass of South African wine or a good cocktail prepared by real bartenders. The dishes, on the other hand, are a little disappointing in terms of flavors, which you'd expect to be more sophisticated and fresh, especially at this price level.

If you want to eat local and of an indisputable freshness, this restaurant makes the unanimity. In this small and unpretentious house, the tables are laid with coloured kanga cloth tablecloths, it is original. The atmosphere is simple and friendly, the plates are royal. Here the Swahili flavours are authentic and spiced up with island spices, the plates are overflowing with lobsters, cicadas and shellfish served in gargantuan quantities and at more than reasonable prices. Particular attention is paid to the presentation of the plates.

A central address offering fresh fruit juices and excellent smoothies, the house specialty. Also on the menu: all kinds of sandwiches, daily specials, salads... all quite good. We particularly liked the spicy avocado chicken burger. Ask to be served with the sauce on the side, as the seafood and fish are drowned in a cocktail sauce... The highlight here is the hyper-central outdoor terrace with wifi. Also ideal for breakfast if you're on a single rental.

Located next to the Hotel Tilapia on the peninsula opposite the port and the island of Saanane (a national park), the view from this recently opened lakeside restaurant is superb. The food is delicious, even if you feel a little lost at first when faced with African, Chinese, Indian and Western specialties. No matter, Mwanza is cosmopolitan in both its people and its dishes. Truly delicious... The spicy garlic fish is succulent, as are the sweet & sour Chinese dishes. Also excellent cocktails and coffees.

It's not to be missed: every day is a repeat of the unchanging Forodhani night market. The inhabitants of Stone Town love to gather with their families around the stalls and in the garden to eat a popular dish on the run. There are stalls selling shawarmas (fatty meat), samossas and Swahili dishes, as well as "crêpes" (bricks made by the minute). But we strongly advise against seafood kebabs, as they're guaranteed to give you food poisoning. Follow the locals to find the right stalls.

This is the new place to try out in Nungwi: a beautiful garden that remains cool and shady at lunchtime, with candlelit tables in the evening, and a great atmosphere. The menu offers a range of creative dishes, from tuna tartare with beet and hibiscus for starters, to gambas with bisque and soft bread for main courses... We also appreciate the inspired cocktail menu, such as the Prophecy, with beet and vanilla gin, tonic and lime. Don't forget to book, especially in the evenings, as the place is already very popular.

This popular address in the restaurant district around Station Road offers both classic and delicious Tanzanian dishes such as Pilau N'Gombe, Swahili-style beef rice, but above all wonderful spicy barbecued dishes, the house specialty. Friendly pizzas to share are also on the menu and you can compose your own smoothie on demand, a good plan from morning to night to fill up on vitamins.

This dream lodge has an excellent restaurant open to non-guests which serves refined cuisine based on local ingredients, where the vegetable is also honored. Shrimps, lobsters, grilled fish or fish in sauce are always escorted by a colourful salad or crunchy vegetables. The flavours are exceptional. We like the attention paid to the garnishes, the layout of the plates, the decoration, where no detail has been neglected, as well as the beautiful cocktails.

Just a few dozen meters from the Clock Tower, in a small park along the waterfront, you'll find a number of unpretentious snack bars where you can enjoy Tanzanian street food in the open air and in the company of locals. Don't hesitate to take a tour of the marquee where the stalls are set up to get an idea of the range of burgers, samosas and chapatis (doughnuts) on offer. You can also try your hand at outdoor billiards.

Just a stone's throw from the city centre, on the seafront, it is at the restaurant of the Sea View Motel that you can taste the real speciality of the coast: the shrimp, with all the sauces. The menu offers a choice of ten different preparations. Chicken lovers will also find plenty of choice with no less than twenty dishes devoted to poultry. The whole menu is influenced by Indian food (masala, curry...) and Indian naan has replaced the chapati as the side dish

Mambo vipi? Poa poa ("How are you? Great"). In this trendy restaurant in the city centre, expatriates and regular Tanzanians greet each other around a quality Swahili cuisine. The prices are more than reasonable and the dishes are tasty and varied. Two shaded terraces are available for customers to air their taste buds with a view on the kitchens. Those who like ugali, chapati and pilaf rice (here we say pilau rice) will have a great time, while others will enjoy a Tanzanian-style pizza.

Michamvi already had its restaurant The Rock perched on a coral rock in the sea, Matemwe has. Opening in 2019, this restaurant embraces Matemwe beach thanks to its natural promontory: a rock at Kigomani where it has made its nest. The view is splendid, as far as Mnemba on one side and Kiwengwa on the other, with dozens of small boats moored at Kigomani in perspective. On the menu, copious starters and main courses, with varying degrees of success. The tuna tartar with pepper was good, while the meat kefta was a little dry, but original and fragrant with spices.

This little café, which used to exist near the fishing port on the central beach, is now housed in a pretty house on the seafront. Attractive outdoor terrace facing the beach, with concrete mosaic tiling and simple furnishings. On the menu, the same specialties as before at reasonable prices. We like the avocado salad, king prawns served generously, tasty Swahili dishes, kingfish with mango sauce... A great address from breakfast to dinner.

This small local restaurant is located not far from the Meli, next to a small kitesurfing school, and also has a small store with very reasonable prices. On rustic wooden tables set on the sand, you'll find plates of authentic Swahili cuisine at really affordable prices. Starters include samosas and kachori (spicy potato balls). For the main course, we liked the fish soup with coconut green bananas, and the rice dishes, pilau or biriyani. No alcohol served here.

In this local family restaurant, Kim is in the dining room, her mother in the kitchen, and the food and service are all the more authentic. The real Swahili taste cooked in pots according to family recipes is served to the customers, many of whom are regulars. We love the mama's creations like the coconut-crusted tuna and her classic recipe for octopus with island curry, which are divine. The large braised fish with lime are perfectly cooked. The atmosphere is musical and relaxed, the welcome very warm.