The best restaurants in Tanzania Stone Town

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.

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.

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 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.

The rooftop restaurant of the eponymous hotel offers a beautiful 360° view of the city and the waterfront to appreciate its grandeur. The pool is refreshing. The food is excellent even if the choices are a bit too numerous (Swahili, Chinese, Italian, European, Indian...). The Indian dishes are the most authentic because it is the specialty of the house, especially the curries. You can also opt for a refined cocktail before dinner at sunset, a bar is dedicated to it.

Close to Jaw's Corner, this small local canteen is only frequented by locals. However, it is full of workers, often men, for breakfast and lunch. Behind a counter, you can choose some ready-made specialities, a lot of fried food, buns, or take a dish of the day from the slate. You should know that all the dishes that start with wali are made with rice and corn flour. Here you can enjoy the authentic taste of spicy Swahili food, the home-made chips, the local atmosphere and the prices.

The Zenji Hotel Cafe and Restaurant is a really good stop next to the roundabout of the Malindi harbour. The bustling harbour is an exciting setting for contemplation from the terrace. You can eat sandwiches, pizzas and salads at low prices, in a really nice setting, as the café is also a shop that displays some very nice items for sale. Also a good place to have breakfast. We like to drink a freshly roasted espresso, an arabica straight from Kilimanjaro, or a robusta or liberica grown in Zanzibar. Efficient Wifi.

The restaurant at the Hotel Tembo, a historic colonial house in the heart of Stone Town, literally has its feet in the sand. It offers Swahili and Indian dishes and salads, although the downside is that they're not necessarily excellent. In a pinch, you can pick up delicious and hearty sandwiches to take with you before a boat trip, and fresh coconuts to drink from the fridge. Service is very slow, but you can take your time under the coconut trees to watch the local entertainment. For an additional fee, you can use the hotel's swimming pools.