A cuisine shaped by spices
Zanzibar's food tells the story of its trade: African staples cooked with spices from the island's farms and techniques from Arabia, Persia and India. Cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, ginger and coconut flavour almost everything.
Dishes to try
- Pilau — rice cooked with whole spices and meat, served at celebrations and everyday meals.
- Biryani — layered spiced rice, showing the island's Indian influences.
- Octopus curry (pweza wa nazi) — octopus cooked in coconut sauce.
- Fish in coconut sauce — the catch of the day in a rich, mild curry.
- Urojo — a tangy, spicy soup with bhajias, potatoes and chutneys, sometimes called "Zanzibar mix".
- Mishkaki — grilled skewers of marinated meat.
- Chapati and mandazi — flatbreads and lightly sweet fried dough.
Street food at Forodhani
Every evening, the seafront gardens in Stone Town fill with food stalls: grilled lobster, prawns, calamari and fish on skewers, "Zanzibar pizza" (a thin dough folded round meat or vegetables and egg — or sweet with banana and chocolate) and fresh sugar-cane juice pressed with lime and ginger. Agree the price before you order, and choose food grilled hot in front of you.
Drinks
- Spiced coffee — strong, small cups poured by street vendors, often with ginger or cardamom.
- Spiced tea — sweet chai with ginger, cloves and cardamom.
- Fresh juices — mango, passion fruit, pineapple and sugar cane.
- Coconut water straight from the shell.
Tropical fruit
Look out for mangoes, pineapples, passion fruit, bananas of many kinds, jackfruit, rambutan and, in season, durian. A spice tour usually ends with a fruit tasting.
Eating in hotels and on the beach
Beach hotels serve international dishes alongside Swahili specialities, and many offer seafood dinners on the sand. Vegetarian, vegan, halal (the norm on the island) and other diets are easy to arrange — tell us when you book so it can be arranged with your hotels.
Tips
- Drink bottled or filtered water; avoid ice of unknown origin.
- Eat where it is busy and the food is cooked fresh.
- During Ramadan, many local restaurants open only after sunset.
- Alcohol is served in hotels and tourist restaurants, not in local eateries.
More on mainland food in our Tanzania food guide.
