What to eat in Zanzibar: street food, seafood and where to find it

Most visitors eat at their hotel for a week and go home thinking Zanzibari food is grilled fish and chips.

The actual cuisine is one of the more interesting things about the island, because it is a genuine layering rather than a fusion invented for menus. Bantu staples underneath, Omani and Persian rice cookery on top, Indian spicing and breads through the middle, and Portuguese arrivals like cassava and pineapple woven in.

Here is what is worth eating, where to find it, and how not to spend two days of your holiday in the bathroom.

The dishes worth seeking out

Urojo, the Zanzibar mix. A thick turmeric-yellow soup with potato, bhajia, crisps, coconut chutney and a squeeze of lime, assembled in front of you. It looks alarming and it is the best three dollars you will spend on this island.

Zanzibar pizza. Nothing to do with Italy. A thin dough folded around minced meat, egg, onion and sometimes cheese, then fried flat on a griddle. Sweet versions with banana and chocolate exist and are aimed squarely at tourists, which does not make them bad.

Mishkaki. Grilled meat skewers, usually beef, marinated and cooked over charcoal. Street food at its most straightforward.

Pilau and biryani. The Omani and Persian inheritance. Rice cooked with whole spices, usually with meat, and considerably better at a local canteen than at a hotel buffet.

Samaki wa kupaka. Fish grilled and then finished in a coconut and tamarind sauce. If you eat one sit-down meal that is properly Zanzibari, make it this.

Octopus curry. Coconut, chilli, lime. Ubiquitous on the coast and rarely bad.

Wali wa nazi. Coconut rice, the default accompaniment to almost everything.

Chapati and mandazi. Flatbread and a lightly sweet fried dough, both breakfast staples.

Cassava chips. Sold everywhere, better than potato chips, and usually served with a chilli lime sauce that is hotter than it looks.

Fruit, and the ones you will not recognise

Jackfruit, custard apple, rambutan, soursop, tamarind, passion fruit and half a dozen varieties of banana that are not the one you know.

Buy from a market rather than a resort. Ask what things are, and expect to be handed a piece to try. This is normal and not a sales tactic.

What to drink

Sugar cane juice, pressed in front of you and finished with lime and ginger. The single best thing to drink on a hot afternoon.

Tangawizi, ginger tea, and spiced tea with cardamom and cinnamon.

Fresh coconut, opened with a machete for the water, then split so you can eat the flesh.

Beer, which locally means Kilimanjaro or Safari, both light lagers that suit the climate.

Konyagi, a local spirit somewhere between gin and vodka. Cheap, strong, and an acquired taste.

Bear in mind that alcohol is served in hotels and tourist restaurants rather than in villages. More on that: Zanzibar dos and don'ts

Where to eat

Forodhani Gardens, Stone Town

The seafront gardens become a food market every evening around sunset. Grilled seafood, Zanzibar pizza, urojo, sugar cane juice.

Two things to know. Prices are quoted to visitors optimistically, so ask before you accept a plate. And choose a stall that is busy and cooking to order rather than one with trays of seafood sitting under a light.

Getting there and parking: Stone Town Zanzibar

Local canteens

A mgahawa is a simple local eating house, usually a counter and a few plastic tables, serving whatever was cooked that morning. Pilau, biryani, beans, chapati, fish.

This is where the food is best and cheapest, and where almost no visitors go. Ask your rental company or your hotel's staff where they eat, not where they recommend.

Village restaurants on the coast

Paje, Jambiani and Nungwi all have small independent places away from the hotels. Prices sit between local canteens and resorts, the seafood is fresh, and service runs on island time.

Your hotel

Fine, convenient, and rarely the best food you will eat. If you are half board somewhere remote it is also unavoidable, which is worth factoring in when you choose where to stay.

How not to get ill

The advice that actually matters, in order of importance.

Drink bottled or filtered water, and use it for brushing teeth. Avoid ice in places where you would not drink the tap water.

Choose busy stalls. High turnover means the food has not been sitting out. An empty stall with a full display is the risk.

Prefer cooked to order. Anything coming straight off a griddle or grill in front of you is safer than anything from a tray.

Peel your own fruit, or eat fruit that has been peeled in front of you.

Be careful with pre-cut seafood displays. The tray of prawns and octopus arranged under a lamp at a night market has been there a while. The skewer being grilled now has not.

Give yourself a day. If you are only here a week, easing into street food on day two rather than day one is sensible.

Vegetarians and vegans do fine here

Better than most people expect. Coconut curries, beans, chapati, cassava, spinach, rice and an enormous amount of fruit are all standard rather than special requests.

The word to know is mboga, vegetables. Be aware that fish sauce or dried fish sometimes appears in things that look vegetarian, so ask specifically if it matters.

During Ramadan

Restaurants outside hotel compounds close during daylight hours and reopen after sunset. Forodhani only starts after the fast breaks, at which point it is livelier than at any other time of year.

Plan to eat inside or at your hotel during the day, and be discreet about it.

What things roughly cost

Precise figures date badly, so here is the ordering instead.

Street food at Forodhani is the cheapest proper meal on the island. A local canteen is slightly more. An independent village restaurant is a step up again. Hotel and resort dining is several times any of those, and resort drinks are where the real money goes.

A week of eating locally rather than at your hotel is one of the largest savings available on a Zanzibar trip, and it is also how you eat better.

Frequently asked questions

What food is Zanzibar famous for? Swahili coastal cooking built on coconut and spice: urojo soup, pilau and biryani, samaki wa kupaka, octopus curry, mishkaki skewers and the street food at Forodhani Gardens.

Is street food safe in Zanzibar? Generally yes if you choose busy stalls cooking to order and avoid pre-cut displays that have been sitting out. Drink bottled water and be cautious with ice.

What is Zanzibar pizza? A thin dough folded around minced meat, egg and onion, fried flat on a griddle. It is unrelated to Italian pizza and is a Stone Town street food staple.

Can you drink the tap water in Zanzibar? Stick to bottled or filtered water, including for brushing teeth.

Is it easy to be vegetarian in Zanzibar? Yes. Coconut curries, beans, chapati, cassava and fruit are everyday food rather than special requests. Ask about dried fish if you are strict.

The best eating on this island is spread out, which is the argument for having your own transport. Our guide to Zanzibar by car covers what else is reachable under your own steam.

Stalls, restaurants and prices change. If something here no longer matches what you found, tell us.