Zanzibar cooks like the trade winds left it: Omani pilau, Indian biryani, Persian sweets and Bantu coconut stews on one plate. Three days of Darajani's fish hall, Mkunazini canteens, plantation tastings and Shangani rooftops.
Stone Town's main covered market, trading here since 1904 and open roughly 06:00–18:00. Aisles of cloves, cardamom and cinnamon bark give way to the fish hall, where kingfish and tuna are sold off before 09:00.
A Mkunazini canteen where office workers queue at the steam counter for octopus curry, pilau, mchuzi wa samaki and tart urojo soup. You point at what you want and pay by the plate. Open 07:00–22:00, no alcohol.
A restored 1885 Omani merchant house on Mkunazini Street that roasts Tanzanian arabica from the Mbeya highlands on site. Spiced kahawa, cardamom iced coffee and coconut cake are served on the shaded roof terrace.
Four flights of coral-stone stairs lead to the highest rooftop in Stone Town, where a Swahili tasting menu is served on floor cushions as the muezzin calls. Drinks from 17:30, dinner seatings from 18:30.
A working plantation 20 km north of Stone Town where guides split fresh vanilla pods, nutmeg and cinnamon bark to smell and taste. Tours close with a spiced fruit platter and pilau cooked over a wood fire.
Built on a coral outcrop in the lagoon, reached on foot at low tide and by boat when the water rises. The kitchen works through grilled lobster, calamari and Zanzibari seafood soup at twelve tables.
A whitewashed beach club on Michamvi's west shore doing wood-fired pizza, tuna tartare and passion-fruit cocktails. Sunbeds come free with a food order and the tide retreats far enough to walk out on sand.
A driftwood-and-palm bar on the narrow western tip of Michamvi, one of the few east-coast spots that faces the sunset. Grilled prawns, Konyagi-and-tonic and bongo flava from the speakers after 18:00.
A shaded plaza where men gather from dawn over thimble cups of bitter black kahawa poured from a brass pot, sold with kashata coconut brittle. Football on a wall-mounted TV, politics debated in Swahili.
A Malawi Road institution since the 1960s, serving pilau, biryani and mishkaki skewers from steel trays until it sells out, usually around 15:00. Shared plastic tables, ceiling fans, plates from 3,500 TZS.
A seafront gelateria on Shangani Street churning small batches daily — passion fruit, tender coconut and Zanzibar chocolate among them. The terrace tables sit directly above the water on the old sea wall.
The former English Club's first-floor terrace has been Stone Town's sundowner address since the 1880s. Kilimanjaro and Serengeti lagers, dawa cocktails with lime and honey, dhows crossing the channel below.