Stone Town street food market

Mark slept for the rest of the afternoon and I wrote up some trip notes. At 7, we went down to reception to meet Laban. Most of the group opted to go. The food market was amazing and so cheap!! We know where we will be eating when we come back to the city! The chefs were all putting on a bit of a show to try to tempt passersby to eat from their stalls. It was very entertaining. Laban took us to his preferred stands to try chicken shawarma and Zanzibar pizzas. The latter were made up of really thin circles of dough stuffed with a variety of fillings and cooked on both sides. I had a cheese and tomato one made with cream cheese triangles! It was delicious!! And the price? Just 7000 TZS (less than US$3)! There were lots of stalls selling meat, fish, and shellfish skewers cooked on the barbecue. Mona and I wandered away from the group and found a stall selling something called ‘binti’. It seemed very popular with the locals. We asked a lady who had just been served what it was. She explained, and even let us try hers! It was incredibly tasty! We ordered a small portion between us for the princely sum of 2000 TZS (less than US$1!). It was enough for a meal! Basically, you could choose any or all of the following:

• Fried potato balls
• Small breaded deep-fried bean balls (similar to falafel)
• Shredded cabbage
• Stir-fried vegetables
• Beef skewers
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Crispy cassava sticks
• Boiled potatoes

Once all of these were in the container, a tasty broth was poured over all them, and tamarind sauce was added. The result was absolutely delicious – and very filling! We will definitely be having it again when we return to Stone Town!

After eating our fill, some of the group were going out on the town. We found a lovely pub on the beach and had a quiet drink while jazz classics played in the background before heading back to the hotel.Read more