FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
Prepare to be amazed. The cuisine on Mozambique Island is unique and carries with it the cultural diversity of the different peoples that passed through this historically rich place.
Food here has Indian, Swahili, Portuguese and Arabic influences. From the delicious, subtly spiced lula (squid) or shrimp curries to the perfectly baked bread rolls and apas, we guarantee to tantalise your tastebuds.
Mozambique Island offers a range of restaurants that cater from 5 to 30 USD.
If you are a bit more adventurous, a number of street vendors sell snacks that include bhajia (Swahili deep fried snack made from chickpea flour and spices), potato or fish samosas, fried squid, fried whole fish, bread rolls, delicious coconut fried doughnuts, salted and roasted peanuts, espetadas (kebabs), a marvellous array of local sweets and of course a range of tropical fruits including mango, banana, pineapple, papaya, and passion fruit.
Our dhow tours offer the opportunity to enjoy traditional island food, including Matapa siri-siri (a succulent that grows in the mangroves, cooked into a rich coconut curry with cashew nuts), spiced swahili coffee, barbecue grilled Tuna with accompaniments: preserved lime achar, green mango pickle and piri-piri.
RESTAURANTS & CAFES
CAFÉ AZULEJO
Our personal favourite (of course!), situated at Ilha Blue opposite the enormous anchors of the Port Captain. You can sit on the comfy couches or at the windows to watch island life go by as the ceiling fans revolve slowly above you. Start your day with a great breakfast here.
Try the Chia pudding made with fresh coconut milk and vanilla bean, served with house-made granola, natural yoghurt, fresh fruit salad and wild honey from Niassa.
Café Azulejo has a happy and laidback urban/island atmosphere, with the best coffee on the island and free wifi.
SARA’S PLACE
Right at the junction of Stone Town and Makuti Town, Sara’s Place is a street bar with a surprisingly large restaurant out the back in an island-style thatched structure.
Go for fish samosas with a cool beer for starters. Mains are a good range of seafood served with chips, salad, coconut rice. There is also a really special slow-cooked goat curry. Another tasty local dish is Toccasado do Peixe (a soup/stew made from the fish head) accompanied by mounds of xima – you may see an eye staring back at you but it’s not compulsory to eat it.
Local identity and owner, Sara, presides (also she was featured in an episode with Anthony Bourdain). It’s popular with locals and tourists alike.
FLOR DE ROSA
Also known as ‘Bar Flor’ has a beautiful roof terrace; a fantastic vantage point for watching the island go by while sipping the best Caipirinhas in town. It is owned by a Mozambican / Italian couple and consequently does great grilled seafood dishes and also very good homemade pasta dishes.
This is an excellent restaurant to choose if you have vegetarians in your group.
Our picks are : Grilled whole lobster or Gnocchi with garlic and chili. On the weekends it is a lively hangout for locals and tourists preparing for their night out dancing.
ESCONDIDINHO
This restaurant is nestled in a leafy garden by the pool. It is part of a guesthouse in a great old building that was at the heart of the island’s slave trade – it used to be the central slave market. Rest assured you will eat better than a slave.
The menu is mainly seafood served with chips and salad, but there is also chicken and Picanha.
For vegetarians/vegans there is feijao (bean stew) and Matapa siri siri. Excellent wood fired oven pizzas have also been added to the menu. Sit back and enjoy the atmosphere with a satisfying and affordable meal and a cold beer.
ENTERTAINMENT
After enjoying a delicious meal, head either to the rooftop on Flor de Rosa and sip on some of the large caipirinhas they serve or go for a couple 2M beers in front of Sara’s place which usually has a load of people and good music playing Next door to Sara's is Mariamo's Bar with a pool table which is super popular with the locals.
Miraponte, the most popular discotheque, is located at the very southern tip of the Island. It is a fun, easy walk to get there or you can also find a motorbike and pay 20 meticais if you want to keep all your energy for dancing.
You can’t miss the entrance – loads of people are in front of it and a bar operates on the street.
Pay the entrance fee of a 100 meticais and you have entered this easy-going yet frantic place that animates all of Ilha on weekends.
The floor is lined with sand which makes it great to dance and jump around. Things start to get lively around 12 pm so be patient, wait for the place to fill up, and you won’t be disappointed. Best nights are Saturday.
The place is safe, like the rest of the Island and a good place to strike up conversation with fellow party-goers.
Everyone loves to go to Miraponte - you’ll often see the very people who served you dinner showing up at this place!
So chill out, sit down and watch the way-too-good dancers, or groove to the dancing beats from Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Nigeria until day break. Walk back to your hotel or wizz off on a motorbike and watch the sun slowly rise over the sea.