The best restaurants in Dar es Salaam

I’m back in Dar es Salaam and I’m loving Tanzania a bit more this time around. It might have to do with knowing the place a bit better. Either way, I’ve been staying Seacliff which is an 5 star resort situated on a cliff. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much considering I prefer a beach side resort to a cliff but it’s pretty cool to be able to wake up to the sights and sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks below. This time around I spent more time exploring some of the top restaurants Dar has to offer.

Karembezi Café is the Seacliff hotel's restaurant that sits on the cliff with amazing views while it’s still bright outside. The house music gives this place a great party vibe or the perfect place to sip cocktails at. At night, the bottom of the cliff is lit up so you watch the waves and get lost in the sounds of the ocean. It’s a pretty vibey joint as the bar, food and view calls people over to chill. Even on a week night, it’s packed!

Right next door to the Seacliff hotel is Seacliff Village which boasts many stores and ATMs but mostly it’s a place to chill at one of their restaurants. There’s a wide variety of choice from South African favourites like Spur to quaint little coffee shops. The Fishmonger, despite it's name, is an upmarket seafood restaurant. It’s a pity that although this is right by the sea there isn’t an ocean view to check out however the food is of top quality. You should definitely try the platter for one – the lobster, calamari rings and prawns are perfectly cooked. Ask for their version of tartare sauce – it’s a garlic mayo sauce. Mix it with a little bit of their fiery chilli sauce and you’ve got an awesome meal.

If a view is what you're after, there is no better view than the one Cape Town Fish Market has. This is considered the place to be in Dar and I actually think this is better than any of their franchises in South Africa. This restaurant is situated on the banks of Oyster Bay and has views all around the affluent Msanani and Masaki regions. The bay is mesmerising and every so often there are sail boats out and even little sea creatures running about on the shore. At night, the coastline is lit up and the restaurant's blue and white decor gives off a relaxed beachside ambience. The food is delicious and I'd go as far as calling it one of the finer dining spots in town.

Another restaurant around the Msanani Bay is The Waterfront. It's located at Slipway which is a centre with a number of restaurants and market stalls. You have to get to the Waterfront during sunset - it is absolutely breathtaking to watch the skies above the bay turn all shades of orange as day turns to night. Unlike the other restaurants listed above, this one has a few Zanzibari dishes. As much as I'm not a fan of Tanzanian cuisine, I really like the spicy flavours of Zanzibari food.

Trinity Bar and Lounge is a relaxing joint to chill with friends for a drink. The food is average but I really like the beach bar vibe with the thatched roof and all that natural greenery outside that hasn't been paved yet.

For those in the mood for cocktails, Newscafe is all about the vibe. It pains me to convert the prices to Rands as the food and drinks are easily 3 times the amount you'd pay in SA but I suppose this is the case all over Africa. This is the only place in Dar that I know of that has a big range of the designer cocktails I'm used to. Like all Newscafes, the food is average as people are there mostly for the drinks. The ambience is perfect for a party atmosphere. 

Samaki Samaki in Mlimani City has a cute name. It's directly translated from Swahili to mean Fish Fish. They serve all sorts of seafood and they happen to be the resident watering hole. After work, people line up at the bar counters around the tiny restaurant for a beer while catching a game of sport. I love the rustic wooden decor - chairs look like tree stumps. I tried a local fish which was delicious but I have now learnt the lesson of ordering a fillet next time as the local fish have long sharp bones that you only seem to notice in your mouth.

I saved my favourite for last: Alcove. I generally pick the best restaurant within a centre to talk about and although Karembezi makes it to the list from Seacliff, I have to add in Alcove as well. They serve Indian/Chinese cuisine and it's quite a formal setting. The food is absolutely divine. I've only ever had one average dish there - the dal makhani but if you enjoy Indian cuisine, you'll love every other dish you order.

If you think I'm missing a good spot, let me know and I'll make sure I try it on my next visit.

Seacliff: Living on the edge of the Indian Ocean

I’m back in Dar es Salaam but this time I’m staying at Seacliff. My colleagues go on and on about how awesome the hotel is so I had to try it out.  Almost immediately, I preferred this hotel to Double Tree. From the time you step into the foyer, it screams “5 star boutique hotel”. The staff all speak English including the cleaning staff which really should be the norm for a business hotel.

The pool where I still need to relax

Reception to chill when waiting for a cab

Upmarket feel

The décor of the hotel reminds you that you’re in an African hotel from the paintings to the colour scheme. I love the upmarket African feel and it feeds through into the rooms as well. I was very impressed with all the little amenities in the bathroom – they even had a dental care kit comprising of a toothbrush and the littlest toothpaste I’ve even seen. I’ve always said that if hotels offer soaps, shower gels and shampoos, they should offer a toothbrush and toothpaste. It’s something a lot of people forget at home. It’s just a pity that this 5 star establishment doesn’t replace it.

A little bathroom basket

I love those brown tones

There are two restaurants within the hotel. Karembezi Café is where breakfast is served every morning and I love the view. It’s situated right on the edge of the cliff. It’s so peaceful and calm in the mornings and at night it has a cool vibe about the place. It seems like the go-to spot in Dar as it gets packed even on weeknights. This restaurant offers a Western menu.

My morning view

Karembezi is situated on a cliff

The breathtaking view looking down

Alcove is the more formal restaurant offering Indian and Chinese cuisine. The last time I was in Dar I wasn’t too happy with the hotel food but almost everything I ate at Alcove has been really delicious! This is by far the best restaurant I’ve been to in Dar. It must just be noted that none of the dishes at this hotel is local – so you’ll be disappointed if that’s what you’re looking for.

A mix of Indian dishes

I notice that while travelling for work, I generally leave the office late so there's only a small amount of time in the evenings and the weekend to actually explore the city. By the time night falls, it's too late to go out and I'm too tired to even want to. I love that Seacliff has two restaurants with such different cuisines to ensure most of their guests palates are catered for. Seacliff Village is right next door with a number of restaurants to try out. So it's just a small walk away and there's more to do.

I'm definitely enjoying my stay here. Looking forward to the next week.

10 Things singles are tired of hearing

These articles on things singles are tired of hearing started circulating in my news feeds and I loved reading them! Mostly cos they speak truths. Also being single defined me for most of my life and I still take these comments to heart despite being engaged. So here’s my take on them with comments to my coupled up friends who used to give me the same advice.

1. “You’ll find it when you aren’t looking!”

My response: “Seriously? Just because your man found you when you weren’t looking for him, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen to everyone else. “

We want things in all spheres of our lives and we work at making them happen. Why should it be any different in relationships? For most of my life, all I wanted was someone to love me and none of the other successes I achieved. But I also knew a man was not going to knock on the door at my house looking for me.

I went out, tried new things, took up new hobbies – I was hardly ever at home. Did it work? Well I may have never met my fiancé if I didn’t go out one night when a mutual friend invited me. So I found him…when I was looking.

2. “You can’t be happy in a relationship unless you’re happy with yourself first.”

My response: “Really? You have such personal and inter-personal issues and you wanna tell me I’m not happy with myself?”

I agree. If you’re a miserable person and you haven’t “found yourself” you wanna do that first. You really don’t want to impose your issues on another person. That being said, they are many crazy peeps in relationships who haven’t sorted out the being-happy-with-themselves thing first. Most single people know what they want. They aren’t single because they aren’t happy with themselves.

I spent my single days judging my coupled-up friends and I hate to say that I actually learnt about relationships from them. I knew how I didn’t want to treat my man and the unnecessary fights I didn’t want to have. I basically learnt from their mistakes and when I finally got my relationship, I didn’t have to make their mistakes.

3. “You’re still young, you got all the time in the world.”

My response: “Exactly! I want to spend the best parts of my life in a relationship – showering affection and being showered with love.”

We really don’t have all the time in the world. Life is short so why shouldn’t we want a relationship now? Friends say I just needed to be patient because my fiancé was on his way to meet me at the right time. Tell that to my 40 year old single friends who are still waiting for “the right time”.

Did I waste my youth pining over a man I didn’t have? No. I’m actually happy with everything I did before meeting him. It would have been nice doing all those things with him, though.

4. “You deserve someone who wants to give you everything.”

My response: “Of course I do.”

How does this comment even make a single person feel better? It only makes them depressed that they don’t have it.

5. “You’re looking in the wrong places.”

My response: “Grrr!”

Coupled-up people always think single people are single cos they’re doing something wrong. Nope. It’s cos coupled up people got lucky with love and singles haven’t found that luck yet. Single people know how to “look for love”. It’s the first lesson everyone gives them so they try new things, take up new hobbies, broaden their circles of friends and go out more. I know people who’ve found love at work, at university, chilling with friends, at a bar – you can find it anywhere and sometimes you can go to these places and still not find it – it doesn’t mean they didn’t look in the right place.

6. “You should try online dating!”

My response: “Why don’t you try online dating!”

I totally agree with this one. If I didn’t find my fiancé when I did, I would have tried online dating a few months later. It’s a place that’s filled with other single people – they are all looking for someone. It’s not like going to a bar where most of them aren’t trying to find someone. One of my favourite couples met through online dating. They both happen to be awesome people and they are happy.

Awesome people do exist in online dating portals. Yes, there are tons of weirdos on there but there’s no harm in safely trying. There's also a ton of weirdos in real life too.

7. “You’re too picky.”

My response: “OMG! There are women out there with height requirements! All I want is to meet a man and see whether we click.”

I’m a simple girl – I didn’t have a list of requirements. All I wanted was someone who will treat me right and love me unconditionally – was that too much to ask for?

8. “Oh hey, but also, never settle.”

My response: “So tell me more about the parts of your other half you weren’t picky about – you know…the parts you settled for.”

Nuff said.

9. “You need to put yourself out there more.”

My response: “All you did was stand there and look pretty while Mr Right came running to you. What do you even know about putting yourself out there?”

Most coupled up people know nothing about putting themselves out there. I wasn’t afraid of going up to a guy and making conversation, I had so many circles of friends, hell I even had hobbies that interested boys. What more did you want me to do? And how much of putting myself out there have my coupled-up friends ever done?

10. “I’m engaged!”

My response: *blank stare*

Just a few months before meeting my fiancé, I asked the universe to stop with the engagements, weddings and babies. I’m happy for them – I really am. It’s just their happiness made me so reflect on everything I don’t have in my life and depressed me. Take your good news to your coupled-up friends dammit!

In fact, when I got engaged, I took forever to tell my single friends because all I remembered was my single-reaction to other people’s news like that.

Honeymoon dreaming

I’ve been quiet on the blog mostly because I’ve been too busy dreaming about my honeymoon. When I was a little girl I dreamed of spending my month long honeymoon cruising from Durban to Italy and then spending the rest of my honeymoon in romantic cities like Rome and Venice before jetting back to reality.

A lot has changed in the time I grew up like realising that no one can take a month off if one has to work for a living and that dreamy holidays are really expensive!

What hasn’t changed is my dream for ultimate luxury in a romantic setting. And so I’ve been dreaming about the Maldives ever since I heard about it. All I knew before now was the Maldives is made up of a couple of islands and that’s at risk of disappearing cos they haven’t quite learned from the Emirati how to build their own islands. Oh and let’s not forget the awesome villas on stilts and that there’s not much to do other than honeymoon ;-). You do get villas on stilts in other holiday destinations but they are few and far between. Almost every resort in the Maldives offers villas on stilts! How romantic is it being secluded in your own little house over the ocean with a calm lagoon that’s like a pool right at your doorstep!

Before I get carried away, I realise that the Maldives is expensive. For a villa on stilts, it averages about R100 000 depending on currency exchange rates and the type of resorts just for accommodation only! So my dream honeymoon was simply that to be for a while – a dream. After all my complaining about spending money for the wedding, you know how important it is for me to save my money for a costly wedding. But this is something I really wanted and was really excited for despite the illogical spend of money. Even travel agents were suggesting I do Mauritius – a 5 star resort for less than half of what I’d pay for in the Maldives. And apparently the groom also needed to have a say in the matter *rolls eyes*.

I pretty much hijacked the honeymoon planning from him by looking only at the Maldives and sadly suggesting Seychelles and Mauritius whenever he wanted to get involved. R100 000 is enough to buy a car cash and that is way too much to ask someone to consider so I always had a feeling that the Maldives will never be mine – from a logical-thought perspective.

Luckily enough, I have a fiancé who wants to give me the world and through some tough negotiations with travel agents, Flight Centre finally came through with a quote we just couldn’t say no to. We increased our credit card limits and thought like pre-credit crisis Americans and said, “Let’s book it” – the money to pay back the credit cards will come. And the worst that will happen is a bad credit record…but at least we’ll be able to say we honeymooned in the most romantic place on earth.

After spending practically all my free time googling Maldivian resorts, keeping a spreadsheet of the accommodation costs at various resorts, wondering which accommodation type to choose and speaking to agents, I finally settled on Meeru Island. Check out their website! I simply cannot wait!

After booking and actually being happy to pay so much for a 7 night stay, I was so humbled when I realised just how lucky I am to be able to afford such a lavish honeymoon while having to spend a small fortune on a big fat Indian wedding this year. I truly am grateful to have well-paying job and a partner who earns a similar salary to me. I know I’m one of the lucky few in this country to be able to experience this! Knowing all of that still doesn’t make it easy to get up and go to work every morning :-p

I put the wedding planning on hold cos I was too immersed in the honeymoon dreams so I should get back to that. But I can’t stop thinking about the honeymoon now so if you have any tips on what to do in Maldives or how to prepare for it, let me know.