You might not immediately think of sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to delicious cuisines, but there are plenty of cities, regions and countries that offer dishes as sensational as their landscapes. From fine dining in Cape Town to eating fresh fish on the beach in Mozambique, these are our top 5 favourite African destinations for foodies.
Western Cape
Cape Town is easily one of the best cities for foodies in Africa. Its culinary offerings include high-end fine dining at award-winning restaurants; newspaper-wrapped fish and chips; Cape Malay curries; traditional pap and sheba; seafood and plenty of other international cuisines from Japanese to Ethiopian. Wolfgat, recently voted the top restaurant in the world, is a couple of hours up the coast in Paternoster.
Gourmand’s paradise: Where and what to eat in Cape Town
Mauritius
Mauritius has a diverse heritage that is reflected in its food, from Indian curries to French baked goods. Unsurprisingly, seafood is a theme that runs through many of the dishes. Try a crab curry or a smoked marlin salad with palm hearts. A street food tour through the capital Port Louis is a great way to taste a variety of dishes and cuisines whilst learning about the island’s history.
Stone Town
The main city of Zanzibar, Stone Town is a delicious place to spend some time. As a trading port, many cultures have left their culinary marks on the town. Make sure you sample some spice cake, pweza wa nazi (octopus and coconut), boku boku (meat stew) or sorpotel, a meat masala curry.
Durban
With the largest Indian population outside India, Durban is home to many tasty South Asian dishes. Bunny chow is one of South Africa’s most famous street foods and has its origins in Durban. A hollowed-out bread loaf is filled with curry, typically mutton, and eaten by ripping the bread and using it to scoop out the curry. It’s thought the dish was created by indentured Indian labourers who needed an easily transportable lunch to take to the sugar cane fields in which they were working.
Mozambique
Mozambican food is a delicious mixture of local and Portuguese influences made all the better by a supply of fresh seafood you’ll find along the coast and the country’s favourite sauce, peri peri. Tuck in to grilled prawns covered in peri peri sauce and served with fries or rice; prego rolls (steak sandwich with peri peri sauce); fresh, barbecued fish on the beach; juicy mangos; and, of course, peri peri chicken! The experience of eating fresh seafood along Mozambique’s beautiful coastline, or enjoying peri-peri chicken in the vibrant city of Maputo makes Mozambique one of our top 5 African destinations for foodies.
