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Ratings and reviews

RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere

Food and ambience

About
ESSENCE IS LOCATED ON KENDWA BEACH. We serve Continental, Indian, Asian and Italian cuisine. Enjoy dinner under the stars. Sunset cocktails and much more. Free Wi Fi, Beach umbrellas for rent. Large groups welcome .
PRICE RANGE
R 57 - R 566
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner, After-hours
CUISINES
Indian, African, Seafood, International
FEATURES
Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Street Parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Accepts Mastercard, Accepts Visa, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Television, Beach
Reviews (368)
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155 results
Traveller rating
98
29
14
9
5
Traveller type
Time of year
LanguageEnglish
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Traveller rating
98
29
14
9
5
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All reviews lamb seafood platter curries rice an excellent place essence zanzibar beach hotel rebecca cashews
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Reviewed 1 week ago

Extra ordinary service. Chef Ali is truly outstanding. The team at Essence got out of their way to make sure you get value for money. Kudos to Chef Ali and team.

Date of visit: March 2024
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 2 weeks ago

Excepțional.Very good food prepared by chef Ali.Customer orientated chef. Well done!Excepțional Best Experience in Kendwa.

Date of visit: March 2024
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Reviewed 3 weeks ago

✨The best restaurant in Kendwa is Essence!✨❤️🌸 The restaurant is very clean, tastefully furnished. There is plenty of food and drink to choose from - everything is always available! The food is very tasty, high quality, always fresh, big portion and professional! ⭐️🙏🏻🌸 The waiters...are very nice, friendly, always in a good mood. ⭐️🙏🏻🌸 And the best at the end - a huge thank you to lovely chef Ali! Always in a good mood, friendly, he is interested in the opinion of whether the food is tasty, he will comply with any desired request if you want to leave something out of the meal. ⭐️🙏🏻🌸 We look forward to our next visit and recommend everyone to come and eat here! A real food experience! For us, this restaurant has ten stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING 🙏🏻❤️🌸More

Date of visit: February 2024
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 3 weeks ago

We were here every evening of our stay in Kendwa. I can't praise the wonderful waitresses Tusekila and Leah enough who were extremely kind to our children; chef Ali who came to our table every evening to ask if everything was okay and treated us...to ice creams. We have never experienced such hospitality and cordiality anywhere in the world, and thank them for that. You made our stay in Zanzibar beautiful❤️❤️More

Date of visit: February 2024
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Reviewed 10 February 2024

I never normally do a review for any restaurant, but me and my wife found this absolute gem. Not only is the food exceptional and well priced, they also have a happy hour where cocktails are $3 and large beers $2. Service is what you...would expect from a 5* establishment. We have decided to only eat and drink here it is that good!!!More

Date of visit: February 2024
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed 8 January 2024 via mobile

I greatly enjoyed the half day spend there for a lunch and sunbathing in the lounges provided by the restaurant. The restaurant is pleasantly designed and serves great seafood and drinks. Large clean bathroom for changing. One funny element is the prevalence of Italian clientele...who eat pizza and for whom an Italian DJ is posted outside. Surely, Italoy would have been closer ? Anyway, great place for a day in the January sun.More

Date of visit: January 2024
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Reviewed 18 February 2023 via mobile

well located. attentive staff. the food is very good. we ordered shrimp for starters and seafood mix curry for main course. very tasty.

Date of visit: February 2023
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed 31 January 2023 via mobile

We visited on Monday 25th January. Food was superb as was the location and service. Very much recommended for a lovely evening. Seafood platter was incredible.

Date of visit: January 2023
Helpful?2  
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Reviewed 3 January 2023 via mobile

Decided to give essence a try as we live nearby. My mother ordered a Zanzibar (Swahili) seafood curry and some kind of sludge with bits of crab stick (which can only be frozen and from overseas as we don’t manufacture crab sticks here) was floating...in it. One single piece of fish and lots of crab sticks….how can you serve a dish that is supposed to be local to the area with frozen seafood that you don’t even get here when you are a stones throw from the sea. It’s unbelievable. The rest of the curries were fine, nothing to write home about but at least edible. We will not be back!More

Date of visit: January 2023
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed 23 December 2022 via mobile

Decided to go there for a dinner just because of good reviews and the place did not disappoint. Ordered a few different things - prawns, Zanzibar bbq beef, lamb in cashews with rice, and every single one of them was just amazing. The staff of...super nice, prices are surprisingly reasonable for such place. Coming back for a lobster tomorrow!More

Date of visit: December 2022
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Reviewed 21 December 2022 via mobile

We other 8 different meals and all was perfect. Very tasty. Waiter Nikiza and all stuff was really great and friendly. We had feeling like in best friend house. See you

Date of visit: December 2022
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Reviewed 9 November 2022

Came here for dinner after a nice day at the beach and had a delicious meal. The butter chicken here is some of the best I've ever had and the service was wonderful. Prices are quite reasonable also!

Date of visit: November 2022
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Reviewed 5 September 2022 via mobile

I just had an excellent experience of eating the best obster ever at this restaurant. The service is just excellent … I was treated like a king (thank you Rebecca). The lobster was delicicious, together with the potatoes and the sauce! Please go here to...have something to eat. It is very much worthwile.More

Date of visit: September 2022
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Reviewed 5 July 2022 via mobile

I visited with my boyfriend for Lunch. We gave our orders. His drinks were brought then my boyfriend said all this drinks belongs to me where is her passion juice. The waiter left and we thought he had gone to bring the juice. The waiter...came back with nothing then I asked where is my drink and the WiFi he went and when he brought back the WiFi password, I again asked about my passion juice he shouted at me and said I didn't give any order. I stood up and left without eating and lefty boyfriend eating. This was racism. And my question to them was, Don't you people serve blacks. My boyfriend is white and he was served me not.More

Date of visit: July 2022
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Reviewed 28 June 2022 via mobile

Great sea food platter served by very friendly staff. Very clean including the toilets, very reasonable prices would definitely recommend to others. Not the place for a quality steak though.

Date of visit: June 2022
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Questions & Answers
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547danicag
2 March 2018|
AnswerShow all 4 answers
Response from Essencesj | Property representative |
Yes Essence Restaurant does, however there is a 3% surcharge due to the bank's charges. Visa and Mastercards are welcome
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Essence Restaurant, Kendwa - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

Frequently Asked Questions about Essence Restaurant

Essence Restaurant is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travellers:
  • Food: 4.5
  • Service: 4.5
  • Value: 4
  • Atmosphere: 4.5