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“Wonderful Unique Fresh Seafood Creations”
Review of Taarab Restaurant

Taarab Restaurant
Ranked #3 of 98 Restaurants in Stone Town
Certificate of Excellence
Description: Roof top restaurant overlooking the old city of Stone Town and the indian ocean. The Taarab, offers scrumptious breakfasts by day and transforms into a romantic, atmospheric a la carte restaurant by sun-down offering outside terrace and indoor sittings.
Restaurant details
Description: Roof top restaurant overlooking the old city of Stone Town and the indian ocean. The Taarab, offers scrumptious breakfasts by day and transforms into a romantic, atmospheric a la carte restaurant by sun-down offering outside terrace and indoor sittings.
Reviewed 7 December 2017

Chef Shafeek masters perfectly unique savours, colours, presentations and local ingredients to create dishes which will enhance your senses and make this culinary experience unique all along.

Kalista made me feel as a really special guest, with an efficient and attentive service.

Date of visit: December 2017
    • Value
    • Service
    • Food
1  Thank VassenK
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.
Shafeek P, Chef at Taarab Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 8 December 2017

Dear Vassen,
Many thanks for your nice review and appreciation of the Taarab Restaurant service and quality of food.
Our aim is to provide StoneTown visitors and residents the best of Indian Ocean cuisine with a Zanzibari flavor.

Thank you for mentioning your waitress name,Kalista will definitely be recognized for that and thank you again for being a fan and looking forward to welcome you again very soon for some more delicatessens.

Culinary yours,
Chef Shafeek

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Reviews (768)
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439 - 443 of 768 reviews

Reviewed 4 December 2017 via mobile

We were treated to a five course set menu.
The bread was a bit stodgy but good accompanying beetroot dip.
The Tuna Ceviche with mushroom, cured cucumber and salad was divine.
The avocado and mango.salad was of similar high quality and fresh. The signature coconut crab soup presented in a coconut was rich and tasty. The seafood (lobster and dorado) were perfectly cooked and marinated. The accompanying beetroot risotto was a bit firm in texture but still good.
The final presentation of Passion trilogy (Passion fruit ice cream, mousse and tart) were an excellent finale. However the freshmint tea was made from dried mint and didn't have the aroma and flavour that the real item , has.
The overall quality and presentation of food were outstanding and Chef Khamees, (in the absence of Shafeek) really did do a great job.
Service though friendly is rather slow and not at par with the overall quality of food.

The next day our lunch was outstanding as well.

The quality of food is very good and it is very well presented. I would highly recommend it for a memorable meal.

Date of visit: December 2017
1  Thank Salman Z
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.
Shafeek P, Chef at Taarab Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 5 December 2017

Dear Salman,

I was so glad to read about your review and appreciation of the food.
We are so delighted to see that we fulfilled your expectations and even more as well as contributed positively to your experience at our Taarab restaurant. I will pass your compliments to Hamissi and team for your exquisite review.
We hope we will have the chance to welcome you again soon in the best place in town.

Culinary yours,
Chef Shafeek

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Reviewed 4 December 2017

We were told by locals that this was the best restaurant in Zanzibar so we chose it for our last meal.....it was fine. Nothing spectacular and certainly not as good as the local meal we had for lunch on our spice farm visit nor as good as lunch the previous day on Chumbe Island.

We tried the coconut crab soup (too watery and not enough crab inside, although the taste was good), the grilled prawns (nice), the calamari (give it a pass) and a vegetarian curry (again average). The view sitting outside overlooking Stone Town is probably the best part of the visit. We were also staying in the Doubletree hotel so it made it easy getting there. Wish we had tried Emerson Spice as originally planned as we were looking for something truly outstanding. Taarab was nice just not great.

Date of visit: December 2017
Thank DRNJ1960
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.
Shafeek P, Chef at Taarab Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 5 December 2017

Dear Guest,

First of all thank you for choosing us according to the great feedback you got of our roof top Taarab restaurant.
I wish you also could share your satisfaction with us, unfortunately you did not seem to experience the same this time and I sincerely regret it. Food taste being a very subjective aspect of the dishes served in a restaurant I can only regret this did not reach your sensitivity and obviously your taste.
We are however keen to reach everybody's satisfaction therefore if passing by our restaurant again please allow us to give it an other try, knowing your expectations, we shall be happy to a special exercise for you.

Culinary yours,
Chef Shafeek

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Reviewed 26 November 2017

Thanks Chef SHAFEEK for the excellent Dinner "SEAFOOD PLATTER "
Great night my wife and me good atmosphere restaurant in the terrace .

Date of visit: November 2017
    • Value
    • Service
    • Food
1  Thank delagarzaoscarh
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.
Shafeek P, Chef at Taarab Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 27 November 2017

Dear Valuable guest,
Thank you for choosing Taarab restaurant.
I was so glad to read about your review of the service and food. We are so delighted that you enjoyed our seafood food platter and you had a pleasant dining experience with us.

We hope we will have the chance to welcome you again and again.

Culinary yours,
Chef Shafeek

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Reviewed 19 November 2017

Great location, not far from the ocean, with views of the town. Food was good and varied. Nicely presented, but we felt we were a little rushed, even though it wasn't busy.

Date of visit: October 2017
    • Value
    • Service
    • Food
1  Thank Kari837
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.
Shafeek P, Chef at Taarab Restaurant, responded to this reviewResponded 21 November 2017

Dear Kari,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review about your experience of our roof top Taarab restaurant and your appreciation of the food quality displayed in our restaurant.
Please visit us again for some more lovely culinary experiences.

Culinary yours,
Chef Shafeek

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC

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