MKEKA: Bumping into 'Karafuu 305'

By @CarolAnande-Twitter; @CarolAnande-Facebook; @CarolAnande-Instagram

Our waiter for the night Mussa Amiri,
serving us the 'Hibiscus Mocktail' special

“You’ll like it; it’s got a bit of cinnamon a tad of cardamom with hibiscus juice, you know the delicious of Tanga...”

I am translating, the lyrical words from Kiswahili that Mussa Amiri, conveys with animated eyes as he was selling us the ‘mock-tail’ special of the house on this night.

We’re at Karafuu 305 a quaint restaurant in Dar es Salaam; which has been receiving numerous reviews in ‘Trip Advisor’. So I thought to go for myself and live the experience.

It’s not a secret that much of Dar es Salaam city-scape is not planned, therefore many tasteful restaurants here try to situate themselves somewhere close to urban coherence. Like next to a tarmac road or in the ‘affluent neighborhoods’ of Masaki, Oysterbay or the City Centre.

This isn’t the case with Karafuu 305, in effect it could be the owner Tanzanian born & raised Mr. Jasper Clemence, wanted to challenge our perception of class with relation to locale. http://305karafuu.co.tz

Therefore placing Karafuu 305 (which translates ‘cloves’ in Kiswahili), in suburban Kinondoni with local homes and a local ‘makuti’ bar as neighbours. The twist is seen as soon as you enter the vicinity.

A clean carved wood sign lets you know you’ve arrived and as you step into the waiting area. You immediately realise, this is not going to be your typical Suburban Kinondoni experience. Mussa walks away after me and my friend have decided to be brave and order this hibiscus mock-tail.

Our hands now are with the menu and in front of us is a modern though rustic hard wood table, indeed Karafuu should consider changing its name to ‘Mti’ or ‘Mbao’ . As its architecture to its décor, celebrates an East African story that has wood as its central element.

The brown tones shining from the ‘kigoda’ inspired African chairs at the waiting room, the hardwood tables across the restaurant and the exposed beams on the ceilings (with a leaf from traditional Ethiopian & Iraqw homes) are all brought to life.

With a plethora of colours bursting from paintings by local artists. With the main supplier here, being Salum Kambi a gifted semi-realist expressionist painter. I caution Karafuu305 to consider reducing the paintings on its walls, this with the help of an art connoisseur from Tanzania. As currently the display of the paintings is a haphazard mix.

Now as my friend cautions me it’s time to critique the food not just the ambience, which may I add is peppered with soulful music. ‘In your wildest dreams with Tina Turner & Barry White’ is playing softly in the background. When Mussa returns to take our orders, I then order the ‘Chicken Royale’ with French fries, my friend goes for the ‘Seafood crazy combo’ with vegetable rice.

My order for the night 'Chicken Royale' with french fr

Honestly compared to the price (both dishes came at 27,500Tshs) the portions were too small but this was made up for in taste. My chicken came just the way I like it, not too dry or too moist so I properly savored its marinade of garlic, thyme & lord knows. My friend loved her plate. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, the steamed vegetables had that whiff of butter and were cooked such that they were still crisp not soggy.

Plus the hibiscus mock-tail was on point, not too much added sugar and yes with each sip you could easily recall one of our coastal paradise destinations like Zanzibar. I say Karafuu 305, kudos to you, I give a 4 and a half out of 5 stars to y’all.