Zanzibar pizza is the dish everyone in Stone Town eventually points you toward, and it isn’t pizza in any Italian sense.
Zanzibar pizza isn’t actually pizza, and it isn’t actually old. The dish traces back roughly 30 years to a cook named Haji Hamisi, who traveled from Unguja to Mombasa, Kenya, and came home inspired by the city’s egg chapati — a stuffed, pan-fried meat omelette. He adapted it with his own sauce and his own sense of play, and the result — a thin dough folded around a filling and fried flat on a griddle — spread into the late-night snack that now has more than 30 dedicated stalls across Unguja and Pemba. This guide is a practical, stall-by-stall way to actually eat your way through Forodhani Gardens, Stone Town’s nightly street food market, rather than just a list of what’s available.
Zanzibar pizza: Where the Name Comes From, and Why It Stuck
The dish owes less to Italy than to Kenya and the wider Swahili Coast. Haji Hamisi’s original inspiration, Mombasa’s egg chapati, sits in the same family as Nairobi’s mkate wa nyama (meat bread) and mutabbaq, a stuffed grilled pancake found from Saudi Arabia to India — all variations on dough folded around a filling and cooked flat. What makes the Zanzibar version its own thing is the sauce and the fillings, which range far wider than anything in that older lineage: ground beef, chicken, and mushroom on the savory side; mayo, soft white cheese, vegetables, and egg for a vegetarian version; and, on the sweet side, Nutella, mango and cheese, or Snickers with banana. One Forodhani stall, run by Salim Mhammed Vale and known locally as Mr. Nutella, is credited with being the first to put Nutella in the mix — which is exactly where the stall’s name comes from, and it’s still there most nights if you want to try the dish that started a trend within a trend.
A Practical Order to Eat In
Forodhani gets going around 6pm as the day’s heat breaks, and the stalls stay busy well into the evening. Rather than wandering and grazing at random, it helps to eat in roughly this order:
Start savory. A plain beef or chicken Zanzibar pizza is the right first stop — it tells you what the dough and technique are actually like before sauce and sweetness complicate the picture.
Move to urojo while you’re still hungry enough for a full bowl. This tangy, turmeric-yellow soup with fritters, potato, and egg is filling, and it’s better eaten as its own course than squeezed in after dessert.
Grill something. Mishkaki skewers — charcoal-grilled, marinated beef or chicken — are sold by weight or by skewer at nearly every stall cluster, and they’re best eaten hot off the coals rather than at the end of your walk once they’ve cooled.
Finish sweet, with a Nutella or mango-and-cheese Zanzibar pizza from Mr. Nutella’s stall or one of its neighbors. Treating the sweet version as dessert rather than a savory substitute keeps the two versions from blurring together, and it’s genuinely the better order to taste the range the dish covers.
Eating Vegetarian at Forodhani
It’s entirely possible to eat well at Forodhani without meat, though a few things need specifying rather than assuming. Zanzibar pizza’s vegetarian version — fried tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cheese — is on offer at most stalls; just confirm whether the cheese is a vegan option or the regular kind, since both are usually available side by side. Chapati served with mung beans (green grams) is naturally vegetarian, as are kachori — fried mashed-potato balls, often served inside chapati with peanuts, cabbage, and carrot. Biryani can usually be made vegetarian on request, though it’s worth confirming how it’s cooked rather than assuming. Urojo is the one dish to watch: it’s typically served with boiled egg as a topping, so ask for it on the side or left out if you’re avoiding egg.
Bargaining and Hygiene Basics
Prices at Forodhani are fairly standardized and low enough that aggressive bargaining isn’t really the local norm — but it’s still worth confirming a price before a vendor starts cooking, particularly for mishkaki sold by weight. Stick to stalls with visible turnover and food cooked fresh in front of you; that turnover is a better safety signal than anything else at a market like this. Washing your hands with soap and water before eating is customary and usually available at or near the market — use it, since most of the food here is eaten with your hands.
FAQ
Who invented Zanzibar pizza?
A cook named Haji Hamisi is credited with creating it roughly 30 years ago, after returning from Mombasa, Kenya, inspired by the city’s stuffed egg chapati.
Is Zanzibar pizza vegetarian-friendly?
Yes — most stalls offer a vegetable-and-cheese version alongside the meat fillings. Just confirm whether the cheese on offer is the vegan or regular kind.
What’s the best order to eat street food at Forodhani?
Start with a savory Zanzibar pizza to taste the base dish, move to a full bowl of urojo, grill some mishkaki while it’s hot, and finish with a sweet Zanzibar pizza as dessert.
What time does Forodhani Gardens open for food?
Around 6pm, once the day’s heat breaks, and it stays busy well into the evening.
Where can I find the original Nutella Zanzibar pizza stall?
Look for Mr. Nutella, a stall run by Salim Mhammed Vale, credited as the first to add Nutella to the Zanzibar pizza mix — it’s a regular fixture at Forodhani most evenings.