Location: Mombasa
Top Restaurants in Mombasa
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Mombasa Food Guide: 10 Must-Eat Restaurants & Street Food Stalls in Mombasa
Mombasa, with a population of 900,000, is no sleepy seaside village. Its beachfront hotels appeal to travelers in search of sun, sand and surf, while its Arab, Indian and colonial European heritage makes for a wide variety of sights to see. Can't find a taxi? Travel by tuk-tuk, a three-wheeled auto rickshaw.
Things to do in Mombasa
1. Yul's Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 566 reviews
Reviewed By SamN001 - Mombasa, Kenya
A great place with a fantastic view of the sea. It's a nice place to relax while enjoying the food, having a drink or just enjoying the cold, refreshing delicious ice cream. The staff are friendly but can be a bit overwhelmed when the place is full.
Weekdays are the best times to visit
2. Il Covo Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 173 reviews
Formerly a holiday house on two floors overlooking the white, sandy Bamburi beach 12 km north of Mombasa island. Il Covo opened its door in May 2003 and since then it has been the top dining and entertainment venue in Mombasa. The lower veranda overlooks the beach, a romantic gazebo just out onto the sea and is fondly called fort Jesus. Its' an ideal spot for romantic dinners. The upper deck has two balconies with a sea view. One of them is a sushi bar whereby our chef will create the freshest and most delicious sushi, sashimi and teppanyaki right in front of you. The second balcony, dubbed "A room with a view' is an ideal setup for a private family lunch or dinner with a perfect view of the sea and a breeze that never ceases. Our Italian cuisine is renowned for it's originality, our menu consists of a wide range of original pasta dishes, fresh starters, salads including a variety of fish Carpaccio, tuna and red snapper. Fresh lobsters, prawns, calamari and octopus all depending on the day's catch, are also part of Il Covo's luscious and extensive menu along with fabulously tender Aged Angus meats. Il Covo also accommodates a large wood burning oven which gives the best authentic Italian pizzas. Our flat serene beach filled with white fine sand lends itself as a perfect venue for beach fun parties and exclusive dinners. All you require is just to ask for a beach setup and we shall do the rest at no extra cost. The il Covo experience is not complete without visiting our very popular disco club located on the upper floor. Our DJ will ensure that you shed of some of the calories you gained after dinner.
Reviewed By bwanamdevu - Newark-on-Trent, United Kingdom
After last night's disappointment we decided to try out Il Covo, just about 5mins walk along the beach from where we were staying. It is quite a small place, really perched out over the sands and as we found out later when the tide was in, right over the crashing waves as well! Made our way there along the rapidly narrowing bit of beach left by the encroaching Indian Ocean and climbed the few steps into the restaurant. Greeted very warmly by the staff and took a table overlooking the water.
Menu perused, we ordered the chicken with mushroom sauce and the pancakes filled with crab meat. Also ordering one of their smoothies as well as a soda. Waited patiently, but not too long before the dishes came - an easy wait as we observed the people scurrying along before the route became impassable and the incoming waves creeping closer and closer. It was a really nice view and the camel chap even stopped for us the take piccies!
The chicken was OK but again with a sauce that was nothing special. My filled pancakes were smothered in it's own overwhelming sauce that really hid the flavour of the crab which was a pity. The two dishes were overall not bad but we had expected better, I'm afraid to say, going by TA reviews. Two nights now at two different restaurants but food let down by the quality of the sauces offered!
The smoothie was not up to the standard of those on offer in the UK and at 850/- quite expensive. The two dishes were 1200 and 1250ksh, not a bad price at all.
We have to compliment the staff, very friendly and helpful, even giving us a guide along the back alleys back to our hotel as the beach was impassable. We would readily eat there again and can recommend Il Covo to you all.
Oh, forgot to say that the young lady owner herself came along late in the meal to ask if everything was fine and was there anything she could do! A really nice touch!
3. Safari Inn Bar & Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 63 reviews
Reviewed By alan m - Coventry, United Kingdom
great food. red snapper best on the coast. grilled prawns fantastic, puts other including top hotels in area to shame. great prices and ambience, cold beer, wine same, and very tasty. great service by Felix. always visit on an almost nightly basis for dinner.
4. Tamarind Mombasa
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 598 reviews
Reviewed By suleylamki
Had a beautiful dinner with my family in a lovely setting over looking the Indian ocean.We ordered calamari,Peri Peri oysters for starters which were delicious for the main we had seafood platter & grilled crab which were the highlights. I would certainly recommend this restaurant for seafood.
5. Beach Bar & Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 81 reviews
Reviewed By Larry4Africa - Kitale
Sorry to tell you but Robertos' has changed it's location. They are no longer right on the beach, but have relocated to Njali. The food is still great, but could not serve us a margarita, because the owner was no available??
6. Misono
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 114 reviews
Reviewed By mariamsa - Edmonton
My husband and I wandered by here while heading to another cafe but we decided to give it a try. Glad we did! Surprisingly very good selection of authentic Japanese food and very ambient, down to the Japanese Gardens and the gong that they hit every time a new dining guest arrives. Very attentive service also.
7. Pavilions Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 133 reviews
Reviewed By Ajei2000 - Nairobi, Kenya
Pavillion is a big restaurant capable of holding many guests at the same time. given that the hotel focusses on conferences, you will find many people at the restaurant for meals - breakfast and dinner. in spite of the numbers, there are no queues and service moves smoothly. This is a strong plus for the hotel. The quality of the buffet food is not that great.
8. Shehnai Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 140 reviews
Shehnai Restaurant is known for the best Mughlai and Tandoori Cuisine in the Heart of Mombasa City. Its recognized for the Royal Ambiance and Personalized Service alongside the tantalizing and mouth watering dishes!!!
Reviewed By virumpatel - Irvine, California
We were 8 of us around 2.30pm and the owner was having lunch and they were closed we went in and asked if you would open up and he did and we had a great lunch The food tasted was amazing the spices in the...MoreThank you for the comments and rating. We appreciate your patronage and look forward to hosting you again Regards General Manager
9. Bollywood Bites
Overall Ratings
4 based on 52 reviews
Bollywood Bites is Mombasa's premier authentic Indian vegetarian restaurant located at Nyali Cinemax. Our menu remains true to Indian roots combining the best of Southern and Northern India. Our specialties include our Dosas, Punjabi Curries, Chaat and fresh juices. We aim to provide the most authentic Indian cuisine with the promise of fresh ingredients and sauces combined with original Indian spices.
Reviewed By Neil R
We had Dahi Puri and Maru bajias for starters. They put Jeera in their bajias for an interesting twist.
Our starters and drink were out in less than 5 minutes from ordering, and the mains (black dhall, jeera rice, kaju curry and naans) came just as we were finishing our starters. Service was attentive and friendly.
Juices had too much sugar in them. Will was over 5000shs!
10. Cafesserie Mombasa
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 408 reviews
Reviewed By 811michael - United Kingdom
We had lunch at this lovely restaurant in Mombasa. The food here was rather tasty and fresh. My beef fillet skewers was well seasoned to give wonderful taste and flavour, the cherry tomatoes and peppers added extra flavours and the mashed potato was delicious as the potato used tasted of a good quality. My wife loved her grilled salmon with the vegetables very fresh tasting. The salmon was beautifully seasoned to give an array of mouth watering tastes and flavours. Our daughter enjoyed her vegetarian salad which was very fresh tasting. The service was good with rather lovely waiting staff. Overall this was a very good dining experience, and we left very happy to have dined here.
