Mr. Big Banana

Yes, I know what you're thinking, "Didn't I see that movie at the old Art Theater in Indianapolis when I was in college?" Well, maybe, but in this case I'm thinking of something else.  When you're in Zanzibar you really have to visit the Forodhani Gardens, which are located right on the ocean, to get some street food.  I really liked it there, but, truthfully, it can be a difficult place to visit, especially if you don't know the local customs.  The touts are exhausting and it's very easy to walk up to the wrong booth and end up getting cheated (you still get some really good food, but you end up paying a ton of money; well, not really a ton, but much more than you should).  We gave the students extensive instructions on what to avoid, but, as is typical, we might as well have just printed it on the syllabus because they could have then officially ignored it.  For example, here are a few very basic rules for eating at the Forodhani Gardens: 1) if they are not actually cooking it in front of you, then don't order; 2) if you aren't paying a specific amount before you eat, then don't order (it's hard to re-negotiate when you've already eaten), 3) don't eat at the first cart you come to; and 4) don't place orders with folks in front of the food cart telling you how amazing the food is (they're touts and are including a very sizable surcharge for their "services") and only talk directly to the folks cooking.  After instilling these rules, and others, we cut the students loose to get their meals.

Debrief a half-hour later:

Me: "Did you try the great Zanzibari pizza at Mr. Big Banana?"

Various and sundry students: "Nah, I went to the first cart I saw." [insert ominous musical theme]

Me: "Hmmm, how did it go?"

Various and sundry students: "It was good, but it was more expensive than I thought.  It was more than my per diem."

Me: "Uh, how much did it cost? The per diem is supposed to get you through the entire day." [professor is not worried, both financially and because of the value of teachable moments]

Various and sundry students: "Well, the guy out front wasn't really clear, and it wasn't really until after I finished that they told me it was $30."

Me: "Yeah, was the food hot off the grill?" [professor knows the answer, but can't help asking the obvious question]

Various and sundry students: "Grill?"

Me: "I paid around $2 for a Zanzibari pizza at Mr. Big Banana."

Various and sundry students: [crestfallen, but already determined to come back the next night and regain honor] "Why didn't you warn us?"

Me: [thinking back to seventeen million similar classroom discussions over the decades] "It's on the syllabus."

While the touts can be annoying, it is still a cool place to grab a meal and kill a couple hours when in Stone Town.  It is actually very family friendly, and you just learn to develop an emotional callus in regard to the touts (which is sad, in a way, because it ends up potentially keeping you from interacting with the locals and re-enforces the walls that surround the American gated community mindset).

Happily, you can always go to Mr. Big Banana, which serves a killer Zanzibari pizza, and I can highly recommend the meat version, although there are multiple choices.  It is really more like a panini than a traditional pizza, which actually makes it easier to eat.  Quite delicious, and actually only around 3500 Tanzanian shillings (just be sure to order to the guys in the back of the food cart who are actually cooking and not the touts out front).

Mr. Big Banana also makes a great dessert, which looks much like the Zanzibari pizza.  I can speak knowingly and eloquently and passionately in support of the coconut and nutella version.