Mamboz's Again

I've spoken about the excellence of Mamboz's Corner BBQ before on this blog, so it's not particularly surprising that Steve and I visited it again on our trip in May.  In fact, most of the planning for the early stage of the trip centered around making sure that we made it to Mamboz's.  It's located in downtown Dar Es Salaam, about ten minutes from our traditional landing spot of the Heritage Motel, which leaves it pretty close to the port.  We landed in Dar around 9:00 at night, and our hope was to bust through customs, grab a taxi, drop off our suitcases at the Heritage (essentially, "For the love of God, man, here's my passport, we've got to get to get to Mamboz's!"), and then run to the restaurant.  Happily, we made it in time and were rewarded with their amazing food, all while sitting out on the sidewalk soaking up the environment.  We were going to bracket the trip by stopping at Mamboz's on the way out of town, but it was Ramadan and consequently the restaurant opened later and we couldn't make the logistics work.  Still, we'll be back there again in January, nineteen students in tow.

Seriously, how can you not be happy, it's Mamboz's BBQ.  It's definitely spicy, especially for those living in the spice-averse yankee hellhole that is Vermont, but if you've lived in the South, like I have, or grew up in Buffalo, like Steve did, spice is not a problem.

This is the general consensus.  You can just see the iconic Mamboz's Corner BBQ sign in the background. The food is cooked on big grills right out on the sidewalk next to where you're eating, so you're salivating before your plate arrives.

This is the combo platter.  Highly recommended.