27 July 2011

Waterfront Bar and Restaurant

My colleague and I went to Dar es Salaam for a weekend of civilization away from the small Tanzanian village where we were staying. On our last night there we tried to go to dinner at a local nyama choma joint which we discovered was closed on Mondays so we went to the only other restaurant we knew in the area that had been recommended by her friend; Waterfront. 

Location: It's located in Slipway shopping center next to the Double Tree Hilton hotel in Masaki on the peninsula.
Price: Entrees seemed to range anywhere from 8000-25,000 TZS.  Drinks were a bit pricey for what I've seen reflected in other establishments throughout Tanzania; they were more indicative of Nairobi prices with house wine costing 5,000 TZS. 
Atmosphere: The shopping center is Village Market-esque with upscale stores overlooking the ocean. There are several restaurants inside; Waterfront is located in the back directly over the water.

The service was below par at the very best from the very start. It seemed like we'd been seated in our own section with no wait staff claiming our table as their own. After being unable to order a drink for 20 minutes I finally went to the wait station and pulled someone aside to insist they send someone to take our order. And after the fact our actual waiter showed up about 10 minutes later to see if we needed to order but fortunately we had already managed to procure a drink by that point.  

Despite the not atypical service for the region, the food was nice. I thoroughly enjoyed my frutti di mare pizza which was so substantial I couldn't finish it. It was chock full of prawns and bits of other fishies. My friend had the prawn curry which she also claimed to be quite tasty. I had a bite as well and can attest to the overall goodness of the dish; however, it wasn't anything spectacularly amazing, I like my food spicy and memorable, but it while it was filling and had nothing terribly wrong with it, I wasn't blown away.

The best part of the restaurant was the gorgeous view. Even though it was dark out, the patio overlooking the ocean was still amazing. Views and beachfront property are a dime a dozen in this area, but this inland girl never passes up dinner on the beach.


View of the Indian Ocean from Waterfront Bar and Restaurant

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