Karambezi Cafe — Restaurant in Dar es-Salaam

Last night I decided to take my large party of 9 for a birthday dinner. I had not been to Karambezi in a long time and thought that it would be be a new experience - maybe the restaurant had new items on the menu.

The restaurant was not even that full, and even though servers were seen walking around aimlessly, our drinks took 15min to arrive. We'd ordered cocktails, water and soda, but these arrived in three groups with our one waiter and we were unable to do a group birthday cheers. Even when I told a non-busy waiter walking by, where were the rest of our drinks, they did nothing to take it upon themselves to speed up the process and assist our designated waiter. The bar did not even look busy to me, from where we were sitting, so how hard could it be to get 4 cocktails done?

Then came time to order our mains. I recently became a vegetarian and to my disbelief and dismay I found that there was nothing on the menu that I could eat as a vegetarian. There was only one vegetarian item in the pasta section! I asked our waiter if they could perhaps make a pasta with creamy mushroom sauce and paneer cubes (cottage cheese) and/or vegetables, but they said it was not possible as each food item on the menu could not be customized. I found that reasonimg very hard to digest and finally had to settle on the 1 veg pasta they were offering. When our food arrived, I received another shock. All my family's orders of fish and nonveg were large plate standard sizes, whilst my pasta portion was a tiny mickey mouse size that normally my 12year old daughter eats. My pasta literally sat in a large planet size dish and at the center of that was a small pasta portion that looked like a starter to me.

One does not expect to go to a restaurant and pay high-end prices only to be served a kiddy sized meal and still be left hungry. I complained to our waiter and he just offered to get the manager, but I did not want to make a scene infront of my guests.

When you bring a large part of +5guests to any restaurant one would expect that the establishment could at least make the effort in their kitchen to accommodate vegetarians and take some love in going the extra mile to trying to whip together a vegetarian dish that is satisfying, if not that, at least try to balance that off with giving them an adult size portion as opposed to baby sized portion!

For value of money the same vegetarian pasta I usually have at other restaurants in Masaki I am given a large plate size portion that leaves me satisfied, and not only that, the chefs are able to add things like vegetables and/or cottage cheese to substitute as protein.

I was thoroughly disappointed and left the restaurant as hungry as I came in, and my experience at Karambezi was nothing short of something that I would not want to undergo ever again.

Poor service, a kitchen that is unable to customize a menu item in a small way to suit the needs of a client and a meal portion suitable for a child is not what you would expect from a 5star rating restaurant such as...

Right on the ocean cliff surrounded by a 180 degree view of the beautiful Indian Ocean Right lies the Karambezi Café! Bring your friends and loved ones and join us for the most deliciously fresh seafood you’ve ever tasted, or why not go for our famous steaks, amazingly juicy burgers or big pizzas? The panoramic view of the gorgeous Indian Ocean, combined with the great work of our chefs makes for a no better way - and nowhere better - to really enjoy yourself and your meal! Here everyone from far away tourists to our dear Dar es Salaam residents find their spot. The big outside deck together with the Coffee Bar, upstairs Deck, Lounge and Bar areas, has room for friendly lunches, casual business meetings, after work drinks and dinner parties - large or small! We open our doors at 06.00 every day when the Breakfast Buffet starts, and close in the late hours of the evening when our last guests have finished their last glass. Any time of day, any day of the week, is a good time to come and create new memories. Every day we welcome hundreds of guests for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and we so look forward to seeing...

Came by with my mother, the lady at the entrance vividly told us there was no place apart from the top terrace. Which she insisted, but we looked around and there were a couple of free tables. Gladly we took time to move around and found a nice table. A male waiter popped by and introduced himself, we asked for the menu and again took 15-20 minutes to bring. We kept looking around and I asked another male waiter who gave me a snobbish look and still no menu. The male waiter came almost thrice with no menu. The table was dirty and it was grinchy to sit. Gladly Rita, the female waiter with a beautiful smile, positive aura, amazing energy quickly wiped the table and served us the menu and we were able to order our drinks. She definitely needs a praise and a raise because it's because of her, we sat and enjoyed the area. Knowledge about the food and drinks menu, kind, welcoming, erudite and definitely made the visit a worthwhile. Again, the pace is slow and it seems like everyone is all over the place and it's difficult to...