It’s high time I talked about the Jambo Inn considering it’s where we eat dinner 5 or 6 times a week when we’re in Dar es Salaam. The Jambo Inn is the gregarious backpackers’ hostel right around the corner from the Starlight.
Although the rooms at our hotel are slightly nicer, the Jambo Inn is vastly superior in terms of food. We first started going there for the Internet Cafe, but continued long after we acquired mobile internet sticks for the eats. First of all, it has an absolutely gigantic menu. If you don’t believe me,
see for yourself! You can get almost anything there including 20 or 30 different types of curry, Chinese food, a variety of different soups, beef/chicken/veggie burgers, and a half dozen types of fries. The restaurant also boasts fresh juices, including lemon, orange, pineapple, passion, mango, and watermelon. The watermelon juice in particular would give anyone one good reason to go on living. I might just reconnect with my own juicer because of it. Although we’ve made a good effort to sample all the menu items, to do so would take far longer than this field season would allow. Of the things we’ve tried, we each have our favourites. Katie likes the daal makhani and the navratan curry, Jenn likes the barbeque chicken, Pam loves the fried rice and the chicken with chips, and I’m a sucker for the hot and sour soup and cheeseburgers. However there is more than enough choice to keep us coming back for dinner almost every night of the week. Since the Inn is Muslim run, lately we’ve also had the choice of Ramadan feast dishes. I can highly recommend the chicken thaali.
In addition to the stellar food and wide selection, the Jambo Inn has a number of endearing quirks. The restaurant is randomly closed on Wednesdays. You can get various packaged ice cream treats, foreign chocolate bars, and various types of candy from the counter beside the internet cafe. The ceiling is painted with different types of panoramic landscapes, including Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. The tables are all either yellow, red, green, or blue with matching chairs. There are cheesy motivation quotes on the walls painted in Disney-esque script. Sometimes when we ask for a receipt after dinner, they randomly up the bill another 18%. It’s the only place in Dar es Salaam to get ginger ale, which looks like Canada Dry except all the writing is in Arabic. Finally, the patrons of the Jambo Inn are a colourful bunch. They represent the best mix of eccentric backpackers, college students, and businessmen. For the past few nights, a group of very attractive young women in harem pants and hoop earrings have been there playing SkipBo. Seriously, SkipBo of all things. We certainly never find ourselves short of people watching opportunities. At some point during this field season, a series of places and things in Tanzania became a part of our daily life. I can’t remember when we first went to the Jambo Inn to eat, but it’s since become an integral part of our routine. We’ve been regulars there for the past two months, and will be up until we leave the day after tomorrow.
Although the rooms at our hotel are slightly nicer, the Jambo Inn is vastly superior in terms of food. We first started going there for the Internet Cafe, but continued long after we acquired mobile internet sticks for the eats. First of all, it has an absolutely gigantic menu. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself! You can get almost anything there including 20 or 30 different types of curry, Chinese food, a variety of different soups, beef/chicken/veggie burgers, and a half dozen types of fries. The restaurant also boasts fresh juices, including lemon, orange, pineapple, passion, mango, and watermelon. The watermelon juice in particular would give anyone one good reason to go on living. I might just reconnect with my own juicer because of it. Although we’ve made a good effort to sample all the menu items, to do so would take far longer than this field season would allow. Of the things we’ve tried, we each have our favourites. Katie likes the daal makhani and the navratan curry, Jenn likes the barbeque chicken, Pam loves the fried rice and the chicken with chips, and I’m a sucker for the hot and sour soup and cheeseburgers. However there is more than enough choice to keep us coming back for dinner almost every night of the week. Since the Inn is Muslim run, lately we’ve also had the choice of Ramadan feast dishes. I can highly recommend the chicken thaali. 
In addition to the stellar food and wide selection, the Jambo Inn has a number of endearing quirks. The restaurant is randomly closed on Wednesdays. You can get various packaged ice cream treats, foreign chocolate bars, and various types of candy from the counter beside the internet cafe. The ceiling is painted with different types of panoramic landscapes, including Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. The tables are all either yellow, red, green, or blue with matching chairs. There are cheesy motivation quotes on the walls painted in Disney-esque script. Sometimes when we ask for a receipt after dinner, they randomly up the bill another 18%. It’s the only place in Dar es Salaam to get ginger ale, which looks like Canada Dry except all the writing is in Arabic. Finally, the patrons of the Jambo Inn are a colourful bunch. They represent the best mix of eccentric backpackers, college students, and businessmen. For the past few nights, a group of very attractive young women in harem pants and hoop earrings have been there playing SkipBo. Seriously, SkipBo of all things. We certainly never find ourselves short of people watching opportunities. At some point during this field season, a series of places and things in Tanzania became a part of our daily life. I can’t remember when we first went to the Jambo Inn to eat, but it’s since become an integral part of our routine. We’ve been regulars there for the past two months, and will be up until we leave the day after tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment