AUTHENTIC: The aura of coastal living baked in Swahili culture is felt the moment you see the entrance to Nashe’s Cafe. A big sign board in driftwood says ‘Karibu’ to a small ‘makuti’ roofed entrance.
It was almost midday when we arrived in Bagamoyo, the picturesque historic coastal town, 100km north of Dar es Salaam.
A friend had recommended Nashe’s Cafe, and having driven all this way out from Dar for a Karaoke event, we headed straight there for lunch.
The aura of coastal living baked in Swahili culture is felt the moment you see the entrance to Nashe’s Cafe. A big sign board in drift wood says “Karibu” to a small “makuti” roofed entrance.
The building is adorned with hanging flowers planted in recycled car tyres cut in half, wooden vegetable crates and earthen pots. This elegant rustic feel is echoed inside, with the impressively traditional high beam ceilings sealed with lime and crushed coral that has a cooling effect, perfect for the hot and humid weather of coastal East Africa.
I ordered a glass of fresh pineapple juice. We were pleasantly surprised to see on the menu authentic Tanzanian cuisine, rarely available in established restaurants in Dar es Salaam.
I was thrilled to have local food in a restaurant with beautiful decor, so I ordered Ugali, assorted vegetables and Changu (emperor bream fish). Nashe’s is near the local fish market so they get the catch of the day. One of my friends went for rice and coconut beans, and another ordered Changu with chips.
When the food arrived, we were already salivating from the aroma. The “Ugali wa dona,” (stiff porridge made with unsifted maize flour, and considered healthier than sifted maize flour) was soft, not sticky or chewy.
Background
Nashe’s Cafe is in one of Bagamoyo’s oldest buildings. Akanashe Joan Mwanga is the owner of the place and lives in the same building. On this late morning, she happened to be at the cafe and she told us what inspired her.
“You can’t go to Italy for example and find Chinese food in their restaurants,” she said. “That is why I chose to offer a few Tanzanian dishes on my menu like pilau, dagaa (sardines), ngogwe (European tomato) and bamia (okra).
I remember when I was preparing this menu, a young chef told me, ‘Madam, mbona unaweka dagaa on your menu, utaonekana cheap.’ (Madam, why do you want to put sardines on your menu? The place will seem cheap) I told him that was the menu I wanted, Akanashe says.
From about the time she was 10 years old up to about her late teens, she lived in this house with her mother, renting a few rooms downstairs. She recalls telling her mother that she had a dream that one day they would own the house and her mother would laugh it off.
Akanashe attended the TaSUBA college of arts in Bagamoyo and received a one-year residency in China.
While still a third year student at TaSUBA, she was cast as the lead actress in a documentary-drama promising maternal health clinics in a Maasai village. She used the money to put a downpayment for the house, and her mother helped pay off the rest.
Her career as an actress and acrobat took off from there and she received a one-year residency in China. After college, she toured and worked in China and Europe for almost a decade with a performing troupe.
She returned home after she gave birth to her son in 2014, and in December 2015, Nashe’s Cafe was opened.
She had saved up enough to renovate the house. The restaurant has good reviews on Trip Advisor, Facebook and Instagram.
Most of the meals on the menu are under Tsh20,000 ($9).
