Djiboutian cuisine sits at a crossroads of Somali, Afar, Yemeni, and French traditions, and you will taste all four during a visit. The cooking is generous with spice — cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, and chili show up constantly — and meals tend to be communal, eaten by hand or scooped with bread.
The national dish is skoudehkaris, spiced rice cooked with lamb, goat, or sometimes fish, fragrant with cardamom and served at celebrations and everyday meals alike. Fah-fah is the other staple — a hearty soup of goat meat, vegetables, and green chilies that Djiboutians eat for breakfast, lunch, or whenever they need reviving. It is simple, warming, and everywhere.
Laxoox is the daily bread — a spongy, slightly sour flatbread similar to Ethiopian injera but thinner, made from teff or wheat flour and cooked on a griddle. You tear off pieces to scoop stews and sauces. It appears at almost every meal. Sambusas, the local take on samosas, are filled with spiced ground meat or fish and fried crisp — they are everywhere during Ramadan but available year-round.
The French left their mark on the breakfast table. Baguettes and croissants are baked fresh daily in Djibouti City, and strong coffee served in small cups is the default morning drink. The seafood is excellent — fresh fish from the Gulf of Tadjoura and the Red Sea, grilled simply or cooked in Yemeni-style sauces.
For sweets, look for xalwo (halva), a dense confection of sugar, cornstarch, cardamom, and ghee made for weddings and holidays. Street vendors sell maandazi, fried dough that works as a snack or dessert, and kaak-kaak, date-stuffed pastry dusted with sugar.
Eating in Djibouti is not cheap — the cost of everything is inflated by the military economy. Street food and local restaurants are the best value. Imported goods and restaurant meals aimed at expatriates cost what they would in Europe.