Forodhani — also called Jubilee Gardens — is a strip of seafront lawn and almond trees between the Old Fort and the harbour. By day it is a quiet shaded park where local families picnic and small boys jump from the seawall into the bay. From around five in the afternoon the food vendors arrive and set up dozens of trestle stalls, white tablecloths and pressure lamps.
The night market is the easiest way to try Zanzibari street food. Mishkaki (charcoal-grilled meat skewers), grilled lobster, octopus, sugarcane juice pressed through a hand-cranked mill, and the unmissable Zanzibar pizza — a stuffed crepe folded around minced meat, egg and cheese, fried on a flat griddle. It is unapologetically touristy, and you will pay tourist prices, but the atmosphere as the sun sets over the dhows is worth it. Stick to vendors with high turnover and food that is cooked in front of you.