Surinamese food is one of the best arguments for visiting the country. The cuisine reflects the country's extraordinary ethnic mix, drawing on Hindustani, Javanese, Creole, Chinese, and Amerindian traditions, often in the same meal.
Roti pairs a soft flatbread with curried chicken, duck, or vegetables, potato, and long beans. Tear the bread and eat with your hand if that is how it is served. It is filling, inexpensive, and one of the easiest meals to seek out in Paramaribo.
Warungs are casual Javanese eateries serving bami, nasi, saoto soup, grilled meats, and fried snacks. They are among the most enjoyable places to eat: cheap, direct, and built for repeat customers rather than spectacle.
Pom is the Creole party dish — a bake made with tayer (a root vegetable) mixed with chicken, citrus, and spices. You will find it at celebrations and some restaurants. Do not miss it if you get the chance.
Bakabana — fried ripe plantain with a peanut satay sauce — is a popular street snack sold at night markets and stalls across Paramaribo.
Chinese restaurants are everywhere in Paramaribo and tend to serve a local hybrid of Cantonese and Surinamese flavours. The food is generally good and the prices reasonable.
In the interior, river fish forms the basis of most meals in Maroon villages. Fresh fish grilled or stewed with local herbs is simple and excellent.
The market at Centrale Markt in Paramaribo is the best place to get a sense of the city's food culture: vendors sell produce from all of the main communities, and the food stalls around the edges are some of the best cheap eating in town.
Parbo is the local lager. Fresh juices made from soursop, passion fruit, tamarind, and other tropical fruit are more interesting.