Malawi: Food Guide - Dining Out

If you want to eat traditional food in Malawi, this will revolve around Nsima, a flour dough mix eaten with the hands and dipped into a variety of stews known as relish. The relish can be made with meat or just vegetable, and fresh fish is a delicacy in the lakeside towns (beware of it in the cities, where it’s not so fresh). Local restaurants will serve Nsima and relish for about 100MKW (0.5EUR).

Food options in the major cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre are not bad. Fast food (burgers, pizza, and fried chicken) is very popular in Malawi. For sit-down meals, ethnic eateries are popular. Do note that, in many restaurants, pork products are not served to accommodate the Muslim population.

Outside of the larger cities, away from the resorts and guesthouses, food options are limited. Roadside sellers offer a mixture of food, ranging from doughnuts and toasted maize, to fried chicken and confectionary.

Hotel restaurants and many of those in the cities are of a good standard. They offer a wide choice of dishes including European, Korean and Chinese as well as authentic Malawi dishes and haute cuisine. Poultry and dairy produce are plentiful and tropical fruits are abundant in season.