Mr Kahawa
A Paje Beach cafe and boutique stay for award-winning coffee, nourishing food, ocean views and kite-surf energy.
Mr Kahawa has the dangerous quality of a place that makes alternative plans collapse. You come for coffee, stay for lunch, look at the Indian Ocean for a little too long, and suddenly dinner elsewhere feels unnecessarily ambitious.
The essentials: Kahawa means coffee in Swahili, plant-based milk is available, and the cafe is as useful for lunch or dinner as it is for a morning cup. The cafe-restaurant sits in the heart of Paje Beach, under an Indian almond tree, serving award-winning coffee, organic tea, homemade refreshments, cocktails and nourishing soul food. The kitchen calls its food wholesome, colourful and locally sourced where possible.
The setting does a lot of work, but it does not have to do all of it. Fresh juices, salads, vegan-friendly pastas or curries, and house-baked treats make Mr Kahawa more than a view with a coffee machine attached.
Its boutique-hotel side adds another layer: rooms, ocean views, kite-surf connections and a team that leans into responsible exploration of Zanzibar’s culture and environment. For travellers passing through Paje, it is equally good as a base, a beach office, or a soft landing after a salty morning on the lagoon.
Order coffee first. Then let the tide decide how long you are staying.
