Eastern Food Bazaar

Eastern Food Bazaar is a lively halaal food court in Cape Town's city centre, at 96 Longmarket Street. Under one roof is a row of counters serving food from across the East — Indian curries and tandoor dishes, biryani, Turkish kebabs, Chinese dishes and pizza — with a coffee bar and ice cream to finish. It is one of the easiest places in town to feed a group with different tastes on a budget.

The counters

Each counter is named after the place its food comes from: Bombay Bites, Madras, Punjabi, Nizami and Tandoori for Indian dishes, Istanbul for Turkish-style kebabs, China Town for Chinese food, and Delhi Pizza. You choose a counter, order, pay and carry your tray to a table. Favourites include creamy North Indian curries, dishes straight from the tandoor oven, Cape-style biryani and shawarma.

A 1930s market hall

The food court fills a long, narrow building from 1934 that was once the Wellington Fruit Growers Market. It runs right through the block, with a second entrance on Darling Street, the street that passes the Grand Parade and City Hall. Downstairs is busy and loud in the best way; head upstairs if you'd like a quieter table.

Halaal and alcohol-free

Eastern Food Bazaar is listed among the halaal-certified eateries of Cape Town's city centre, and no alcohol is allowed. If you need certificate details, ask at the counters. See our halal guide for more halal restaurants in Cape Town.

Nearby

The Darling Street entrance puts you close to the Grand Parade, the Castle of Good Hope and the District Six Museum, and the Slave Lodge is a few blocks away, so the bazaar makes a good lunch stop on a day of Cape Town history. Bo-Kaap is about twenty minutes' walk up Longmarket Street — for Cape Malay food there, see our halal restaurants in Bo-Kaap and our guide to Cape Malay cuisine.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0; Muhammad Umair Mirza, CC BY-SA 4.0.