A Sublime Halaal Foodie’s Guide to Gaborone
Come hungry to Gabs.
Botswana’s capital may be better known as the gateway to the country’s spectacular wilderness, but there’s another side to Gaborone worth discovering — one best explored with an appetite.
For Muslim travellers, the good news is that Gabs has a surprisingly healthy collection of certified Halaal eateries, ranging from smoky kebabs and fragrant curries to contemporary café breakfasts, Mediterranean plates and, naturally, something sweet to finish.
And because nobody travels all the way to Botswana to eat exactly as they do at home, we went looking for the places actually worth adding to your foodie itinerary.
THE SULTAN — THE POLISHED ONE
📍 The Fields Mall
If you’re after somewhere a little more dressed-up without wandering into fine-dining territory, The Sultan makes an easy first stop.
The menu travels far beyond one cuisine: think comforting curries and naan, pastas, prawns, wings and generous sharing plates. It’s the sort of place that works equally well for a family dinner, a catch-up over lunch or that inevitable “we’ve been sightseeing all day and need a proper meal” moment.
Sublime pick: Arrive hungry and order for the table.
KEBABISH — FOR THE SPICE LOVERS
📍 Sebele
There are meals you politely enjoy, and then there are meals that demand an extra naan.
Kebabish belongs firmly in the latter camp.
Indian and Pakistani flavours take centre stage here, with charcoal-grilled kebabs, tandoori favourites, biryanis and rich curries making this one of Gaborone’s most tempting stops when the craving for spice hits.
It’s relaxed, unfussy and family-friendly — precisely the sort of neighbourhood discovery we love finding when travelling.
Sublime pick: Kebabs to start, biryani or curry for the main event. Sharing is highly recommended.
DOWNSTAIRS — COFFEE & A SLOWER MORNING
📍 Riverwalk
Not every great food stop needs to involve a feast.
Downstairs is the one to bookmark for an easy breakfast, coffee date or lazy mid-morning pause between exploring Gaborone. Relaxed café energy, lighter food and Riverwalk convenience make it particularly useful for travellers.
Better still, it offers something Muslim travellers are always happy to find: a Halaal-certified café option where you don’t have to spend breakfast interrogating the menu.
FOOD LOUNGE — THE LOCAL WILDCARD
📍 Block 6 Mall
Skip another international franchise and give one of Gabs’ independent Halaal options a chance.
Food Lounge is one of the newer names on the city’s certified Halaal scene and the kind of stop that makes a food guide more interesting than a predictable list of global chains.
Add it to the itinerary when you want to venture beyond the usual mall suspects.
PESCADA — ONE FOR THE FAIRGROUNDS RUN
📍 Fairgrounds
Fairgrounds is worth remembering when plotting your Halaal food trail through Gaborone, and Pescada gives you another certified sit-down option in the area.
Pair it with a coffee stop nearby — and leave room for dessert.
AND FOR DESSERT…
📍 Carnival Ice Cream, Fairgrounds
Because no Sublime food crawl ends without something sweet.
Carnival Ice Cream is Halaal certified, making Fairgrounds an especially useful little pocket to know about when the afternoon heat calls for an ice-cold intervention.
Consider it research. We certainly do.
QUICK BITES AROUND GABS
Gaborone also makes travelling with kids or grabbing food on the run refreshingly straightforward. Selected branches of Nando’s, Chicken Licken, KFC, Pedros, Hungry Lion and Jimmy’s Killer Express currently carry Halaal certification.
One important traveller tip: check the individual branch rather than assuming an entire chain is certified. Halaal status can change, and certification in Botswana is often outlet-specific.
For the latest status, check the Botswana Muslim Association Halaal Authority’s certified-outlet list before visiting.
Sublime Tip: Save the chains for the rushed airport-and-road-trip moments. When you have time, eat local. That’s where the fun begins.
THE SUBLIME HALAAL FOOD GUIDE TO GABORONE 🇧🇼
Where to eat, what to order and the sweet spots worth saving
Gaborone might not immediately spring to mind as one of Southern Africa’s great Halaal foodie cities.
Perhaps it should.
Botswana’s easy-going capital has a surprisingly substantial Halaal food scene, with everything from charcoal-grilled kebabs and curries to contemporary cafés, Mediterranean-inspired dinners, pizza and plenty of ice cream.
So, whether you’re crossing the border from South Africa for a long weekend, stopping in Gabs before heading north or simply looking for your next foodie adventure, save this list.
Here’s our Sublime guide to eating Halaal in Gaborone.
🍽️ THE SULTAN
For a stylish dinner in the city
📍 The Fields Mall
💰 Price: $$–$$$
👨👩👧👦 Family friendly: Yes
📸 Photo factor: ★★★★☆
🥘 Best for: Lunch, dinner & groups
The Sultan is the sort of place you keep in reserve for when everyone wants something different.
The menu wanders happily between Mediterranean-inspired food and familiar comfort favourites, with chicken, seafood, pastas, curries, sandwiches and sharing plates all making appearances.
If you’ve spent the day exploring Gaborone, this is an easy choice for a relaxed sit-down dinner without having to leave the mall precinct.
WHAT WE’D ORDER
Start with something to share before moving onto one of the chicken or seafood mains. The butter chicken with naan is worth looking out for, while pasta lovers have plenty of choice too.
And arrive hungry.
SUBLIME VERDICT: One for the family dinner list.
🔥 DEEGHUYS KEBABISH
When only curry and charcoal will do
📍 Sebele
💰 Price: $$
👨👩👧👦 Family friendly: Yes
📸 Photo factor: ★★★☆☆
🌶️ Best for: Kebabs, curry & biryani
Sometimes you don’t want edible flowers and carefully placed microgreens.
You want meat, fire, spice and naan.
Enter Kebabish.
The Indian/Pakistani-style restaurant is one of Gaborone’s better-known Halaal eateries and the sort of place we’d head when everyone at the table is properly hungry.
Think smoky kebabs, grilled meats, biryani and rich curries designed to be scooped up with warm bread.
It isn’t trying to be precious — and that’s precisely the appeal.
WHAT WE’D ORDER
Make this a sharing meal.
Get a selection of kebabs for the table, add a curry, biryani, naan and something cooling on the side.
Then argue over who gets the last piece.
SUBLIME TIP: Take friends. More people means more dishes you can legitimately order.
☕ DOWNSTAIRS
For coffee, breakfast and a slower morning
📍 Riverwalk
💰 Price: $$
☕ Coffee stop: Yes
👨👩👧👦 Family friendly: Yes
📸 Photo factor: ★★★★☆
🥐 Best for: Breakfast, brunch & coffee
Every foodie itinerary needs somewhere that doesn’t require committing to an enormous meal.
Downstairs fills that slot nicely.
Located at Riverwalk, it’s a useful stop for an easy breakfast, brunch, coffee or mid-shopping refuel.
More importantly for Muslim travellers, it’s currently Halaal certified — meaning breakfast can involve considerably less ingredient detective work.
SUBLIME TIP: Make this your easy morning before heading out to explore Gabs.
🍴 FOOD LOUNGE
One of the newer names to know
📍 Block 6 Mall
💰 Price: $$
👨👩👧👦 Family friendly: Yes
✨ Best for: A casual local meal
One reason we love compiling Halaal travel guides is discovering the places that haven’t yet made it onto every tourist list.
Food Lounge is one of them.
The Block 6 Mall restaurant joined Gaborone’s certified Halaal scene in 2026 and gives travellers another independent option away from the familiar international franchises.
If you’re staying in Gabs for more than a night or two, put it on your list.
🐟 PESCADA
Add Fairgrounds to your food map
📍 Fairgrounds
💰 Price: $$
👨👩👧👦 Family friendly: Yes
🍽️ Best for: Casual sit-down dining
Fairgrounds turns out to be a rather useful neighbourhood for the Halaal traveller.
Pescada is one of the area’s certified restaurants and makes a convenient sit-down stop if your Gaborone itinerary takes you through this side of the city.
And here’s the important part:
Don’t leave Fairgrounds immediately after lunch.
There’s ice cream nearby.
🍦 AND NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT PART…
CARNIVAL ICE CREAM
📍 Fairgrounds
💰 Price: $
🍦 Best for: Dessert, obviously
👧 Kids: You won’t have to ask twice
There are people who finish lunch and say:
“I couldn’t possibly eat another thing.”
We don’t understand those people.
Carnival Ice Cream is currently Halaal certified, which makes it a very convenient final stop after exploring the Fairgrounds area.
Consider dessert part of your Gaborone research.
We do.
☕ COFFEE BREAK
Gaborone also has a handful of useful certified café options.
Coffee Club — Fairgrounds
Pair it with your Fairgrounds food crawl.
J Café — CBD Engen
A handy CBD coffee stop when you’re moving around central Gaborone.
Vida e Caffé — The Fields Mall
Useful if you’re shopping or meeting someone at The Fields and just need caffeine rather than another full meal.
🍗 WHEN YOU JUST NEED FOOD. NOW.
Not every meal on holiday needs to become a culinary expedition.
Sometimes you’ve crossed a border, the kids are hungry, Google Maps has stopped cooperating and everyone needs feeding immediately.
Thankfully, Gaborone has plenty of familiar Halaal fast-food options.
Selected certified branches include Nando’s, Chicken Licken, KFC, Pedros, Hungry Lion, Jimmy’s Killer Express, Honchos and Barcelos.
Our traveller’s warning is important:
Don’t assume every branch is Halaal.
Certification can be outlet-specific. Check the current Botswana Muslim Association Halaal Authority list before visiting.
🗺️ THE 48-HOUR SUBLIME HALAAL FOOD CRAWL
Only have a weekend?
Challenge accepted.
DAY ONE
09:30 — COFFEE & BREAKFAST
Downstairs, Riverwalk
Start gently.
Coffee, breakfast and enough time to decide what you’re actually doing with your day.
13:30 — LUNCH
Deeghuys Kebabish, Sebele
Now we’re eating.
Order the kebabs, curry, biryani and naan family-style.
This isn’t the meal for restraint.
16:30 — COFFEE BREAK
Find a certified café, grab something cold and give yourself a few hours to recover.
Because dinner is coming.
19:30 — DINNER
The Sultan, The Fields Mall
Dress slightly better than you did for lunch and settle in for a proper evening meal.
Go with friends or family and order several dishes for the table.
DAY TWO
09:30 — EASY BREAKFAST
Keep breakfast light.
Yesterday was ambitious.
12:30 — LUNCH
Food Lounge, Block 6 Mall
Day two is when we venture away from the obvious tourist choices and try another local Halaal restaurant.
15:30 — THE FAIRGROUNDS RUN
Head across to Fairgrounds.
Grab a coffee at Coffee Club if required.
“Required” being open to interpretation.
16:30 — ICE CREAM
Carnival Ice Cream
This appointment is non-negotiable.
19:30 — FINAL DINNER
Head for Pescada if you haven’t tried it yet, or return to whichever restaurant caused the biggest argument about who stole whose kebab the night before.
Either way, finish Gaborone well fed.
💚 HALAAL IN GABORONE: GOOD TO KNOW
Gaborone is much easier for Muslim foodies than first-time visitors might expect.
The Botswana Muslim Association Halaal Authority maintains an official list of certified establishments, and the city currently has dozens of certified restaurants, cafés, bakeries, butcheries and food outlets.
That doesn’t mean every restaurant in a mall — or every branch of a familiar South African franchise — is automatically Halaal.
Our golden rule when travelling: check the individual outlet.
Certification changes.
Branches change.
And that screenshot somebody sent to the family WhatsApp group three years ago definitely changes.
Check the current BMAHA list before you eat.
SUBLIME’S GABS SHORTLIST
For dinner: The Sultan
For curry & kebabs: Deeghuys Kebabish
For breakfast/brunch: Downstairs
For something less obvious: Food Lounge
For Fairgrounds: Pescada
For coffee: Coffee Club
For dessert: Carnival Ice Cream
For an easy family fallback: A currently certified Nando’s or Chicken Licken branch
One city. Two days. Elasticated waistband recommended. 🇧🇼
