"You’ll like it; it’s got a bit of cinnamon, a bit of cardamom with hibiscus juice, you know the delicious tastes of Tanga,” I say, translating the words from Kiswahili as our waiter, Mussa Amiri, described the mocktail special of the house. We were at Karafuu 305, a quaint restaurant in Dar es Salaam.

Much of Dar es Salaam city is unplanned, so restaurant owners try to find locations close to upmarket urban areas.

This isn’t the case with Karafuu 305 (which means cloves in Kiswahili). The owner, Jasper Clemence, may have been challenging our perception of class with relation to locale by placing Karafuu 305 in suburban Kinondoni with local homes and a makuti bar as neighbours.

There is a carved wooden sign at the entrance as you step into the waiting area.

We order the hibiscus mocktail and peruse the menu.

In front of us was a modern though rustic hardwood table.

Karafuu should consider changing its name to mti or mbao as its architecture has wood as its central element: It has kigoda-inspired African chairs in the waiting room, the hardwood tables in the restaurant, and exposed beams on the ceilings similar to those found in traditional Ethiopian and Iraqi homes.

Colours burst out at you from paintings of local artists lining the walls. Most of the artwork was done by Salum Kambi, a semi-realist expressionist painter.

Soul music provides a perfect ambience. In Your Wildest Dreams, by Tina Turner and Barry White, was playing softly in the background.

When Mussa returns to take our orders, I order the chicken royale with chips, and my friend selects the seafood crazy combo with vegetable rice.

Both dishes cost a total of Tsh27,500 ($12.6), and the portions, although tasty, were too small.

My chicken came just the way I like it, not too dry or too moist. I savoured its marinade of garlic, thyme and other spices. The steamed vegetables had a whiff of butter, and were still crisp.

My friend loved her food too.

And the hibiscus mocktail brought to mind a coastal paradise like Zanzibar.