Traditional Food in São Tomé and Príncipe: Dishes, Prices and Where to Eat

Traditional food in São Tomé and Príncipe is simple and full of flavour: fish caught that morning, plantain, breadfruit, palm oil and herbs from the forest. It is island cooking with African and Portuguese roots, best enjoyed on a seafront terrace or on a plantation surrounded by green. In this guide we show you the dishes worth trying, what they cost and where to eat them.

What is the traditional food of São Tomé and Príncipe?

Calulu, the national dish

Calulu is São Tomé's most famous dish. It is a slow stew of fish (smoked or fresh) or chicken, with palm oil, okra, aubergine, tomato and a mix of local herbs and leaves that give it its unique flavour. It takes hours to make, so it is a dish for celebrations and Sundays. It is eaten with rice, banana angu or plantain.

If you have had calulu in Angola you will recognise it, but São Tomé calulu is different: it uses more forest herbs and is served with angu or rice instead of funge.

Massada de cherne

Pasta cooked in a fish broth with grouper, tomato and herbs. It is our favourite: the island's most comforting dish and one of the cheapest.

Grilled fish (grouper, croaker, peixe-azeite, tuna)

Fish is king in São Tomé. Grouper, croaker, peixe-azeite or tuna, grilled over charcoal and served with fried plantain and chilli sauce. Ask for the fish of the day: it is the freshest.

Grilled octopus and sea snail

Grilled octopus is on the menu at almost every seafront restaurant. Sea snail (búzio do mar), served as a starter, is a speciality few tourists know about.

Arroz à moda da terra

Rice cooked with fish, vegetables and local seasoning. It is the cheapest dish of the day and a good way to eat like the locals.

Banana angu, plantain and breadfruit

The side dishes at every meal. Angu is a mash of boiled plantain; plantain is also eaten fried or roasted, and breadfruit boiled or fried.

Izaquente

A traditional dish made with the seeds of the izaquente tree, slow-cooked for a long time. It is mainly an Easter dish.

Drinks and desserts

• Palm wine: tapped straight from the palm trees, fresh in the morning and stronger in the afternoon. Try it on the Giants' Trail with palm wine.
• Coffee and chocolate: São Tomé produces some of the best cocoa in the world. See our guide to São Tomé chocolate and the Cocoa Route.
• Fruit: jackfruit, safou, papaya, mango and banana, sold at every roadside stall.
• Pudim: the caramel custard that ends many dinners in town, such as at Papa Figo.

How much does it cost to eat in São Tomé?

In a local restaurant, a meal costs on average €12 to €15 per person (300 to 375 dobras). Real prices for dishes of the day:

At better-known restaurants dinner costs more: at Papa Figo, dinner for two with a sea-snail starter, a fish platter and pudim cost 1,330 dobras (€53.73) in October 2026. See more prices in our guide to São Tomé's currency.

Where to eat: the restaurants we take our clients to

• Papa Figo (São Tomé city): where we hold our welcome dinner. Fish, seafood and the famous fish platter for two.
• Roça São João dos Angolares (south): the restaurant of chef João Carlos Silva, known for reinventing São Tomé cuisine. A tasting lunch overlooking the bay, on our Food Route.
• Restaurante do Manin (Rolas Islet): grilled fish by the sea, after visiting the Equator monument. See the Rolas Islet excursion.
• Roadside stalls and small eateries: for fruit, roasted plantain and grilled fish at lunchtime, at local prices.

On our trips, the guide chooses the restaurants with you and explains every dish. See our São Tomé and Príncipe trips.