Al Khanjar: 26795545
Al Sawadi Beach Resort
Al Khanjar is an Arabic restaurant with a twist – a Brazilian belly dancer – and traditional Arabic food. It is open 7–11pm, daily except Saturday.

Al Deyar: 24603553
Next to Shatti Plaza
Go to Al Deyar for hearty Arabic food – the hummus is especially good.
RO5

Al Istanbuli:24480900
Al Khuwayr, next to Rawasco
People go to Al Istanbuli for excellent food at a time when most other places are shut for the night. Don’t miss the superlative donor chicken. People either love or hate a place like Al Istanbuli, which is bare boned and rough round the edges but which somehow captures the pulse of the city more effectively than many upmarket restaurants.
RO1

Al Katkoot: 24542883
Al Khoud
Al Katkoot serves Lebanese food and sheesha.
RO5 l

Al Reef al Lebnani: 24485775
Al Khuwayr, opposite Safeer building
Most restaurants that serve Arabic food are generally Spartan in terms of decoration, but Al Reef al Lebnani is different. It is a welcoming place, hung with photographs of Lebanon and a couple of oil paintings. We started off with fresh carrot juice – surely the largest helping of fruit juice in the city. Al Reef al Lebnani is divided into two sections: on one side is the bakery and on the other is the restaurant. Its menu is extensive with a huge range of delicacies to choose from.
RO6

Arab World
Ruwi high street: 24798119
Al Ghubrah: 24491734
Arab World offers eat in or takeaways.
RO2

Automatic
Al Khuwayr: 24487200
As Seeb:  24424343
Qurm: 24561500
This Lebanese food chain has four trophies under its belt, having several times won the Best Arabian category in the Oman Today Restaurant Awards. Automatic is well known for its delicious kebabs – it is one of the prime destinations in Muscat for lovers of Lebanese food.
RO2

Beirut Restaurant: 24568411
Near Qurm roundabout
Beirut Restaurant comes as a pleasant surprise, in part because it isn’t particularly convincing from the outside. Inside, however, it is spread over a couple of floors, with the fast-food counter downstairs and the restaurant above. Its menu builds on traditional Lebanese items, but has a few signature additions of its own. Try the refreshing lemon and mint juice and the traditional kebabs.
RO3

Beituti: 24692121
Coral Hotel Muscat
This Lebanese restaurant, in the dry Coral Hotel Muscat, is open 12.30–3.30pm and 7–11.30pm. Quiet and understated, Beituti lies tucked away behind frosted glass and latticework. The menu is modest but comes with a few twists. Grilled hammour (RO4.500) can be quite good, and the tajine sauce you can have it with is interesting to some, an acquired taste to others. Beituti didn’t have the spicy potatoes advertised on the menu when we visited, but the fatoush we ordered instead was excellent.
RO7
Sampled December 2007

Bin Ateeq
Al Khuwayr:  24478225
CBD, near NBO: 24702727
Bin Ateeq serves traditional Omani food such as biryani, kabsa, thareed, harees, arsiya and qabooli. Eating here is an experience – guests sit on the floor in a private room.
RO2

Camilia Restaurant and Café
CBD 24706663, 24789848
Camilia Restaurant and Café specialises in Turkish food that includes various shawarmas, 38 types of fatayer, 12 types of pizzas, eight salads and 12 fruit juices. It prides itself on food that is not excessively oily and spicy. Start with the lemon and mint juice: so tangy it will send a shiver down your spine. The restaurant also has indoor, air-conditioned seating behind floor to ceiling glass, but the real charm of the place is best experienced by sitting out. You cannot go wrong with their sheesh tawook – skewered chicken kebab wrapped in light bread and  interspersed with forkfuls of the best salad here, the fatoosh – which is great value at just
500bz. End your meal with a little glass of dark Turkish coffee. Camilia is open 7.30am–1am.
RO2

Fatair al Khaleej: 24798184
CBD, opposite oifc
Fantastic Indian and Arabic snacks and a nice, friendly atmosphere can be found in this restaurant, which is spread over two floors.
RO1

Jabal Lebnan: 24698098
Al Noor Plaza, Madinat as Sultan Qaboos

Kargeen Caffé
Al Harthy Complex: 24560531
City Plaza: 24694048
Madinat as Sultan Qaboos: 24692269
For the flavours of the Middle East in an accessible but authentic atmosphere, head to one of Kargeen’s three outlets – but the one in Madinat as Sultan Qaboos remains its signature best. It is now open for breakfast, 7.30–11am: the buffet costs RO2.900. Lunch, RO3.500, is between noon and 3.30pm. And while evenings have traditionally been packed, breakfast can be enjoyed in privacy and parking will never be a problem. Fewer crowds also mean better service – two points that could be improved in the evenings. The charming, leafy gardens, lit by lanterns and perfumed with incense, are open all year round and make an ideal setting for sheesha.
RO3.500 l

Meknes: 24475497
Al Khuwayr slip road
Muscat’s coolest Moroccan restaurant got off to a good start and has been getting better ever since. We revisited it to find the helpings more generous than we remembered, the tastier, and the service as prompt and discreet as ever. The interiors are faintly kitsch but charming – ask for a table by the windows upstairs. There are national specialities to try, such as lamb tajine with potatoes and green olives, and subtler dishes including couscous with vegetables. The chicken with rice and fried almonds is fantastic. One of the best things about Meknes is the almond juice, which can be drunk as an apéritif. To end, we recommend the beghrir (little pancakes with honey) or hot Moroccan mint tea.
Sampled August 2007
RO5

Mombasa: 24480340
Near Radisson Blu Hotel
Mombasa serves various snacks including many that originate from Zanzibar. There are tangy chutneys, too. It is open daily, from 9am to 9.30pm.
RO2

Ofair: 24482965
Al Khuwayr, behind Shell filling station on slip road
Sitting on cushions at Ofair, you can choose from a variety of dishes such as qabooli, kabsa, harees, arsiya, thareed, owal and shuua.
RO2

Samat Restaurant for Iranian Food
Madinat as Sultan Qaboos: 99889394
Qurm: 24605515
Samat’s menu revolves around either mutton or chicken kebabs, served with rice or bread. Anyone choosing the saffron rice should bear in mind that the chef is stingy with his flavouring. Over time, the restaurant has lost some of its charm, along with its previous owners; but the food is good, if a bit limited in variety. Skip the mincemeat kebabs and go for the regular version; don’t miss the excellent okra curry, which comes with meat (not listed in the menu). The MQ branch is easy to find: right on Death Valley Road, to the left of the mosque near the Al Maha filling station.
RO2 l

Shiraz : 24660660
Crowne Plaza Hotel Muscat
If you’re willing to shell out a fortune at Shiraz, order the Iranian beluga caviar. You might be interested in the Khoresht-e-Gheyma Badenjan, too: a leg of lamb cooked with onions, aubergines and tomatoes, with rice. Fine dining and a great setting ensure that Shiraz is probably the smartest Iranian restaurant in Muscat. It is open  from noon until 3pm and again, 7–11pm.
RO16

Tarboosh
Opposite Sabco Centre 24565673
Al Ghubrah 24498553
Open 7.30am–1.30pm and 5.30pm–12am, Tarboosh serves shawarmas, falafels, grills and hummus. You can buy takeaway snacks at the counter or sit at tables upstairs. This is excellent, no-nonsense Lebanese food.
RO2

The Arabian Courtyard: 24524400
The Chedi Muscat
For beautifully prepared Arabic food (dishes savoury and sweet) and sheesha alfresco, head to The Arabian Courtyard from 7pm to 10pm. As smart and stylish as the rest of The Chedi, the open-air Arabian Courtyard, located beyond The Restaurant in a courtyard shaded by trees, is closed in summer.


Turkish House: 24488071
Al Khuwayr, near BBQ Chicken Tikka
Turkish House is one of the best restaurants in Muscat serving Turkish food. The service is excellent. Most of the seafood is served fried or grilled – we recommend the grills.
RO5

Wadi Hadramout Restaurant: 24475282
Al Khuwayr, beside Stargate DVD
The best time to visit Wadi Hadramout Restaurant is at noon, when the meat and rice cooked earlier underground are unearthed. The room in which the food is hauled out of the bowels of Wadi Hadramout is baking hot. Sealed underground and cooked over embers, the Yemeni dish, called mandi, consists of meat that slowly releases juices which seep into the rice below. Don’t miss the mathbi, a Yemeni barbecue, or the madfoun (meat wrapped in foil with potato and buried), and madghout, pressure-cooked with rice.
RO2.250