Eid holidays are over, and I am back to work. This probably explains the reason for being inactive or inconsistent for a while on this blog. Well, I didn’t do anything spectacular during these holidays except for a few trips in and around Muscat. Al Gubra beach, Al Sahwa Park, City Centre, movies, and eating out made up for most of the time spent with my family. I have clicked some pictures, and hope to make a couple of posts in the days to come. In the meanwhile, let me take you through some of the eating joints we visited in the last 3-4 days.

Café Berbara: This Italian coffee shop is located in Al Shatti cinema complex. Since we had booked tickets for the 8.30pm show, we decided to catch a quick bite at the restaurant. We ordered for chicken club sandwich, veg pasta with black olives, along with strawberry milkshake, banana milkshake and watermelon juice. The sandwich was superbly made and tasted yum. My daughter, who is a fussy eater at times, just loved it and polished off a huge portion. The veg pasta was well made too. The drinks were delicious, especially the strawberry and the banana ones. The bill for the meal came up to RO11. Next time, I want to try some coffees as well.

Bollywood: This Indian restaurant in CCC, Qurum, has got a thorough makeover, post-Gonu. The seating area has been increased and the Pizza Hut, which is next to Bollywood, and which had a bigger seating area, has been trimmed to be a plain takeaway and delivery outlet. This means, the Pizza Hut and Bollywood (Bollywood Chat, in the erstwhile format) have swapped positions. It is to be reminded that Khimji Group manages both the outlets. We had dosas, chats, and the taste was ordinary. I would recommend ‘Saravana Bhavan’ in Ruwi or ‘Annapoorna’ in MBD for delectable dosas and other South Indian snacks, any day. My favourite Nando’s is up and running at CCC. Can’t miss this one for long, too tempting.

Shamiana: If you step into the food court at City Centre, you can hardly miss this Indian restaurant. It is not only popular with the Indians, but it is a hit with the Omanis as well. Most of the items are tandoor-based fish and chicken items, served with Indian breads likes nans and pooris. I had a chicken tikka and nan combo, and I liked every bit of it. It was not too heavy on the tummy, but quite healthy as well. Cost of the dish along with an orange juice came upto RO 2.750. There are some other combos like fish fry and rice; chicken kebab and nan; seafood platter, etc.

Santino’s: This is again at the City Centre food court. My wife ordered for veg pasta and potato wedges combo. I tasted a bit, and it was ok. I was too engrossed over my plate of chicken tikka and nan. The veg pasta was priced at RO 2.2.

While we were having our goodies, my daughter was relishing her Happy Meal combo of McDonald’s. By the way, I have noticed that McD has the longest queue during peak hours at City Centre food court. Why is junk food so popular? I am wondering…

In keeping with the changing weather, which is turning chilly by the day, we ventured out last Thursday evening to pamper ourselves with some sizzling sizzlers at Kobe in Qurum. Kobe is one place, which was always in my ‘to-do’ list, but somehow couldn’t manage a visit for the last one year. The restaurant has a contemporary and elegant look, with strategically placed dried bamboo shoots making up for most of the décor. We ordered for one Chicken Hokkoido and one Nasi Goreng Veg Sizzler. The chicken sizzler was nicely done with lots of steamed veggies at the top and a large chicken steak marinated with herbs at the bottom.

The veg sizzler had a large portion of fried rice at the bottom and sprinkled with sauté paneer and mushroom. I had my share of chicken sizzler, and also tasted the veg bit – both were well made and of generous helpings. One thing I hated about the chicken sizzler was the green peas bit, which was steamed less and tasted very raw. The sizzlers were washed down with iced tea and fresh lime with mint – the iced tea tasted divine I must confess. The bill for two sizzlers and drinks came upto nine rials. Since we landed up on a weekend, the place was packed, and the staff managed the show efficiently. Only issue is that a sizzler-only joint will have a smoky feeling, and Kobe was not much different either. I am impressed with the place, and have zeroed on a few other items to try out during the next visit – which I hope will be very soon.

Ratings:
Food: 4/5
Ambience: 4.5/5

Service: 4/5