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…