Post-Gonu, it looks like Nando’s at CCC has lost its magical touch. The restaurant’s interiors have brightened up, staff is affable like before, but their food lacks soul. Somehow, they’ve lost the magical touch with which they used to dish out Chicken Espetada (pictured above), my favourite thingy at Nando’s. Hope they get back to rhythm very soon.

Al Rafeel Restaurant near the Muttrah Souk main gate is another promising outlet which serves Indian, Chinese, Continental food, and doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket.

If you manage to get a parking in the ever busy street, head to the restaurant which is located in the first floor. The seating area is decent, sans all the glitz, and the view outside is just amazing. Imagine tucking in your favourite food by watching all the action over Muttrah corniche!

Al Rafeel serves some great sea food and sizzlers, we were told, but unfortunately due to ‘red tide’ scare, we decided to give the fish a miss. We settled for a light dinner of chicken kabab, rotis (Indian bread), chicken tikka masala and jeera rice.

The food was very decent, and the bill came up to RO 7. During peak season, the restaurant is frequented by tourists visiting Muttrah souk. Al Rafeel is one such restaurant which proves my theory: Low profile restaurants dish out great food!

The Great Kabab Factory (TGKF) is located in Al Khuwair, diagonally opposite to Badr Al Sama Hospital. Basically a signature restaurant group from India, TGKF has now diversified into Gulf and has outlets in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In Muscat, the restaurant has been in operation since February this year.

FOOD: If you are a kabab lover, then TGKF is the place to be. It has an extensive range of non-vegetarian and vegetarian kababs. The dine-in guests can choose either a non-veg or a veg platter. The platter comprises of 5-6 varieties of kababs, Indian breads, biryani, and desserts. The non-veg platter includes specialties like galouti kabab, barrah kabab, chicken tikka, murgh malai kabab and machi tikka. The veg platter has tandoori paneer tikka, tandoori chatpate aloo, vegetable shammi kebab, tandoori salad. While the non-veggies can choose chicken or lamb biryani, the veggies can dig into subz biryani. To round it off, deserts like gulab jamun, rasmalai, kesar phirni, and jelabi are served. The food is unlimited ­­– once you choose the platter, either veg or non-veg, you can have an unlimited go at kababs, rotis, biryani and desserts.

For me, the non-veg kababs tasted better than the veg counterparts. Among the chicken-based kababs, tandoori chicken was very succulent while the murgh malai kabab was nicely done. Some of the veg kebabs were too oily and quite ordinary. The likes of paneer and potato fills your stomach and I managed to avoid these to some extent. The juicy kababs can be washed down with masala buttermilk, which is refilled at intervals. The kababs were so filling that I had to call it quits for the bread, rice and dessert session. You really need to have a ‘king-size appetite’ to do justice to the food on offer. TGKF has decent options for take aways too.

AMBIENCE: The standalone restaurant is attractively lit in the night. The interiors reflect traditional and contemporary flavour in equal measures. The staffs are pleasant, polite and quite knowledgeable about the food on offer. They manage to give some intrinsic details about kababs, if you wish. The best part is they make the guests feel pampered.

PRICE: The non-veg platter costs RO 8.6 (after taxes) and the veg platter RO 7.5 (after taxes). Other than taxes on each meal, the bill also includes 8% service charges, which I feel is a rip-off. Nearly RO 2 in terms of taxes for a veg and non-veg platter is a bit too much.

VERDICT: TGKF is a good bet for folks who like to enjoy a decent meal. If you are the poor eating type, then it is not the place to be.

Being a weekend, yesterday we decided to try the lunch buffet at the much-acclaimed Al Tanoor restaurant at Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa. The restaurant is located in the ground level of Al Bandar hotel, overlooking the picturesque beach.

Al Tanoor has an Omani setting with pottery and tents sprinkled in equal measure to get a feel of the Arabic way of architecture. The restaurant offers Omani, Lebanese, Iranian, Turkish, Indian and Mediterranean cuisines in their lunch and dinner buffets.

To being with, we had a round of fresh fruit juices — orange, apple and watermelon to be precise. Orange juice was done to perfection. Next, we decided to try the soup and international salad counters. The soup — cream of mushroom — was well made and tasted good. Under salads, I tried the smoked salmons, smoked tuna, prawns, etc (every time I eat salmon, I am reminded of one yummy tasting dish — salmon chunk cooked with some creamy sauce — which I gorged along with white wine in Madrid a couple of years back. Till date, salmons have never tasted divine that).

Next, I decided to try out the Iranian live counter and zeroed in on chicken and tuna kebabs. The chicken kebabs tasted great, and I polished off the juicy kebabs in a jiffy.

In the Lebanese section, I tried the sharry fish delicacy. It was too bland to suit my tastebuds. Now it was the turn to check out mezzeh counter with hommous being my all time favourite. As I moved towards my table, the waiter placed some cute looking freshly made khubs (Arabic bread). I tucked in a few.

In the Indian counter, I decided to try steamed rice with some fish curry (I am bad with names, sorry). They have a live counter for roti and naan, but I was too full to order one.

The dessert counter has a wide range of international savories as well as Arabic sweets. I lay my hands on fresh mango with cream served in a cup, orange pudding, chocolate cake and some cut fruits.

On the whole, the food was very decent, worth every penny. Nothing much to cheer for vegetarians thought. The lunch buffet costs RO 11.5 plus taxes and dinner buffer 13.5 plus taxes. Alcohol is served.

Rating:
Food: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Ambience: 4/5

Related link:
Ramadan experience at Barr Al Jissah

‘Wok of Life’ is a new Chinese restaurant that has come up in MBD, near BankMuscat. Yesterday being a weekend, we decided to check out the new kid on the block that commenced operations in mid-February.

The restaurant is quite spacious and the décor is elegant. We were told the hotel could seat up to 120 people. Being a Friday noon, there wasn’t much crowd, and we were lead to our table by the affable hotel staff.

We decided to give starters a miss, and zeroed in on four main course dishes – Cantonese chicken, Seasonal vegetables with broccoli in Chinese parsley sauce (Ah! how can a name be so complicated…), Singapore veg. noodles and Veg. fried rice.

Before our order arrived, we were given a complimentary round of kimchi (a South Korean delicacy akin to Indian pickles). Frankly, the kimchi tasted weird, nothing close to the one I had relished in an authentic Korean restaurant in Bangalore, a few years back.

The food arrived after 20 minutes, surprisingly late since there were only 10-15 customers at that point of time. The Singapore veg. noodles tasted good, and it went well with Cantonese chicken. Seasonal vegetables with broccoli in Chinese parsley sauce was quite different, and it had a unique flavour. I want to try this again. The fried rice was a bit oily, but ok. Finally, we had Chinese tea, which I guess is the easiest tea on this universe to prepare. Throw some herbs into hot water, and tea is done, bingo!

For four main course dishes and tea, our bill was RO10.5. I glanced through the menu, and there is a good variety in terms of soups, starters, and main course items. Starters cost around RO1.5 to RO 3, and main course items around RO2.5 to RO5. Fish and crab items costs anywhere between RO5 to RO9. The food and non-pretentious atmosphere did impress me. The whole restaurant is a non-smoking zone, much to my relief.

Rating:

Food: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Service: 4/5

Ouch!

Me: Do you have orange juice?
Waiter: No, we don’t have…(silence)!

Me: What else do you have?
Waiter: Lemon juice…(silence)!

Me: Do you have pineapple juice?
Waiter: Yes… (silence)!

Me: Do you have fruit punch?
Waiter: Yes…(silence)!

…the food arrives, and there are around 5-6 different dishes. It looks confusing, so I ask pointing at a particular preparation…

Me: What is this dish?
Waitress: I don’t know!

Now, it was my turn to be ‘silent’!

Customer service, anyone?

This happened during my maiden visit to Golden Dragon, a Chinese restaurant in Madinat Qaboos. More reasons to love Golden Oryx.

Read earlier customer service rants, here and here.

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

Last night, we were invited by Shangri-la’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa to experience the atmosphere of Ramadan at the popular Sablah area of Al Bandar hotel.

The Sablah area was transformed into a local village with traditional Arabian tents and live entertainment. Though the weather is getting cooler by the day, the outdoors is a bit on the hotter side, and so is the Sablah area. Thanks to some heavy-duty fans, we didn’t feel the heat much.

As the divine smell of frankincense filled the air, we were greeted with a dose of Kahwa (Omani coffee), dates and nuts. Soon the menus started to appear on the table. Sadly, I am unable to recollect the names of a few of them. Nonetheless, we had hummus, qubbs, chick peas and some other pulses (yikes, I forgot the names again).

Our main course comprised of skewered meat/chicken sprinkled with veggies and finger chips. Since I am not into mutton for some years now, I tucked into those succulent chicken pieces. They were juicy and quite well made, and probably the best ever I had in Oman till date. Later, the Iranian chef told us that they had marinated the chicken for 24 hours by adding a bit of olive oil, and nothing else. Soon, the chicken shawarmas arrived, minus the mayonnaise. It tasted good too.

Sadly, we were so full that there was hardly any space left to relish a variety of Arabic desserts. The chef told us most of the preparations were oil and fat-free, something which enthuses me these days. On the whole, it was a pleasant experience, and much different from the mundane stuff on offer in other joints in town.

Hot Kahwa being served for guests.

Arabian tents dotting the Sablah area.

The duo performing live at the venue.

The skewered meat/chicken platter.

Iranian chef at work.

An array of Arabic desserts.

More Arabic desserts.

Hummus, qubbs, dips, etc.