TimeOut Muscat & Oman – Autumn/Winter 2012

Timeout is back on the stands and still only 2 OR.  As you can see from the cover, they have special features on Musandam and Dolphin Tour (written by Peter Feely) in this edition.  I think they should have listed Jacqueline Stelle’s interesting write up (humorously titled “Desperately Seeking Shuwa“) on the front cover.  She interviewed the chef in charge of Omani dishes at the Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort, Azza Al Mamari, who offers advice on “Where to find Omani Food“.  They also have a feature called “Radar” where they try to keep you updated with “what’s on the social radar” in Oman and on the next page is the “News Bites” with the latest news and upcoming events are found on the same page.  Their restaurant reviews are probably the best part of the magazine and in this edition they have one page, detailed reviews of The Jungle Restaurant and Love at First Bite.  New restaurants Fairouz and Asia have also been added to the Restaurant Listings.  With all that being said, there are things which they NEVER seem to get around to correcting such as poking fun at Passage to India’s “comical plastic elephant that presides over the entrance” which hasn’t been there for years, listing restaurants that have closed down such as Stomach, wrong phone numbers and incorrect info (such as Olivos Coffee Shop having “buffets served every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner” – not true!!   What I’m saying is that you have to read the restaurant reviews with a grain of salt and realize that many of the reviews have not been updated for many years!  Some are so old that I noticed that the magazine has at least taken away the estimated money you could expect to pay at each restaurants as they were often way off.  It’s too bad this magazine doesn’t get their act together as this could really be a fantastic guide for people here in the Sultanate or those thinking of coming.  As it is, it’s a halfway decent magazine seeing how it’s only 2 Omani rials.

Sometimes you can find good deals in Timeout like this Eid special at the Intercon on the inside back cover:

I wish I had read this weeks ago.  I might have booked us a night here at that price.  I just called the Intercon and they said that there may still be rooms at that rate if you call +968-2468-0000 tomorrow and ask for “reservations” once you reach the operator. (It’s 10:30pm now)

I hope you all have a fabulous, relaxing Eid.  Some may not have made any special plans seeing how we only found about having the whole week off (or 4 days for those of you in the private sector) once it was basically too late to make plans flying out of Muscat.  There are plenty of things to do in the Sultanate and I know quite a few people who intend on doing some camping.  Whatever your plans, dear reader, do try to be safe! EID MUBARAK!  🙂

“O Sole Mio”, Ristorante Italiano, Shatti Al Qurum

O Sole Mio is regarded as one of the best Italian restaurants in Muscat.  It’s located in Jawaharat Complex near the Intercontinental Hotel in Shatti.  It was closed down for quite a while for renovations and opened back up for business a little over 2 weeks ago.  We’ve enjoyed this restaurant quite a few times and it has a special place in our memories as it’s the restaurant I took my love to on the night that I proposed to her a little over 4 years ago.  When we went out recently with some close friends, we decided to eat there to see how it is since the renovations.

Penne Alfredo (4.9 OR)

2 of us (the men) tried the Lasagne al Forno (4.5 OR) which I thought was excellent.  My friend thought it was extremely hot (not spicy-hot but fresh-out-of-the-oven-piping-hot) but that’s what I loved about it.  I really enjoyed this dish!

The Blueberry Cheesecake (3 OR) was SO good and it looked like our guests really enjoyed their Cream Brulee (3 OR) as well which we enjoyed with our coffees.

I didn’t take a lot of photos as “O Sole Mio” is one of those restaurants that seems too upscale for shy old me to pull out my camera and start snapping away!  I did want to put up a pic to give you some quick idea of what the interior is like now.  Here’s a pic of our friends, Don and Debi who joined us for dinner:

Our friends, Debi and Don, recently relocated here from the United States.  Debi just started a blog that I follow.  It’s called “Notes Home” and can be found by clicking on this link.

Have any of you been to O Sole Mio since it was renovated?! Is so, what do you think?  We really enjoyed our night out there and highly recommend it for anyone looking for a nice (licensed!) Italian restaurant in Muscat.  Make sure to make reservations if you do go as this place is quite busy most nights. (Tel: +968-2460-1343)

Want a Job Working Day & Night with No Holiday?! I Didn’t Think so!