Palayok (Hot Plate) Restaurant, Al Khuwair

  Palayok is a Filipino restaurant in Al-Khuwair behind McDonald’s and the Shell Station.  The first (and still operating) Palayok is located in Ruwi which has been doing well with the Filipino community in Muscat since the 80’s.  I can’t figure out what took us so long to finally visit this restaurant.  I guess there are just too many restaurants in Muscat and not enough time to visit them all!  🙂  Of course my Filipino wife and sister-in-law were thrilled when I suggested eating there after church on Friday. The restaurant is pretty basic inside.  I was prepared for the worst as I remembered that OmaniCuisine had put up one of his worst reviews ever for this restaurant about a year ago.  That review might have been one of the reasons it has taken me so long to visit this place…I’m glad we did manage to finally check it out for ourselves as it was a decent enough restaurant and my wife was excited with the choices of so many Filipino dishes! This is a small bowl of Seafood Bisque Soup (1.5 OR).  The small bowl was quite a large serving!  Pretty good soup.  Looks like a regular cream soup but all the good seafood bits are obviously hiding on the bottom!  Here are other soups and salads available at Palayok: As often with my restaurant reviews, I have included the majority of the menu (minus the drinks) for those who like to know exactly what is available. This was my favorite dish by far – Stir Fry Beef with Mushrooms (2.8).  This was so great to eat poured over a plate of rice!  Tita Tet really enjoyed the Zizzling Mix Sea Food (6 OR).I certainly wouldn’t have thought of ordering something called “Ginataang Tilapia with Sitaw” (2.8 OR) (or even known how to pronounce it!) but this was a decent choice by the ladies.  (Fish with coconut milk basically)  I recommend ordering up a large plate of rice (.8 OR) if you order any of these dishes, especially if you are a group of 3 or more people. Tita was happy to finally try out Palayok in Al Khuwair.  She’s been to Palayok in Ruwi but this was her first visit to the one in Al Khuwair which she said is much larger.

Overall, the family thought this was a great lunch.  For all the food we ordered pictured above plus a take-away spagetti for the kids, 2 cokes and a large water (+10% service charge), our bill came to 19.25 OR.  Not bad!  When one is limited to choices for Filipino cuisine here in Muscat, we are certainly not going to be too fussy! 🙂  Try it out for yourself and feel free to share your experience below in the comments.

Palayok in Al-Khuwair is open from 10am to midnight each day.  They cater for birthdays, weddings, baptisms, anniversaries and other functions.  For home delivery, reservation and party orders, call +968 220-244-68 or 941-182-89.  Email: palayokrestaurantoman@yahoo.com

National Day Weekender at Grand Hyatt Muscat

 “As we celebrate the National Day of Oman, Grand Hyatt introduces a special package for guests planning to stay with us between 27 and 30 November.”“In celebration of the 43rd Oman National Day, Grand Hyatt Muscat introduces an exclusive national day package that can be availed by Omani residents as well as GCC.  The Oman National Day Weekender package includes exciting room rates and food and beverage discounts that will be available and can be booked during the National Day holiday, 27 to 30 November.  Grand room rates starting from RO 90 for single occupancy and RO 100 for double occupancy. Guests can also avail of a 20% discount on food and beverages while dining at the award winning Mokha Cafe and Marjan restaurant.  This package is subject to 17.4% taxes and service charge and can be booked by calling (+968) 2464 1234 or email muscat.grand@hyatt.com.”

Happy 43rd National Day to the Sultanate of Oman!!!

(Great pic from the twitter account of Oman Tourism!)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Oman is a wonderful place to live!  Mabrook to all Omanis and to His Majesty for another year of great prosperity and progress.  Long live the Sultan!