...Before I got to Oman DH was eating out almost every single day as he and kitchens don't really go together well. When I arrived and got to the house, I opened the fridge and found milk, some olives and some cheese. So I asked him 'what have you been eating?' and he said 'not much! Everything is too spicy!' I just stared at him in a long daze. Now I come to think about it I wonder what he was actually eating really considering the spice factor. And needless to say this lack of food was more than evident by the fact he had lost weight. :-(
I knew before coming that the people here like their food with a bit of a kick, however having said that, I did not think it nearly all food I have eaten on the out would be so unbelievingly flipping hot!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only is the climate hot but the food is also just as hot.
Until we sorted ourselves out with a cooker and got our kitchen ready, we spent a few days eating out at a bunch of restaurants in the Sohar area including Lebanese, Syrian, Indian, KFC and the like. There are not many good restaurants in Sohar and I have been disappointed by a lot of the food that I have eaten while out. Now lots of people go and eat at hotels where apparently food is better. Me and my husband we go swimming at a hotel in Sohar and have eaten there on two occasions. The first time round we had dinner and the food was of a poor standard for what is a relatively good hotel. We ordered some starters like homous (which was among the worst I ever tasted), fatoush (which was very flat tasting and had no seasoning), some cheese spring rolls and prawn tempura, both of which were very delicious and fresh. We then ordered our mains which consisted of a mixed grill. Upon arrival and first inspection it looked very nicely presented however you immediately got that waft of chilli going up your nose!!!!!! My husband could even eat his as it was way to spicy for him to the point his lips tingled. I don't mind a bit of spice so I tried my main, the lamb rib that was served was really tender and soft. I tried the meat and chicken cubes both which tasted the same and the kofta was far too fatty for my taste and I left it. In addition, they served with it Lebanese rice cooked with mince meat. Taste wise-it was over powered by the amount of nutmeg the chef put into it and in addition the rice was stale and old tasting. The only way I knew it was not very fresh was because the pine nuts that were in the rice had become very soft and awful tasting. They did not have that crunch that you get in pine nuts. The worst thing in my opinion when cooking this type of rice is to cook the pine nuts and mix it straight into the rice, you are not supposed to do that!!!!!! On top of the not so brilliant food was the cost which was extortionate at 49 OMR. We enjoy paying for good food but we were both left disappointed and ending up eating at home again. The next time we ate here was down by the pool, we both ordered sandwiches, he had a club sandwich and I had a tomato, mozzarella and pesto sandwich. These were very nice and were freshly made to order. They both came with a side of French fries and we both finished them.
Food at hotels can set you back quite a bit here and can be costly for what you get. If you are coming here thinking you will get a gastronomical two star Michelin meal then you are so wrong!! Forewarned is forearmed.
Me and my husband we like going to the local beach and getting freshly grilled prawns to order (posted a picture below) and the lovely man who owns the stall the majority of his customers are Omani's. He sells seafood and grilled meat. Now as you can imagine, his food is marinated in a cocktail of exotic and very hot spices. In addition when he finishes the grilling he also had a runny sauce to dunk your food in for extra 'heat'. Now the prawns alone with the cocktail of spices is so hot so just imagine what adding his spicy sauce will do!! We love prawns and these ones are exceptionally fresh and tasty that we are willing to take some heat as long as we have some water on hand!! LOL!! The owner of the stall wonders why we choose to have no extra sauce and tells my husband that the prawns alone are boring and tasteless and that we should give his sauce a go. Well no we would rather not! For the locals-this heat level is not considered spicy at all and in fact our own home cooked food could be considered boring for them. It just shows that what pleases your palate needn't please another.
The Syrian restaurant that we frequent also served us some spicy kebabs on our last visit which we found over bearing on the day even if on previous occasions they were delicious and fairly mild in taste. You often find that restaurants here that would not ordinarily serve hot spicy foods usually have to cater for local tastes otherwise nobody would go to their restaurants and while that's understandable they should also think about the rest of us.
It is also worth considering that a lot of the food influences here come from overseas be it India, Pakistan, Iran or the rest of the Arabian Gulf and the food from these nations can also be quite hot in terms of spiciness. You have to consider that the food I have eaten is spicy for me and my husband, it may not necessarily be for you so do not let this put you of.
I enjoy home cooking and think the majority of our eating here will be done at home. We will still go out for the occasional lunch/dinner but it will not be often because we do not want to be left unable to eat our food every time. I hate throwing food away so this is an issue for me.
Tomorrow I will be making mini meat pies for the first time so wish me luck that it does not go wrong!! If they come out looking as they should I will share a picture in the evening.
Night night everyone!!
