Our favourite cheap eats

We have been horribly absent of late, we realise that. To make up for that we'll give you three of our favourite cheap eats. Exclusive dining is fun, but sometimes it is just as satisfying to find restaurants where you find extremely good value for money, or just a good meal at a bargain. None of the following restaurants will win any michelin stars, but they do represent fine value.

Al Ziyara, MSQ
This is a popular hang-out with the Omani and expat youngsters alike, but we go there for the cheap, but tasty Lebanese food. Although neighbouring Kargeen may look better, we feel the mezze at Al Ziyara taste better. We especially like the kibbeh. They also offer very good shisha. A full meal including drinks and shisha shouldn't set you back more than 5 or 6 OMR. And that's much better than Kargeen as well.

Saravanaa Bahvan, Ruwi
Situated on Ruwi Street, this vegetarian Indian restaurant is always busy. And rightfully so. The dosa's are particularly in favour, and may well be the best in town. The extensive menu also offers enough other treats to choose from. For a mere 3 OMR (including drinks) you can expect to leave fully satisfied. The restaurant may have a bit more of a fast food feel than, let's say, Woodlands, but the food certainly isn't any less. Perhaps even better.

Turkish Palace, Al Mawaleh
When we just moved to Oman, this was our regular neighbourhood hangout. We don't live in the area anymore, but we still have good memories of the food in Turkish Palace. Located next to the Markaz Al Bahja mall, this restaurant offers both outside and inside dining. The outside area is bordering a car park, for that truly cosy local experience. The food makes up for the surroundings however. The mezze are all good, but we always made sure to leave a bit of appetite for the grilled kebabs in yoghurt. Feel-good-food. We slightly prefer the food at this restaurant to that of Muscat favourite Turkish House, but there's nothing wrong with that place either. Expect to pay about 5 OMR for food and drinks at Turkish Palace.

We will post some more restaurants in due time. Meanwhile, if you have some favourite cheap places of your own, please let us know. We are always looking forward to trying some new addresses.