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.

Pasta week in Capri Court

Vincenzo Spinozi, one of Italy's finest pasta makers, is coming to town. From 21 to 27 February he will present a special menu in Shangri La's Capri Court Restaurant. This is what the press release had to say:

"From 21 to 27 February 2010, Capri Court restaurant at Shangri La's Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa will welcome the legendary Italian pasta maker, Vincenzo Spinosi, who will bring a touch of Italian flair as he presents a special à la carte menu of mouth-watering dishes prepared with his signature brand of hand-made egg-based pasta. The 'Prince of Pasta' will be joined by guest chef Mauro Taufer from Hotel Excelcior in Venice."

Spinosi's pasta has quite a reputation throughout the world, and initiatives like these need encouragement, so we will be there to taste the action. The menu is only served during dinner times. For reservations, contact the hotel at 24776565.

Wine review - Pascal Jolivet

We haven't done a study on the subject, but it wouldn't surprise us if Sauvignon Blanc is the world's most popular grape. You see it all over the world, from New Zealand to Chili, and throughout the whole of Europe. Wines from the Sauvignon Blanc grape comes in many styles, depending on climate, soil and style of wine making.

The source of the grape is France, where its fame started in the Loire region. Wines from Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé are famed for their complexity, and dry yet fruity character.

Pascal Jolivet is an interesting winemaker in this region. He believes in making wines true to the character of the vineyard and climatic conditions. Sound logical, but it is more difficult than you'd think. Jolivet's wines are all aged on stainless steel, so not a single piece of wood in the wines. His wines are characterised by a certain sense of restraint, combined with an impressive array of subtle, but intense flavours.

He produces several ranges of wines, but at our local OUA shop we only ever found the wines simly called Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé. They are not cheap, both cost close to 20 OMR. But if you're willing to spend this amount of money on a bottle of wine, you'll be rewarded. The wines are by no means simple. They need a bit of work to be appreciated. The Pouilly Fumé is a bit fuller and extravagant, compared to the Sancerre, which is slightly more elegant and racy. Both have their distinct qualities and are equally good.

The current vintage of these wines would be 2008, but we only saw 2006 and 2007 on the shelves. Normally we wouldn't advice buying wines of older vintages, but in this case it's ok. These wines can deal with some bottle age, it even adds some complexity.

If you want something a bit more special than your everyday quaff, or if you're in need of a last minute Valentine's Day wine, go ahead and buy some of this.

Two serious foodie events coming up

We were pretty pleased with the Taste of Dubai festival last year, so we're more than happy to recommend this year's edition to you. It will be held from 17 to 20 March 2010 at Dubai Media City. The lay out will be pretty much the same as last year: local restaurants have the opportunity to present small dishes, and there are a number of special events, such as wine tastings and cooking master classes by renowned chefs. For more information and booking of tickets: look here.

Another promising event takes place in Abu Dhabi. From 5 to 19 February the city is the scene of Gourmet Abu Dhabi; two weeks full of culinary delight. The organisers of Gourmet Abu Dhabi did a great job in putting together a tantalising programme. Several michelin-starred chefs are flown in, with 3-starred Alain Passard and Régis Marcon as showstoppers. You can choose to follow masterclasses by the chefs or attend one of the dinners. Some of those are accompanied by wine tastings of prestigious domains, such as Egon Müller, Pio Cesare and Paul Jaboulet Ainé. Their winemakers will be there as well. If you ever needed an excuse to visit Abu Dhabi, this is it. More information can be found here.

Restaurant Review - Vue by Shannon Bennett

We have been planning a review of Vue by Shannon Bennett for quite some time now, as it is –without a doubt– Muscat’s best restaurant.

Our last visit to the restaurant was the fourth since its opening last year. We must say that our best experience was during an evening that Shannon Bennett himself was present, but chef Josh Lewis does a very good job at keeping up Bennett’s reputation. The level is constantly high, and although we may have one or two things to complain about, these are minor details.

Vue is not cheap. A seven course menu gourmand will set you back 40 OMR. But it has a lot to offer in return. First and foremost, Vue is the only restaurant in Muscat that employs truly knowledgeable staff. Sommelier Brigid Hoskins is a delight for wine lovers and the serving staff is well educated and confident. Those who want to spend less have the choice of a five course dinner (28 OMR) or choosing three courses from the limited menu. The menu changes frequently.

We like the way Vue handles its ingredients: fish is sourced from the Muttrah souq and herbs and (some) vegetables are home-grown. All this shows care and love for produce.

Wines aren’t cheap either, and this is something that troubles us a bit more. While it must be said that Vue puts a big effort into offering a large selection of wines (some of which are especially flown in for the restaurant), prices of those that are commonly available in Oman are also many times higher than in other restaurants around the city. You have to search hard to find a good deal on the wine list. Probably the best option for your wallet is to let Mrs. Hoskins choose wine pairings to your menu. Her choices are impeccable.

On to the food. All dishes are prepared with care and thought out in great detail. We particularly enjoyed the truffle and wild mushroom risotto with tarragon paste. It is rich and generous, but well balanced thanks to the fresh spiciness of the tarragon. A scallop packed in shellfish bisque jelly offers a funny and tasty gimmick, but is in visual spectacle outclassed by a ‘cigar’ filled with foie gras mousse, and with smoky chocolate crust. We saw this trick before, when it was served as dessert (and filled with chocolate instead of liver), but it is still a feast for the eye. It tastes good as well, but the foie gras is a bit light for the smoky chocolate, which tends to overpower slightly. The next two courses are highlights. Kingfish with a cheesy bread crust, on parsley purée, served with red wine reduction is a stunning combination. Where we were critical about Bait al Bahr’s way of handling fish, this dish shows how contrasting flavours can still produce a stunning dish. The cheese crust gave body to the fish, which made it capable of standing up to the red wine reduction. This, in turn, had enough acidity to lift the flavours and the parsley purée added a lovely bitter spicy contrast. A perfect dish? It would have been if the fish hadn’t been slightly overcooked. Not yet dry, but just too far. The main course is stunning is well: breast and leg of pigeon on carrot purée with a selection of baby vegetables. The pigeon is perfectly cooked, the breast tender and juicy, and the leg prepared as confit. They form a lovely, smooth combination of flavours with the carrot purée and baby vegetables. Is everything perfect? Nearly. Several components in different courses could have done with less salt. The stock of the risotto and scallop, as well as the sauce accompanying the pigeon were all too salt. A minor detail.

After a good piece of pont l’évêque cheese follows a lovely dessert with several small treats of which ginger ice cream and camomile mousse make the biggest impression. Original flavours and truly delicious.

We were glad to see a large selection of digestives, ranging from Cognacs and Whiskies to Vintage Port, all offered by the glass.

The final bill is best paid with your eyes closed. But it doesn’t matter really. Dining at Vue makes us happy. We enjoy the knowledge and enthusiasm of the staff, and have great fun eating food that is clearly prepared with love. On top of that, it is very, very good. A Muscat Must.

Restaurant Review - Bait al Bahr

We love fish. Given Oman's incredible richness in seafood, it is surprising to see only a small number of specialised seafood restaurants. Sure, there are numerous grill restaurants that will serve you cremated kingfish, but that's not what we mean.

One of the few is Bait al Bahr, on the beach of Shangri La's Barr al Jissah Resort. Our last visit to this restaurant was almost a year ago. Our best recollection of that evening was the platter of fresh seafood; a wonderful collection of raw mussels, clams, oysters etc. on ice. Combined with a fresh white wine, life could hardly be better.

But we also remember disappointing main courses: overcooked tuna and a confusing dish with koffer made that we left with a double feeling. About time for a second visit. It was quite disheartening to see that the menu hadn't changed in a year's time. A restaurant with a limited menu, such as Bait al Bahr, should be able to offer their guests something new every once in a while, don't you think?

We didn't like the look of the catch of the day, which –quite frankly– looked like the catch of a couple of days before, so decided to order some dishes of the menu. Mr. R's prawn cocktail with three types of dressing was refreshing and fine. Mrs. R was less pleased with her starter of grilled scallop on a spicy mango salad. The sweet mango completely swept away the mild sweetness of the scallops, leaving only a salty and smoky grilled flavour. Not bad per se, but a pity of those beautiful scallops. They were –we must add– perfectly grilled.

Mrs. R decided to give the main course of Omani koffer, with harissa and fried parsnip a second chance, while Mr. R chose baked hammour with zatar crust. We can be short here: we disliked both. One of the delights of fish is that it is perfect to create light dishes, delicate and refined. These were heavy and filling. It seems the chef tried to create meat dishes out of fish. You'd wonder why.

The wine we drank with the food was good. A lovely crisp and dry Riesling by the Alsatian top producer Hugel. The high end wines of this producer belong to the best in the world, and while their entry level wines are nowhere near as good, they do provide a good introduction to the wines of the Alsace and offer fair value for money. The wines of Hugel are available through African & Eastern.

Luckily, desserts saved dinner from ending in complete disappointment. Date pudding, with caramel pecan nut ice cream tasted very nice, although the date pudding wasn't technically a pudding but a cake (and tasted more of chocolate than date, oh well, at least it tasted good). Mrs. R was very happy with her vanilla pannacotta, with pink grapefruit jelly and rhubarb granite, which was very refreshing, although perhaps overly sweet.

Service was fast. Too fast. It took the staff less than an hour to serve us three courses, including coffee and tea. A bit of time in between courses wouldn't have hurt at all.

We are still not convinced by Bait al Bahr. As a true seafood restaurant it is disappointing. We would rather spend some extra money and go to The Beach Restaurant or choose one of the fish dishes in Come Prima. But for a fresh seafood platter and a glass of wine this place is perfect. Ideally, we'd enjoy sundown in Bait al Bahr and then continue our dinner somewhere else. A pity the restaurant only opens at 7PM.

New Year's Fizz

It's the time of the year for Champagne. Although we love the stuff, we hardly ever buy it here. It's just too expensive. We would have loved to give you a comparison between different brands, but buying a couple of bottles to test is something our liqour license budget doesn't allow. Therefore, we are going to give you a couple of links to some interesting articles on the subject. You will be able to find some good suggestions and background here:

• Jancis Robinson's weekly column in FT
• Berry Bros' wine blog
• Wine Spectator on Champagne

Most of the major brands are carried by either OUA or African & Eastern, so have a look around. If you're looking for a reasonable, more or less budget Champagne, we would suggest Lanson Black Label Brut. This brand usually offers good value for money. And if you're feeling decadent, why not go for Billecart-Salmon Rosé. It is our favourite rosé Champagne. Quite pricy though, at 50 OMR.

The best option for your budget is probably to skip Champagne altogether and go for a sparkling alternative. There are plenty around, most of them being much cheaper than 'the real thing'. African & Eastern offers the South-African Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel. Ridiculously cheap at 5.900 OMR, and a very decent glass of sparkling wine at that.

Whatever your choice of drink will be on New Year's Eve, we hope you have a splendid evening. And we wish you a very good 2010 with lots of good food and lovely wine.

Modern tradition - The wines of Quinta do Portal

We told you before about our love for port wine. Christmas is a classic opportunity to enjoy some port, and the Taylor's LBV 2003 we suggested earlier may be a good one to enjoy after Christmas dinner. If you wish to spend some serious money on a bottle of port, the Taylor's 20 Year Old Tawny is also a very respectable choice (around 50 OMR at African & Eastern).

While the quality of port is widely recognized, the table wines of the Portuguese Douro Valley are less well known. They deserve better. The wines from this region are beautiful and gaining in quality year after year. Typically, red wines from the Douro are ripe and concentrated with dark fresh fruit, and the whites offer plenty of spice, minerality and (tropical) fruit.

There is only one Douro wine producer available in Oman, which is a pity. Nevertheless, this producer, Quinta do Portal, is interesting enough to give some attention here. It is one of a group of wineries who are at the forefront of the quality explosion of Douro wines in recent years.

Anyone who ever visited the Douro region will appreciate the challenges winemakers face here. The vineyards are extremely steep, as a result of which almost all grapes need to be harvested by hand. The grape varieties are all traditional Portuguese, with names you'll hardly find outside Portugal. Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (which is the same as the Spanish Tempranillo) and Touriga Franca are the most popular ones for both port and wine. Yet, there are also many vineyards with old vines, where a mix of many varieties is planted. It is often unknown which varieties are planted there, many of them being obscure and ancient. These traditional grape varieties (and the large amount of old vines) contribute to the unique taste of Douro wines. In the old days the wines could be a bit rustic (especially whites), but thanks to modern vinification techniques they are now fresh and clean, with plenty of potential.

Quinta do Portal produces a large array of both port and table wines. Only a small selection of these is available through OUA. The Quinta do Portal Douro Branco 2007 is a very good example of a good Douro white. It offers lovely spice and licorice notes, as well as ripe pear and some tropical fruit. It will pare nicely with fish dishes, or even some light meat. It is a pity that its red counterpart, Quinta do Portal Douro Tinto 2003, is a couple of years too old. To give this wine the credit it deserves, you should at least be able to try the 2005 (or younger). Both wines are around 10 OMR, which is on the pricy side. At that price, we would recommend to try the white and wait for a newer vintage of the red. Portal also produces a very good rosé wine, but that is sadly not available here.

OUA also offers two ports from Portal: Fine Tawny and Fine Ruby. Both are basic ports, and although they are quite good in their category, we would love to see some of the better ports on the shelves, such as the Reserve Tawny, or the very nice Late Bottled Vintage.

Food alert - Les Saveurs du Terroir

The guys and girls of Muscat InterContinental are doing a good job in organising interesting theme evenings. Their newest invention is called Saveurs du Terroir. It is aimed at the French (speaking) community, and highlights the regional French cuisine.

There is a Saveurs du Terroir evening every month. The first one was last month, and the second is planned for this coming Tuesday, 15th of December. This month's theme is l'Alsace et sa Choucroute, a three course meal (where sauerkraut is the main attraction of course) costst 25 OMR per person, including a bottle of wine per pair of people.

As far as we're concerned, this is not only interesting for the French, but for everyone who loves the French cuisine.

La Val Alboriño - an update

We've been horribly absent lately. We were busy and away, and then busy again. Our sincere apologies. The coming days will see a number of posts to catch up.

Remember our post on La Val Alboriño, and how disappointed we were? It had mainly to do with the fact that the wine was too old. When we were dining in Restaurant The Edge in Dubai some weeks ago (something we can recommend to anyone who wants to spend a large amount of money on incredibly good food), we were served the 2007 vintage of this wine. It was exactly as we wished the 2006 would be:

This wine from Bodegas La Val is made to reach ultimate freshness. No wood in this wine. The result is a wine that has lovely citrus flavours, the freshness of green apples and a light, spritzy feel. It had weight, but is light at the same time. It's serious fun, so to say.

So if you happen to be in the OUA store, and you stumble across this wine, please do buy a bottle (or two) as long as it's from a recent vintage such as 2007 or 2008. The price is 10.500 OMR, and when the bottle is good, it's worth it.