My adventures in beautiful Muscat, Oman continued with an Omani street food tour of Mutrah Souq. Let’s head out and explore it!
Mutrah Souq is a traditional Arab market under wooden timber roofing. You can buy clothing, souvenirs, home goods, street food, and much more there! I’d be exploring the souq with my guide Ahmed from Oman Travels.
It’s right by the Mutrah Cornich, which is an oceanside boardwalk. Inside the souq are tons of shops. Immediately, we found Al-Raha Fast Food, where they were selling Indian snacks like samosas and pakoras.
Further on were vendors selling spices and incense, as well as a coffee shop (Abna Haji Bin Beri Traditional Coffee) selling rose milk. My guides said it’s their favorite place to buy it. They only cost us about $0.40 each!
The rose milk was creamy, frothy, and cold. They also gave us some crispy veg samosas. I liked the potatoes and onions inside.
Next, we saw shops selling jewelry, lamps, chess boards, magnets, knives, and more. At Saffron Leading Village, they sold Indian and Iranian spices, including turmeric, black pepper, and saffron.
They sell 3 different varieties of saffron. It’s the most expensive spice in the world! In another shop, we saw some oil lamps like the ones from Aladdin, a sword, and more. I got 3 pairs of earrings for my daughters for about $16 USD. Then, the guy showed me some fantastic anime drawings his daughter did!
Mutrah Souq reminded me a lot of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Then, at Mohammed Ridha Bin Khamis Bin Ali Al-Lawati Traditional Shoes, I bought some Marc Comfort Omani-style sandals for about $25 USD!
At the next shop, we found some traditional hats called kummas. I tried a few on and went with a blue-and-white one. Then, I got a traditional white dishdasha, which extends to your ankles, and a head turban called a massar.
Ahmed tied a couple of different massars around my head while I was wearing the hat. I went with two kummas, two massars, and the dishdasha, for $50 USD. He gave me a small deal!
From there, we continued through the souq. A lot of the items we saw were imported from India and Iran. Then, we stopped at a spot making beef shawarma with cabbage, hot sauce, and tahini.
The cabbage was nice and crunchy, and the beef really tender. The toasted pita was almost paper thin! I loved the juices from the meat mixing with the hot sauce! It was a great deal for under $1 USD.
Finally, we exited the souq and headed to a nearby spot to get some chicken shawarma! The cook mixed it with cabbage and tahini. We had some chilies and hot sauce on the side.
The chicken shawarma was meatier than the beef one, and fattier as well. It was tastier and had more sauce, too. It cost us $4 USD for four.
Then, we stopped at a 70-year-old coffee shop that sells samosas, small sandwiches, and more. I saw them grilling some thin chapatis. We tried some small veg samosas. Then, we watched them make some sandwiches using the chapatis.
They added cream cheese, chips, and hot sauce to the chapati. Of course, we added hot sauce. It reminded me of the rolled sandwiches I ate in Lebanon.
The hot sauce reminded me of tabasco. I loved the contrast between the flaky parotta, the crispy chips, and the velvety sour cream!
Finally, we finished with some karak tea. It was frothy and contained lots of milk and cardamom. I loved it! And that ended our Omani street food tour of Mutrah Souq!
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