The best restaurants Dhofar Area

In Salalah, it is THE table of always, tasty, varied, joyful like this Lebanon that we all love. Fadi and his team run the business with maestria, efficiency and good humor. Vine leaves, lamb's liver à la provençale, fatoush salad, lobsters, grilled grouper, falafels... fill colorful and copious plates. The only thing missing is a small glass of wine, but as the house prepares good dry cocktails and freshly squeezed juices, it does the trick. A pleasant mini terrace is available on cooler days. Excellent value for money.

For the beauty of its setting and its dishes, this restaurant ranks in the top 3 of Salalah's finest culinary addresses! Asian refinement is omnipresent in the attentive service, the staging of dishes and the elegance of the decor, down to the smallest detail (even the toilets are a must!). Authentic and well-traveled, the menu strolls brilliantly to the countries along the Mekong River (Thailand, China and Vietnam): from beef pho soup to Peking duck and curries. A fine wine list too.

Overlooking the beach, a feature rare enough in Salalah to be doubly highlighted, a vast open-air terrace, graphic and contemporary, opens onto the immensity of the Arabian Sea and offers one of the most beautiful festive and gustatory settings in Dhofar. Visitors come at any time of day or night to relax, enjoy a cocktail, nibble on one of the fusion dishes on the menu - baked, grilled or wok-fired - or dine on Italian cuisine upstairs. With its lounge music, cosy ambience and picture-postcard views, the place is fairly new and often crowded. A real favorite!

This is a very nice place, surrounded by greenery and bougainvilleas, and enjoying a very nice view. We eat Omani cuisine, in small independent rooms or on the terrace, according to the principle of separating dinners between friends or with family.

In Salalah you will find the unmissable Bin Ateeq restaurant, a specialist in Omani cuisine (brands all over the country). We eat Oriental-style, sitting on the floor on carpets and cushions, in rooms carpeted with bamboo. No fuss in the decoration, the place is simple, friendly and very local as shown by the number of Omanis who come here with their families. On the menu: soup, meat, fish, vegetables accompanied by rice and always Arabic bread and hummus. Quality varies, but the prices are low. Another sign in the As Saadah district.

Just steps from the beach, as its name indicates, the Beach Restaurant offers a large, open and open terrace. Higher, other rooms of diverse size can accommodate more or less important groups, wishing to be quiet among themselves. The price is attractive and the kitchen is simple but very good. A little bit away, a huge TV station works to entertain the babushkas souls. Shisha, for its part, is never far away.

Note, the maze of ruined houses behind the establishment. Evening lighting gives them a strange colour, worthy of a theatre decor. The kitchen has nothing extra, mainly barbecues, but the place is nice, in the middle of the Omani people who come to discuss and smoke the shisha.

In the middle of the old Ramshackle ramshackle, a haven of peace awaits travellers, assuring them a well-deserved relaxation. It is quite easy on a terrace facing the sea to eat lemon chicken and biryani rice. The servings are generous, so do not order too much.

Small restaurant with enchanting colours. The main room is located in a square of tiles. The map is equally unique, offering flavours of Orient and West. Only problem, lack of communication with servers that do not speak English. But we're here to taste everything, so…

A very good address where you can use mainly Turkish cuisine. Perfect establishment, you can't get wrong. Request, enter, a plate plate and a fruit cocktail.

If you have gone next to Muscat and Sohar, here is a last chance to taste the kitchen of Omar al-Khayyam. Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Continental and barbecue specialities, or more than three hundred dishes! So say that the place is discouraged with undecided!

The setting alone makes the meal. At the edge of the terrace, under a myriad of lamps, the deep mineral-blue infinity pool seems to merge with the lagoon below. This is one of the wildest and most exclusive hotel sites in the Sultanate, and since the in-house mixologist has mastered the art of marrying local and foreign flavors, we start with a cocktail! Based on fresh produce sourced wherever possible, the menu draws its inspiration from Southeast Asian cuisine, and also offers a good selection of grilled meats.

Dining at The Orchard is an original and delicious experience that takes us on a gustatory journey along the ancient caravan routes. From the Sultanate of Oman to the Arabian Peninsula, via the shores of the Mediterranean, we follow the incense routes with our taste buds, amazed by so many colors, flavors and textures. A brigade of chefs and waiters orchestrate this fabulous culinary odyssey, which begins with an astonishing hot-cold mocktail of incense, lemon, rosemary and peach, and ends on a deliciously sweet oriental note.

In the heart of the Rotana Hotel and overlooking the main pool, this is THE Indo-Asian restaurant at the Hawana Marina. The atmosphere is cosy, with subdued lights, lots of woodwork and, outside, a large terrace open to the evening breeze with small tables scattered here and there, sofas, candles. A nice choice of sushi, sashimi, makis, etc., but also various curries and tandoori, kebabs, Peking duck, naan (Indian bread), and some Mediterranean dishes for the recalcitrant...

Dream setting for this restaurant facing the immense beach of Salalah. We appreciate the relaxed atmosphere for lunch, and the possibility, at your choice, to eat by the pool or feet in the sand facing the sea. In the evening, Al Mina dresses up in its best clothes and offers a more sophisticated atmosphere, with its terrace open on the water, its background music orchestrated by local bands, and the shisha break afterwards. The menu is Mediterranean inspired, with a taste of Italy, Spain and Greece. Nice wine list.

Sitting on a deck on stilts in the middle of the marina, partly in the open air and with nice lounge areas, it is the favourite restaurant-bar of expatriates and residents of the area, taken by storm on weekends for parties with DJs. International, relaxed and festive atmosphere, like nowhere else in Dhofar outside of the hotels. Good cocktails, fine wine list, simple but well prepared dishes... In short: an island of coolness.

On the beach, the fishermen's village stretches between the souk and the archaeological site of Al Balid in the east. A preserved framework, very strong and simple cultural images. A few kilometers from the Concrete centre of Salalah, in light years, the backwash gives the tempo to play the domino. At the end of the day, when the sun goes. Unavoidable.

Lacking a Western atmosphere? Phew, the Oasis Club is here! To reach this place of festivities, friendly and very busy, we will have crossed the port area. Planted on a hillock, with a terrace overlooking a beach embedded between two cliffs, the place is much more than a restaurant and is a landmark for expats in the area. While the kids play, the parents play pool or bowling, eat and drink, surrounded by sports screens. There is also a swimming pool, tennis court, playground and a few villas for rent.

With a view of the sea, this nice Italian pizzeria, with a magnificent setting, takes its place above the Ocean Blue Beach House, the super beach club of the Crown Plaza. We are on the roof of the most graphic and glamorous building in the area, all wood and white, with long pools of water for a touch of freshness. In the evening, when the weather is fine, the menu unfolds its Italian classics in a Mediterranean lounge atmosphere that's wildly seaside: mixed salads, cheese boards, homemade pizzas... accompanied by a good glass of wine!

As is often the case all over the country, the colourful front of the coffee shop in Mirbat, at least the one that seemed to us to be the most correct and busiest, contrasts a little with the old decayed and ochre coloured houses of the village. If you're on an excursion or a stroll and you don't plan to sit down to eat, you quickly stop to order fresh juice and sandwiches; otherwise, you stop in the charming room, which has the advantage of an air-conditioning system.