Omar Al Khayyam Restaurant   

Omar Al Khayyam is one of the oldest fine dining restaurants in the country functioning since 1973. Currently it has six branches in Oman.

This was my second visit here. My previous experience was extremely good and I kept bragging about the place to my friends for weeks.

 

Though it was a weekend afternoon, it was not completely packed. Daley and I took a table upstairs.

 The restaurant has a pleasant appearance with few elements of the Arabic and Mughlai décor accessories.

The menu

Omar Al Khayyam serves Arabic, Indian, Continental and Indo-Chinese dishes. I had walked in with the King of Butter Chicken (Daley) so that dish had to be picked along with Sweet Corn Chicken Soup (split into two). Chicken 65 was chosen as the other starter.

Sweet Corn Soup (Chicken) OMR 0.900

The soup was okay though it lacked taste. I added chilli vinegar to it but that didn’t make it any better.

Chicken 65 OMR 1.800

Chicken 65 is a spicy Indian starter consisting of deep fried chicken pieces. Daley and I enjoyed this gravy less starter a lot, it wasn’t very spicy yet it tasted very good.

 The main course included Butter Chicken with Naan and Chicken Fried Rice. I also chose pomegranate juice for myself.

Butter Chicken OMR 2.500 & Chicken Fried Rice OMR 2.600

This dish should have been listed under dessert, lol. It was overwhelmingly sweet, not a little but too sweet. Daley didn’t mind the taste but being a spicy food lover, I couldn’t eat much.

The fried rice was perfectly cooked and tasted delicious. I had it without any gravy but it wasn’t dry and tasted very good by itself.

Pomegranate Juice OMR 1.600

It tasted sour and I didn’t like it. But this was also my first time trying pomegranate juice, so now I think I’m not very fond of this flavour.

 I didn’t expect this disappointment from Omar Al Khayyam because my previous episode was so good. I remember having  few prawns dishes which tasted absolutely brilliant. Maybe I should have ordered them, sigh.

 

Total billing for one soup, one starter, two main courses, Naan(3 pieces), a fresh juice, a soft drink and small bottled water: OMR 10.400

• Ambience: 8/10
• Service: 7.5/10
• Food: 6/10
• Price: 7.5/10

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Restaurant: Omar Al Khayyam

Location: Ruwi, Oman

Restaurant hours: 11.00 AM to 3.30 PM, 6.00 PM to 12 midnight, (Opens at 1.00 PM on Fridays)

Contact number: +968 24703035