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Muscat Mutrah Souq Spice & Seafood

Oman is one of the most hospitable countries on earth, and its cuisine reflects the warmth, generosity, and ancient maritime history of its people. Muscat — the elegant, low-rise capital tumbling down to the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Oman — is a city of extraordinary contrasts: gleaming white mosques and Corniche promenades alongside the labyrinthine Mutrah Souq, where incense burners and silver khanjars have been traded for centuries. This four-hour evening tour explores both worlds, beginning as the sun sets over the harbour and dipping into 12 authentic Omani dishes that showcase a cuisine built on slow cooking, Indian Ocean spices, and the finest seafood in the Gulf. The centrepiece is shuwa — lamb buried in an underground pit for up to 48 hours until the meat simply falls from the bone, perfumed with a paste of coriander, cumin, chilli, and dried lime. We also visit the waterfront fish market to understand the central role of the sea in Omani cooking, and end with the ritual of qahwa: cardamom-spiced Omani coffee poured from a carved brass dallah into tiny cups, accompanied by Omani halwa and dates — the essence of Omani hospitality.