Delicious Delights

Taken from instagram: @arabica.oman

A few weeks ago, when I was abroad at the time, I saw photos of the same '%' again. Location: Muscat, Oman. I immediately planned to go to %ARABICA once I came back. Two days after landing in Muscat, jet-lagged and disoriented, I made my way there.

Taken from instagram: @arabica.oman

The first thing I noticed was the minimalistic and clean decor of the cafe. With white dominating the decor, everything was crisp and clean, which I loved. It wasn't too minimalistic or 'hipster', which is often the case with a lot of new cafes. It was just right, and I hoped it would reflect their coffee.

%ARABICA had a soft opening, at the time, which meant they didn't have a full menu of their drinks. I ordered the iced Spanish Latte, which consists of cold coffee with sweetened condensed milk at the bottom of the cup. They also sell an artisanal selection of coffee beans alongside their drinks, for all you coffee fanatics out there.

Honestly, the service was a bit slow, but the baristas were really welcoming and kind. We can give them a break; it's just a soft opening.

The latte was great for a hot day; sweet, cold, and not too heavy. Personally, I like the sweetened condensed milk taste. It might be a bit strange for some people, but I feel like it's a unique addition to iced coffee. For those of you who like your coffee bitter and unsweetened, the Spanish Latte obviously is not for you. However, it does have a balance of sweet and bitter-just the way I like it.

I didn't have the chance to actually sit in the cafe to have my drink, but I definitely think that it's a nice place to get some work done (although probably not at night, when most people are out), or have a chat with your friends.

Would I go back? Yes, I'd love to try their other drinks and sit at the cafe for a bit.

Ambience: 8/10
Hygiene: 8/10
Customer service: 7/10
Food!: 8/10

To visit their website, click here.
To visit their Instagram, click here.
To visit their Oman Instagram, click here.

Photos in this post are either taken by us, or taken from %ARABICA's instagram.

-Love, L

Snapchat is where it's at now. Snapchat 'bloggers' post about what they're wearing, where they're going, and what they're eating. Pretty much every 'blogger' has posted something about Italian Barista Cafe, and I liked what I saw. Fast forward to about 2 months later, I go out for dinner with some relatives, and we end up here. You enter the café through a pair of wild-west inspired doors, I'm talking cowboy-movie-saloon doors, which I thought was kind of out of place. Then, you're greeted by a waiter, behind a glass door. Yes, that's two doors. Only because in Oman's heat, those saloon doors are not going to cut it.

 We go to sit down, and we basically had to move the table to sit on either side of the booth. Probably a result of the table being a bit too big. Italian Barista Café offers the usual Italian dishes; pizza, pasta, paninis, and weirdly enough, dynamite fries and burgers? I'm pretty sure dynamite fries aren't Italian, but I guess that's just them trying to be 'down with the kids'. Trust me, we've got a burger and fries epidemic in Oman (I'm not complaining!). They've got lots of pizzas and pastas, but I was a bit disappointed to see that they didn't offer ravioli, gnocchi, arancini, and a lot of other Italian dishes. Being clearly named 'Italian Barista Café' I kind of, sort of, almost, expected that they have more...Italian food?

Anyways, we got the dynamite fries and shrimp (#sorrynotsorry), Alfredo pasta, and Margarita pizza. Oh, and I ordered a strawberry mojito. Pretty basic, I know, but there isn't that much of a choice. While we waited for the food to come, which didn't take that long, I looked around the café. I expected the place to look kind of modern and Italian. Yeah, there were a few 'Italian' things, like pictures of the Mona Lisa and the leaning tower of Pisa. That's it. There was also 'wild-west' inspired decor, and fishing nets on the ceiling which gave me a beachy, sailor vibe. In my opinion, it was a bit all over the place. But hey, we're here for the food, right? The lighting, I LOVED. It was dim, warm, and relaxing. Combined with pop music playing and chatter, the atmosphere was casual.

Now, for the moment we've all been waiting for...the food. I couldn't see the fries underneath all the sauce, but it was pretty good. It was your standard dynamite fries. Then came the dynamite shrimp, which was also pretty standard, but you can't go wrong with some creamy shrimp. Both of these dishes would be considered a bit spicy, so for all you children (sorry) out there, watch out. The Margarita pizza's crust was thin and slightly burnt. Perfect. However, the whole pizza itself was nothing special. I didn't find myself craving it after a few days, which happens often after having good pizza. The Alfredo pasta was honestly...O.K. I personally felt it was lacking in flavour, although I did like the grilled chicken it was garnished with. The strawberry mojito was also good.

I actually liked the way the food was presented, the shrimp was served on a little tray, in three cups. The fries came in a little pot with a lid to keep it warm. The pizza and pasta were presented normally, but the mojito looked cool. It came in a tall glass with a lemon and a little tropical umbrella, which I thought was cute.

Overall, I expected a lot more Italian dishes, and the food was generally satisfactory. Decor was all over the place, but the atmosphere was overall casual and relaxed. Would I recommend Italian Barista Café? Not really. This is based on the food that I have listed in this review. Who knows? Maybe their other stuff is way better. Would I come here again? Maybe to try more of their stuff.

Our ratings:

Ambience: 6/10
Hygiene: 8/10
Customer service: 8/10
Food!: 6/10

To visit their Facebook page, click here.
To visit their Instagram, click here.
To visit their Twitter profile, click here.

All photos in this post are taken by us.

-Love, L

This restaurant has a ranch like theme, decorated with southern American rugs and wood. There are also a couple of flat screen TVs showing the wildlife. This theme remained constant within both branches in Salalah. One branch is in the Gardens Mall and the other is shown through the map.

It all started a few months ago, when there were advertisements for an American restaurant chain were plastered all over the City Centre parking garage. For a few weeks I would walk past Buffalo Wild Wings as it blared loud, popular music from its speakers. I wondered how people would be able to hold a conversation in there, that was until I actually went there about a month ago. It was during Ramadan; I ate as little as possible when breaking my fast so that I could inhale the buffalo wings. The second we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by about 10 smiling employees, one of which lead us to our table. The booths were pretty standard, and they were built against walls filled with sports photos, banners, and all that fun stuff. I noticed a very 'American' theme to the place-lots of flat screen TVs on the walls, showing sports games including basketball, golf and football (soccer). To me, it seemed like a nice place to watch a football finale. 

From the restaurant's Instagram: @bwwings

However, I did feel like the flat screen TVs were often too distracting and 'all over the place'. Each screen showed a different sports game. I personally would've preferred it if they showed two or three big games in different parts of the restaurant. Also, loud music is played all the time, so you really can't watch the game as usual (if you enjoy the commentator). Every once in a while, very loud music would be played (even louder than before), and the employees would go around the restaurant dancing with a mascot dressed like a buffalo. It was very typical of an American restaurant chain, and reminded me of T.G.I. Friday's. 

The customer service was great! Everyone there was very nice, welcoming and all smiles. They asked if it was our first time and offered to tell us their recommendations. We were even allowed to taste the different sauces they offered, which was actually fun. 


Now, on to what you were all waiting for...the food. Buffalo Wild Wings offers finger foods, chicken wings, burgers and fries, and some Mexican inspired dishes like tacos and quesadillas. As a wings fanatic, I obviously ordered chicken wings. You can get either traditional or boneless wings in different portion sizes, along with some sides. I was not about to embarrass myself, so I suggested getting boneless wings. I was with a friend of mine, so we got the largest portion, where we could choose 4 sauces for our wings to be tossed in. I went a second time after this, so the sauces I tried were: parmesan oregano, medium, honey BBQ, and caribbean jerk. They also have 'dry' seasonings, one of which I tried-desert heat. I would recommend the sauces, as the dry seasonings are...well...a bit dry. Their spiciest sauce is Blazin', which I wanted to get, but I also wanted something comfortably spicy. 

From the restaurant's instagram: @bwwings

Their portions are quite big, so for one person, I would recommend the small or medium (if you're really hungry). There's also the 'snack'...but I'm a wings fanatic so that wouldn't satisfy me. 

Let's talk about the food presentation. It's really nothing special, since the restaurant is quite relaxed and casual. However, I did notice that the dipping sauces came in little plastic take away containers, which isn't that big of a deal. I just expected better presentation, plus, plastic is SO not environmental friendly. 

Overall, the service was good. The ambience and atmosphere...not so much. The food itself was pretty good, but as a lover of all things chicken wings, I expected more. I would definitely go there again to try their more spicy options, traditional wings, burgers, and perhaps their 'Mexican inspired' dishes. 

Our ratings: 

Ambience: 4/10
Hygiene: 8/10
Customer service: 8/10
Food presentation: 6/10
Food! : 7/10

To visit their website click here
For Buffalo Wild Wings' instagram, click here

-Love, L

Love at first bite has the theme of ‘Love’ running throughout the whole idea of the restaurant, from the name, to the décor ,to the names of the dishes.
The décor is very unique and gives the restaurant something different compared to others. It has normal chairs and tables, however it also has a bed which has a table in the middle where you can eat, which is very unusual but attracts customers, so we can’t say it isn’t a good idea. The vases and designs are simply amazing in this restaurant.



It also has a special place where you can sit on the ground with a mini table and pillows around which has an Arabian theme. Drapes hand from the ceiling and amazing lanterns illuminate the restaurant.



The décor and presentation of this restaurant would defiantly get a 10/10 as you can see from the pictures above


Every single type of dish has its own name with the theme of love. Examples include, kiss, love, marry me, heartless, speechless, addiction.
As you can see their dishes have very cheesy names, which could be quite awkward to order however the taste often is worth it.

If you are a steak lover I would recommend “betrayal”


As a dessert I would recommend their best-selling red velvet cake (addiction), which was 1.9 OMR and you can tell what you would probably feel after you have tried this from its name, it is addicting!


Their service was not the best and it would be very hard for you to get a waiter to come and take your order. It took them way too long to get the food, however it is a very crowded so maybe that was the reason.


To be honest this restaurant has amazing presentation however the food is quite ordinary just the fact that the names are different, but there are some exceptions such as the red velvet cake which was really good. I would defiantly recommend going there, if you don’t might food that a little bit over priced and overall it’s a really nice place to visit.
Atmosphere 10/10
Food 7/10
Service 6/10
Aalaa