7 Best Bars in Muscat, Oman

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Despite the quiet, laid-back vibe, Muscat is a late-night city. Many locals spend their evening hours at waterfront cafés and sheesha shops catching up with friends, and residents who drink have a number of options. Although Oman is a Muslim country, it is not a dry country; however, alcohol is generally only available at hotel bars, making many of them local haunts just as popular with residents as with guests. There are a few exceptions, including a small dive-bar in the Central Business District and a fine dining restaurant on a hill overlooking the capital, but if you are interested in dancing and drinking, you will no doubt find yourself in one of the posh hotels around town.

Al Deyar

Shatti Qurm
Near the cinema in Shatti Al Qurum, this long-standing Lebanese restaurant is a favorite place to come smoke sheesha and drink tea in the cool evenings. You will see tables of Omani friends, solitary Arab expats, and a handful of westerners whiling away the night at this relaxed restaurant-café.
Al Muntazah St., Muscat, 113, Oman
2460–3553

Left Bank

Qurm
Sitting high on a hill and overlooking the Qurum rose gardens, the mountains, the sea, and city below, Left Bank is one of the only places in Oman where visitors can order a drink outside of a hotel. The popular destination draws a decent crowd during the week and can get lively on Thursdays and Fridays, when there's sometimes a live DJ spinning tracks. The crowd tends to be heavily expatriate, with a few local Omanis here and there. The drinks are pricey and the food mediocre, but the views are unparalleled. For those who prefer a quiet drink with a view, the venue remains quite tame until midnight, when things sometimes pick up.
2601 Way, Muscat, Oman
9529 9136

Nirvana

Hidden above a Pakistani restaurant in the Ruwi business district, an area that bustles during the working hours but is near-abandoned at night, you will find an unlikely dive bar called Nirvana. The large TV silently plays old action movies, while the piped-in music is an odd collection of current American pop and classic rock. There are rarely more than three or four guests in the bar, and the friendly waitresses are attentive to their few tables, bringing bowls of salty peanuts and pints of cold beer. The atmosphere here is spectacularly strange, both because it somehow acquired a liquor license but isn't a high-end restaurant or in a hotel, and also for the quirky decor, including sculpted, hand-shaped seats and a gigantic sculpture of a menacing, shirtless man that lords over the entrance.
2730 Way, Muscat, Oman
2478–1901

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Rumba Lattina

Housed in a Pan-Latin restaurant in the The Cave restaurant complex, this nightclub gets into full swing well after 11 pm most nights, with the largest crowds on Thursday evenings. Music videos flash on the flat-screen TVs behind the long bar. The style of music changes nightly depending on the DJ, though you can expect typical nightclub favorites, light hip-hop, and plenty of Latin dance music. The club draws a mix of local Omanis, Western expats, young Zanzibari dance enthusiasts, and some tourists. Drinks are on the expensive side (as is the cover charge for men), but if you are looking for a dance party that caters more to the younger set, with a more balanced ration of men to women, then this is the only real option in town. To avoid paying the cover charge, make a reservation and go for a late dinner at the perfectly good, though a bit overpriced, Latin American restaurant, and then stay for a night of dancing.

Tche Tche

Shatti Qurm

Al Shati Street is locally called "Beach Road" or "Love Street" as the short stretch of beachfront road is packed nightly with young Omanis cruising in their shiny Lamborghinis and Mustangs, hanging out of the roofs of their Jeep Wranglers, or revving the engines of sports bikes and Harleys, austensibly showing off for girls, but more realistically hotdogging it up for one another. The cafés that line the street overlooking the sea also fill with couples and groups, who spend the cooler evening hours drinking tea and fresh juice cocktails and smoking sheesha. Tche Tche offers spectacular views of both the beach and the pagentry of the busy street. Food is available in addition to an extensive menu of teas, coffees, and juices, but it's an afterthought, as this is a place best visited for a leisurely evening of chatting and people-watching, not dinner.

No alcohol is available.

The Long Pool

Candlelit couches surround the black waters of the long pool at The Chedi Muscat. The beautiful jet-set crowd gathers here during the peak season for cocktails and light Asian-inspired snacks, but it is a relaxed place for a quiet drink anytime. The romantic atmosphere makes it a popular place to take a date before you hit the town since it closes early, at 11:30 pm.

Trader Vic's

Shatti Qurm
This Polynesian-themed international chain restaurant transforms into a Salsa club on the weekends, with a live band belting out Enrique Englesias hits to a packed dance floor of swaying couples and lines of young men practicing their moves. During the week the restaurant remains a popular destination for a relaxed cocktail from the extensive menu of tiki-style tipples. The crowd is a consistent mix of expats and locals, popular both with the young party set and older expats. There are tables available inside and on the patio.

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