muscat fish market
oman | travelled in 2014 | posted on mar 04, 2018
update: in 2017 the fish market has moved to a new building. as i travelled there in 2014, my photos are showing the old market. from what i have seen on photos, the new building is quite impressive and the market is sill worth visiting - but on the other side all patina is gone.
being in an arabic country one main attraction is visiting a suq - the so called market quarter of an arabic town. the best known suq in oman lies in muttrah, a district of the muscat.
to be honest, i was not very impressed, as most of this suq has transformed into a tourist attraction. most of the shops are selling the same typical omani tourist souvenir stuff - cheaply made omani knifes, perfumes, omani caps, incense and i-love-oman-t-shirts. being there you can hear more people speaking german, french or english then arabic.
ok, i stop complaining. because only five minutes of walking from the suq is the fish market of mascat.
the market itself is not very big, just one medium-sized hall filled with fish and people. nearby is a small pier where from time to time small boats arrive to unload the daily catch that is immediately brought to the stalls.
the most interesting (you might also say messy or cruel - i leave it up to you) part of the market is the section where the fish cutters offer their service. give the fish you just bought at any stall to one of the guys and tell him how you want your fish to be prepared - chopped, filetted, only the offals removed, with or without head. wait for some minutes and your fish is kitchen-ready.
but see for yourself. it is amazing how fast this guy is.
