Lazy Lizard

The Lazy Lizard is the outdoor pool bar of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Al Khuwair, and it combines two of the most popular ways to spend an evening in Muscat: a cold drink outdoors and a shisha pipe. Tables are set out around the hotel's pool and garden, which makes it one of the more relaxed licensed venues in the city on a mild evening.

The bar is fully licensed and serves cocktails and other drinks, while the kitchen offers an à la carte menu of snacks and Arabian bites suited to sharing. Shisha is available in a range of flavours. The setting is casual, so it works as an early-evening stop after a day of sightseeing as well as a late-night hangout, and the hotel's Irish pub, O'Malley's, is close by if you want to move on to somewhere livelier.

Opening hours are long: the hotel lists 1pm to 3am from Saturday to Thursday and 2pm to 2am on Friday. Prices are moderate by hotel standards. The best time to come is from October to April, when evenings outside are pleasant; in the height of summer, the heat and humidity can make outdoor seating uncomfortable even after dark. Carry photo identification, as licensed venues in Oman may ask you to prove your age, and arrange a taxi rather than driving.

The afternoon opening makes it a good place to cool off after a morning at the Grand Mosque or the souq, before the evening crowd arrives. It suits groups of friends, couples and anyone who enjoys shisha with a drink, which is harder to find in combination outside hotel venues. Non-smokers should pick a table upwind of the busier shisha areas. Dress is casual, but swimwear is not appropriate in the bar area in the evening. During Ramadan, opening hours and service change, so check with the hotel before visiting.

The Radisson Blu is on Al Khuleiah Street in the Al Khuwair business district, around 20 minutes by car from Muscat International Airport and a short taxi ride from Qurum. Hamra, the rooftop shisha lounge at Fraser Suites, is also in Al Khuwair, and Rozna and Turkish House are nearby for dinner.