I have tried for you: living in Muscat. Chapter 4, The food-shopping experience.

Welcome to LuLu

I am currently standing in the queue at "LuLu", where I have done my every-second day shopping. All the queues go back way into the central alley, it looks like I am in for a treat!

Food shopping in Muscat is quite an experience.

There are 4 major supermarket brands here, plus a few corner shops which I haven't visited as I am not feeling that adventurous enough yet. I find the supermarkets intimidating enough for now.

The most expat of all supermarkets is Al Fair. It is as close as you can get to Waitrose or M&S (or Monoprix, for the Frenchies), it is big, airy, clean and stocks most of the Western products, including incidentally loads of Waitrose branded stuff (more than I could ever buy on the island !). It is ideal when looking for ...eeeerm - a Western brand of bio-pot yogurt. To be fair, you can find anything anywhere, but Al Fair stocks most of the Western brands, and fancy, imported, "I miss home" type of food. Mainly, the place is safe, shopping is quick, shoppers are a majority of expats - and it is not many of them at once. Al Fair was perfect for the transition period between England and Oman, and still is a great solution for fresh salads and office lunchbox food. On a side note, it is quite expensive - food is not cheap in Oman and Al Fair makes sure this is never an understatement.

It has been 10 min since I started writing, my trolley has not moved an inch in the queues. 5 more people behind me. The man in front has 2 trolleys and is looking at me intensely. Yeay.

Next supermarket down the line is Sultan Center, which is not as nice as Al Fair but fairly clean at first glance, not too packed and close to home. Crazily expensive - a step up from Al Fair but not exciting foodwise -  or experience wise. I have given up on Sultan Center, although something tells me I will probably go back there again when the weather gets nicer, as it is at walking distance from the flat. I have never, to that day, walked any further than a 20 meters distance outside. They say I have to wait until November, or I will melt on the pavement. So I wait, and in the meantime, I drive!

I have just realised I am standing by the ice-cream aisle. Bummer. Haägen Dazs Phish Food anyone? Stu?! It will be melted by the time I get to the cashier, I might as well eat it now. Oh, it even comes with a spoon !

Luckily for the French bits left in me, there are 2 massive Carrefours, located in Muscat's busiest shopping malls. These Carrefours offer a broad range of French, English and Indian supplies - from cornichons to ready-to-cook popadoms, from Nutella to Jell'o. However, they are much closer to the UK idea of a "cash and carry" (French  -  grossiste Metro), where most things are sold in packs of 5 (e.g. 5 jars of mayo in one go - I know a Lucy who would be happy !), where rice comes in 20kgs bags (guess you need a dedicated rice closet in your kitchen, but at least the rice issue is sorted for the next 5 years) and chicken is sold in pairs, like shoes, but without the cardboard box.




And then, LuLu. LuLu is the Middle-East equivalent of Carrefour - except it is so much more glam' and glittz' and "wow, is it Christmas yet?"- from the outside, anyway. From the inside, both supermarkets offer the same customer experience: shopping is mainly in bulks, people-stareage is constant (and scary),  thus trolley accidents are frequent, population density is high, and amount of time spent shopping is wayyy too much.

Lulu stocks the biggest amount of products I have ever seen - most of them I did not even know they existed, goods are imported from Malaysia and India, as well as Lebanon, Australia, Europe and the US. They have the most scary range of fruit and veggies, from green-furry pink sea-urchin looking balls to pretty rose and green peary-appley things, and much more, with names like rambuttan, logan fruit, snake fruit, durian or dragon fruit. Excuse me - how do you cook it? Oh, I have to eat the skin as well? But it smells / tastes awful! Oh well.


The population who shops here is Indian in majority, multicolored saris for the not so many females, and traditional kaftan/linen trousers for the men. There are also quite a few Omani men and their kids, but hardly any Omani women. So it is a lot of white-dishdashes (the traditional male Omani long dress), a handful of black headscarves and abbayas (the long black dress worn by Muslim women), and the rest is Bollywood, bar the singing/dancing bit. A lot of shouting and running and nudging. It is intense.


Now down to 6 people in front of me, but still slightly more trolleys than people. Mainly Indian and Omani men, one Indian woman and one blond (expat!) man, with his blond baby daughter. Westerners are so easily spotted. Hint: they are the only men not wearing a dress and are usually more red than tanned.


At LuLu, people stare. By stare, I mean: stop, look at me, general body scan, eye lock, won't move until I have cleared their field of vision. Not so nice - even when you're used to it. It had me worry about my wardrobe choice for long minutes, as it often brings the feeling that I must be somehow disrespectful in the eyes of Islam. Thank God, Oman is not Saudi, and being stared at seems to be the worse that happens. However, I always, always avoid the place if I my knees and elbows are not covered, there is no wearing shorts or a tank top at LuLu, it would be social suicide. I also try and keep my head down as much as I can, but sometimes I have to reach something on a top shelf, and then I have to acknowledge all those glances at my person. In the end, it is all about confidence, and the more I shop at LuLu's, the better I get at it !

Apparently, people here stare at expats  because we are exotic. Sorry, but you people are exotic. You eat rotten muddy roots for pudding (this sweet Tamarind looks seriously yummy, doesn't it just?). Sorry, I will be sticking with Holland cherry tomatoes.


LuLu and Carrefour make me travel me further away than Oman, it almost feels like I am going shopping in India (or in the idea I have of India anyway). 4 weeks ago, I would never have ventured away from Al Fair. I have now started seeing LuLu as a personal cultural experiment, and I spend more time looking at people than worrying if people stare at me. I guess that's why It takes me 2 hours to fill my fridge for 2 days!


Made it to the cashier after 30 minutes queuing, we haven't exchanged more than one word, and two smiles - probably because he hardly speaks English, and it is obvious I speak no Arabic. Shoukran!
Me, my 5 bags, my un-funky fruits, my exotic knees and elbows are going home now !