-
Abu Ahmad Orient Restaurant
Another excellent midrange Lebanese place, with a particularly nice outdoor terrace in summer. The standard grilled meats are all present here but the real highlights are the hot and cold mezze. Try a buraik (meat or cheese pie; or yalenjeh (stuffed vine leaves. Lunch specials are a steal.
-
Batata
Batata 'Do one thing and do it good' could well be the motto here; the one thing being French fries, which come with a choice of eight sauces (100 fils each). There are also hot drinks, including cappuccino (750 fils) and hot chocolate (500 fils).
-
Bifa Billa
One of the better places in Downtown for hamburgers and shwarmas.
-
Blue Fig Café
Travellers always seem to appreciate the global coffeehouse vibe in this supercool place near Abdoun Circle. It's great for almost any occasion, from breakfast to late-night drinks.
-
Bonita Inn
A very good choice with European (primarily Spanish) cuisine and tapas is this inn with a romantic, rustic farmhouse feel. The steaks have a citywide reputation, while the paella Valenciana for two; 30 minutes required and gazpacho soup are as good as you'll get in Amman. Other highlights include the extensive tapas menu, with plenty of calamari, octopus & salads, and wide-ranging wine list. Grab a pre-dinner drink in the pub next door as your paella simmers to perfection. It's near 3rd Circle.
-
Books@café
For a slice of coffeehouse chic and good Western food this mellow restaurant, bar and café is hard to beat. Genuine Italian pizzas and pasta are joined by good salads. The food is excellent, the service discreet and the atmosphere supercool with plenty of hip young Jordanians lounging on sofas in cosy corners. Hot drinks are steep, although the 'hot strawberry' may just be worth it. The bar area has a decent selection of wines and beers.
-
Caffe Mokka
A good place to start; serves pastries (from 500 fils) and delicious cakes, as well as sandwiches and great coffee. There's a breakfast buffet on Fridays too.
-
Cairo Restaurant
This is one place we kept coming back to night after night for the best budget food in Downtown. Most of the locals opt for the mutton stews and boiled goat's heads but take it from us you're better off with the excellent shish tawooq , which is enough grilled chicken for two. Alternatively combine a tomatoey kofta (mincemeat and spices grilled on a skewer) and a yoghurt for another great meal. There's also mensaf and the ever popular chicken maqlubbeh (rice with vegetables).
-
Diwan al-Sultan Ibrahim Restaurant
The Diwan comes highly recommended by wealthy locals and expats for its quality Arab food. Among the entrées are frogs legs with garlic and coriander and deep-fried brains, the latter an acquired taste. The fresh fish selection is good, the batrkh (roe) is popular, and there are good salads and some Western dishes.
-
Advertisement
-
Fakhr el-Din
The highly recommended Lebanese food and elegant, classy setting in a 1950s villa make this a great place for a minisplurge. In addition to the extensive à la carte selections of hot and cold mezze and meaty mains, there's also a good set menu (minimum four people), which is good value. Alcohol is served. It's about two blocks behind the Iraqi Embassy in Jebel Amman.
-
Fast Meal
Superclean and close to the Roman Theatre, you can get a burger/shwarma, fries and juice combo here, though the burgers are pretty anaemic. If nothing else, pop in for one of the superb juice smoothies.
-
Four Seasons Restaurant
The Four Seasons serves afternoon tea in its classy foyer and terrace.
-
Gérard's
As soon as you get a whiff of this sweet, hot and sticky place you'll be hooked. It's all about hot waffles, ice cream, shakes, crêpes, frozen yoghurt and iced coffees. Think Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise - all bad but, oh, sooo good.
-
Grand Hyatt Amman Restaurant
The Grand Hyatt has a weekly seafood buffet and a Friday brunch in its Grand Café, with Belgian waffles and a kids' clown.
-
Habibah
Sweet tooths can find a spiritual home just about anywhere in Amman. Habibah is probably the best bet for Middle Eastern sweets and pastries, though the other long-time stalwarts Jerusalem Restaurant and Jabri Restaurant next door are also great. Habibah has a phenomenally busy take-away branch a couple of minutes southeast in an alley off Al-Malek Faisal St.
-
Hashem Restaurant
A legendary place which overflows into the alley. It's popular with locals for felafel, hummus and fuul (fava bean paste). A filling meal with bread and mint tea is great value for money. As one reader extolled: 'nothing but bread, hummus, fuul and felafel, but everything is fresh and dirt cheap. I love this place!'
-
Houston's
A popular American-style family restaurant that gets good reviews from homesick expats. It specialises in Mexican dishes and margaritas, but it also does steaks, burgers and a good salad bar; open noon to 5pm Sunday to Thursday - you know the deal.
-
Jabri Restaurant
Jabri is famed as a pastry place, with branches across town, but the restaurant is also pretty good, with attentive service and decent food. Highlights include mensaf (Bedouin dish of lamb on a bed of rice topped with a lamb's head;), shish kebabs, fried half chicken and a bite-sized cheese or meat pie or a plate of fuul for breakfast. Jabri also has an outlet in Shmeisani.
-
Jerusalem Restaurant
Another famed place specialising in sweets and pastries, but with a large restaurant at the back. The menu is in Arabic and sadly most waiters can only be bothered to translate a couple of items before getting huffy. The mensaf is recommended. Lunchtime is busier and better.
-
Advertisement
-
Jordan InterContinental Hotel Restaurant
Local expats flock to the wi-fi Internet, deli sandwiches and a wide selection of wines at the Deli Café in the Jordan InterContinental Hotel.
-
La Terrasse
Does decent European cuisine, strong on steaks, in a pleasant and low-key setting. The wine list is extensive, with labels representing Jordan and much of the Mediterranean rim. Most nights the tiny stage is given over to live Arab singers and musicians, making it popular with well-to-do local families.
-
Lebnani Snack
A reliable place for good-value Arabic fast food, such as a cheese and olive sandwich. There's an English menu and good juices too. There are four branches around town, including at Abdoun Circle and a good branch on Ilya Abu Madhi St in Shmeisani.
-
Noodasia
The shiny chrome and dark woods of this stylish pan-Asian diner feel like they've been lifted straight from the cooler quarters of Shanghai. The menu stretches to Chinese, Thai and Japanese snacks and main dishes. The green curries, Thai beef salad and sushi combos are all good and the service is excellent.
-
R&B Shawerma
Not your average sliced-meat stand, the shwarmas here come in three sizes - 6, 10 and 12 inches - and come in Chinese, chicken and cheese varieties. The fries are good too.
