Amman, Jordan: A Vegetarian Paradise
After eating the local cuisine in a new country basically every month for two years, it did not take us long to realize that we prefer a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean menu over all others. Any vegetarian can tell you that falafel basically makes up 70% of their diet (OK we exaggerate, but still), so this is usually a yummy/filling option when the hunger starts creeping in.
In much of the US, we have a skewed perception of what people from certain countries eat. Personally, in the Midwest we grew up thinking Mexico would have the best burritos on the planet and that Italy would be drowning in fettuccine alfredo. This is far from true. What many ‘international’ restaurants carry in America isn’t necessarily traditional and has been altered to suit our palettes. Although both Mexico and Italy have excellent food, it’s not exactly what we saw on the menu at ‘Mexican’ and ‘Italian’ restaurants in the US when we were younger.
As native Minnesotans, Jordanian food was not even on our radar. So imagine our delight when we showed up and the smell of fresh falafel flooded the streets. We were in heaven, and you need to know about where we ate.
1. Hashem Restaurant
Let’s start by saying that there is no menu. You sit down at a table covered with a disposable table cloth and the server just asks you what you’d like. We mentioned a few things we saw other people eating — hummus, falafel, baba ganoush, french fries — and it was all at our table within one minute, piping hot and full of flavor and accompanied by a whole onion and tomato that you cut to your liking. Oh, also...there are no plates. Your ‘plate’ is a big round pita, which you can use to make a falafel wrap, sop up the hummus, or simply use as a napkin if you wish. This place is cheap, in the heart of the historic district, and is always bustling with locals. Cash only!
2. Sufra Restaurant
This place is much more of a date night kind of place, so we felt a bit fancy splurging on a nice dinner (although it’s Jordan, so still super reasonable). Surprise, surprise... we ordered more hummus and falafel! We also got a big salad, lentil soup, pita, and some roasted veggies. Tristan took a suggestion from the waiter and ordered the lamb in a sour yogurt sauce, which ended up being a big highlight for him, although we definitely ordered too much food. Regardless, we still had to try the local favorite — kunafah — for dessert, accompanied by mint tea and an after-dinner shisha (lemon-mint flavor, of course). We can honestly say that there’s a reason why this place is on every single Best Eats list around.
3. Rumi Cafe
Delicious coffee drinks and cakes in a very hipster (yes, hipster) setting. Ample outdoor seating makes it the perfect cafe to take a mid-morning break and grab a snack to energize you for the day ahead. Coffee in the Middle East can be different from what westerners are used to, but this place has options from around the world to satisfy everyone. Bonus points for having non-dairy milk, too!
