The best restaurants Amman

The Italian restaurant at the Amman Pasha Hotel is probably the best option around the Roman Amphitheatre. It is located on a street off Al-Hashemi Street just opposite Amman City Hall. The rooftop terrace is especially nice at night, as you have a front row seat to the illuminated Roman theatre. Ordering a thin, crispy pizza or a pasta dish, you'll feel like you're in Rome. Although, quite honestly, the food is much better in Italy. Some Jordanian specialties as well.

If there's a football match you don't want to miss, you can come here. This "sports bar" broadcasts several matches on the many screens that equip the room. It's also a place to share a draft beer or an alcoholic cocktail while munching on junk food. Mini tacos, marinated chicken wings, onion fritters are some of the must-haves of the place. It's not really good, but it helps to soak up the alcohol. Being a chain, you'll find the same place elsewhere in Amman or Aqaba.

This huge canteen, lit up like a shop window at Christmas time, is rarely full, as the room is so large. The choice is very limited and printed on the placemats: fuul (mashed beans), hummus, musabaha (a variation of hummus with whole chickpeas), fatteh or the inevitable falafel. You'll come across Jordanian families or clusters of friends who have come to eat a quick meal on the go. Many come here to take away. The terse service is efficient. It's simple, cheap and good.

At the top of the Metropole Al-Qasr Hotel, on the 7th floor, this restaurant enjoys a pleasant setting and especially a superb view of Amman through large windows. The large room is decorated with light wood, bamboo and designer chairs. The place is ideal for a lunch on the go. You can compose your salad at the salad bar, opt for sushi prepared before your eyes by a Japanese chef, nibble on a sandwich or pancakes... You can also just have a drink (wines, cocktails...) in a jazzy atmosphere.

Not easy to find, in a rather improbable street, dark and not very commercial, and what's more, with no visible sign, this restaurant only really reveals itself once you've climbed the stairs to the terrace. The surprise awaits you inside: a grandiose place, an immense glass roof, a breathtaking decor. The garden, worthy of a tale from the Arabian Nights, is just as attractive, offering a remarkable panorama of the city. The all-organic kitchen follows the "farm-to-table" concept, offering mezze of rare finesse.

This pocket restaurant is run by a young couple who prepare fresh and delicious food. There is no menu, but a slate offering four dishes, including at least one vegetarian option. The menu is renewed every day according to the chef's inspiration and the products available at the market. Everything is served in colored earthenware plates and bowls. The tiny room has only two tables and the open kitchen, and extends into the veranda installed along the building. It's bobo, for "good" and "beautiful".

Zorba's is a must in the city centre, a real tourist hangout. If the front of the restaurant looks like a fishmonger's with its refrigerated window, you have to venture upstairs to get to the huge terrace. You'll enjoy an extensive menu of grilled fish, seafood and all sorts of mezzes. Ask to be seated on the second floor to enjoy a beautiful view of Amman. Prices are a little above average, but fish is always more expensive in Amman, due to its rarity.

You wouldn't think of coming to Jordan without tasting the pleasure of a shawarma? This is the most famous address in Amman. It's only a stall on the^2nd Circle, but there's always a queue, or almost a queue, no matter what time of day it is. Behind the red-and-white storefront (the name is in Arabic), a team of men is busy taking orders, slicing meat, stuffing sandwiches. You will appreciate the precision of the gestures and the speed of execution which means that you never have to wait long.

This restaurant-café is one of the trendy establishments on Rainbow Street. It's the place to be for students to work in a cosy atmosphere with lounge music. The fake brick walls, the big blackboard with the choice of coffees, teas and salads project you in a typical New York café. Don "t hesitate to ask the barrista for advice to decide among the thirty or so teas offered at the counter. Salads and sandwiches are also available. Like any trend of this type, it is a little more expensive than average.

Le Cantaloupe is the capital's trendy, ultra-design, all-glass restaurant on the top floor of a building. You come here for the view of the city through the large bay windows and for the "gastronomic pub" atmosphere, which combines two concepts: a trendy bar with electro music and a chic restaurant. It's the ideal place to meet Amman expatriates, businessmen with big cigars, groups of friends and couples in evening dress. The menu offers Italian-inspired dishes that are good without being exceptional.

This is an address that locals highly recommend. Opened in 2015, the restaurant has a large terrace and offers a variety of dishes. These blend Armenian cuisine with traditional Oriental cuisine. Try the Freekeh Bilfukhara, a type of wheat cooked with cheese, or the Khashlama, low-roasted beef. You won't be disappointed. The prices, a little more expensive than average, are justified by the quality of service and cuisine. Reservations are recommended for weekend evenings when the restaurant is very popular.

Bonita Inn is one of the trendiest restaurants in the Jordanian capital. It offers Mediterranean cuisine with a Spanish accent in a bohemian-chic setting. This is a nice change from the local cuisine while keeping the tradition of mezze and small portions to share! The restaurant offers the must-try dishes of the Iberian Peninsula such as paella, fried calamari, Galician-style octopus (served with potatoes and sprinkled with paprika)... and other Mediterranean-inspired dishes such as beef carpaccio.

Opened in 1987, Peking is the first Chinese restaurant in Jordan. The chef is a real Beijinger who lives in Amman. He is inspired by the food prepared in Sichuan, one of the most famous culinary regions in China, but also one of the regions where chilli and sliced flavours are particularly popular. Taste specialties such as Peking beef and Sichuan fish, prepared with sincerity. On the other hand, we regret the excessive use of glutamate. The setting is rather nice, very modern, and the terrace very pleasant.

La Capitale is the chic brasserie of the no less chic Four Seasons Hotel. The menu in French (please) takes the great classics of the bistro tradition while adding more contemporary suggestions. Steak tartare, escargots, duck breast, steak and chips are served alongside tuna ceviche, burrata salad and oysters with chilli (yes, that's how Americans like them). The terrace is an extension of the restaurant's concept, with its green wall lined with aromatic herbs used by the kitchen staff.

When Asia invites itself to Amman, it is in a long dining room, without much charm, with grey tiles and tables and chairs seen a thousand times elsewhere. You will find here all the flavours of Asia at the right price: Thai curry, sweet and sour fried rice, fried noodles, chicken with cashew nuts... Every Tuesday and Saturday, the restaurant serves an all-you-can-eat sushi formula at a fixed price. The rice rolls filled with fish and especially vegetables are presented on a buffet and accompanied by salads. If you feel like playing with your chopsticks...

If you're looking for a quiet place to relax, check out the Hotel Intercontinental. Here you can "chill out" in comfortable armchairs while listening to classical music played every night, and then go for dinner! Two restaurants break with the Mediterranean style that you will taste during your stay: Indu uses original Indian spices; the cuisine is fine and light. Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican restaurant like you wouldn't expect: the cuisine is very creative in the choice of ingredients as well as in the presentation.

Located right across from the Intercontiental Hotel, Romero is undoubtedly the best Italian restaurant in the city. Apart from the pasta, you can enjoy the meat and fish dishes as well as the original salads. Whatever your choice, save a little room for the excellent desserts (crepes, homemade ice cream...). You can enjoy the beautiful terrace with green gardens or the intimate interior all dressed in wood. The Living Room bar, just above the Romero, is perfect for a nightcap.

The former Spanish embassy is home to this very pleasant restaurant which seems to attract the influential people of the kingdom. The address is reputed to be one of the best restaurants in the city. Its reputation is probably slightly overrated, but it is in any case the best address in the city centre. The marble floors, the coffered ceilings, the white tablecloths, but above all its beautiful terrace make it a superb place. The menu contains all the specialities of Lebanon, which you can taste in the form of mezze. Wine and arak are also served.

You don't have to go all the way around town to get to this pizza place. However, it is the closest and nicest address if you are staying at the Mena Tysche Hotel. The tables are located in the courtyard and you order inside at the counter. You can choose the size of your pizza, the thin or thick crust and of course the topping. Ned's reproduces the winning recipe of American pizzerias, the real ones, not the fast food chains. The result is delicious and the portions are generous.

Najla welcomes you to a space divided into levels and mezzanines where each level has its own atmosphere. Our favorite is the one upstairs, between a cabinet of curiosities, a 1930s boudoir and a small lounge. The antique furniture, old sepia photos, Bedouin jewellery from another time, old trunks and the radio recreate the Amman of the 30s. This is one of the oldest restaurants in the capital, open since 1910. The traditional cuisine is prepared here with fresh products and the menu is renewed every day.

If you have left your children at the Haya Cultural Center, you can sit down at the large terrace of this café on the square. This café-restaurant, at first sight industrial, is nevertheless welcoming and very cheap. Customers come here more to smoke a shisha than to eat. However, the dishes are correct, but classic and not very copious. Don't be surprised if, as a welcome, the staff plays a classic French song! Here, the atmosphere is relaxed and the setting rather pleasant.

The Italian Trattoria at the Al Qasr Metropole Hotel has quickly become one of those trendy places where Shmeisani's upscale clientele enjoys meeting up, especially on weekends. It must be said that the restaurant serves good Italian food, with a limited menu, but where you can find all the essentials: pizzas, pastas, risotto, grilled prawns or veal cutlets with lemon. The atmosphere is that of a modern hotel restaurant. The setting is chic and casual, but somewhat impersonal. The chef cooks your dish in front of you in the open kitchen.

Don't be fooled by its unattractive location on the edge of a busy thoroughfare. This is a traditional and chic place with beautiful tiles on the floor and convoluted stucco on the walls. Mawwal is frequented by middle class Jordanian families who enjoy the freshly prepared and tasty food. They serve a variety of Lebanese specialties, prepared in small portions. The service is very attentive and the atmosphere relaxed. A bargain at such low prices.

Cairo is considered the undisputed meat specialist, and its popularity seems to go up a notch on Friday lunchtimes after prayers at the mosque. The chickens cooking on the street may make your mouth water. A kebab or half chicken won't set you back more than a few dinars and the portions are generous. More elaborate dishes such as mansaf or maqlouba are also available. Its nourishing and inexpensive cuisine attracts everyone. It is one of the best addresses in the lower town.

You can walk past it several times without even noticing it amidst all the signs that line Prince Mohammed Street. The room is located upstairs and has a post-industrial decor with exposed air ducts, worn out bistro chairs and a few discarded sofas. The delicious mezzes, fresh homemade breads and labneh will satisfy vegetarians, while others will go for the wide choice of chicken dishes. Jafra is also a café where you can smoke shisha and sip a mocha.