Restaurants Near and Middle East cuisine Amman

We fell in love with this establishment that transports you to a Bedouin tent in the middle of Amman. The bourgeois society of Amman meets with family and friends to share an excellent meal around large tables. The service is adorable and will not hesitate to give you some recommendations if you don't know what to take. You will be able to taste the farashee, the Bedouin bread as thick as lace, prepared in front of your eyes by an old woman at the entrance of the restaurant. Save room for the pastries for dessert.

Beit Sitti is a true Jordanian culinary and cultural experience: you can choose to come and eat there, but you can also opt for the cooking class followed by the meal. This beautiful architect-designed house has been transformed by Maria, Dina and Tania, three sisters who inherited the house from their grandmother. They will teach you the tricks of the trade and the secrets of traditional Levantine recipes: hummus, falafel, manakeesh (bread filled with zaatar)... You can also get some spices to put in your luggage.

This pocket-sized restaurant is located just opposite the Institut Français de Jordanie, and is a regular haunt for its staff. With 5 tables inside and 2 on the terrace, Chapter is often fully booked and you have to wait for a table to become available. However, the bill is always reasonable and the dishes are really good, like the generously-portioned chicken sajjiyeh. If you can't finish your dish, you can ask for the rest to go. The menu is short but never disappointing.

Lale Sofrasi allows you to explore the subtle nuances of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. This Turkish specialty restaurant welcomes you to a light-filled room dominated by azure blues and creamy tones. You will be able to taste dishes that are difficult to find elsewhere, such as chicken in sauce, cooked in a salt crust, lamb with sweet spices, onions and almonds cooked in an earthenware pot or kebab roasted over a wood fire and presented in mini-portions at the end of a chain. It is up to you to cut it up.

Almathaq means "taste" in Arabic. This restaurant is particularly interested in the taste of chicken, which it grills according to recipes that are very popular in the Arab world. We find the chicken mandi, a Yemeni specialty where the chicken is cooked directly on the rice in a wood oven; the Indian chicken biryani, stewed with rice and spices; the chicken zurbian, a specialty of Hyderabad in India where some potatoes are added to the biryani... The restaurant is located right in front of the Roman theater.

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.

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 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.