Traveling in Jordan: Night 1: Food and Sheesha

The Middle East is a very social place. Nights are always meant to be spent with family and friends, just talking and eating and drinking (coffee or tea), and smoking sheesha (flavored tobacco), and having a good ol' time. Continuing on with our first night in Amman, we met up with our friend Zaher ( 2nd, he is on the far right, next to me) and his best friend Bashar (2nd photo, far left, next to Rhoda). After viewing a few sights in Amman, we had worked up quite the appetite and were ready for food. We first decided to stop for some teas or coffee at a sheesha place, while we waited for Bashar to arrive. The place was nice, and very busy. We ordered some sheesha, coffees, and hot chocolate (the hot beverages were much needed, especially because it was so chilly outside). The sheesha here was done slightly different from other ways I have seen it done. If you look at the second photo from the top, you can see a yellow circle towards the top. At this place, they use fruit (I think this one was a giant grapefruit), to enhance the flavor. We also smoked one that had an apple. Sheesha here is very acceptable, and somewhat of a social staple, along with tea and coffee. At every gift shop or small shop you go to, someone at the store always offers you tea, and in many shops, you find people smoking sheesha as well. Just to make mention, in Jordan, you are allowed to smoke in most shops and restaurant. You cannot smoke in a clothing or department store, but any street shop or corner store or gift shop, you are allowed to smoke. Anyways, after enjoying our sheesha and hot drinks, we were ready to actually sit down and have a real dinner. It was late, about 11:30pm or so, so it was hard to find a nice restaurant to go to, as many places were preparing to close, or were finished for the night. However, despite our struggles, we finally found a place that was still serving. We dined at the oldest restaurant in Amman. It served traditional Jordanian cuisine, and was an awesome place to eat. The restaurant had many pillows where you sat, and a giant table with a huge platter in the middle. The purpose of the platter was to make serving the food easier. The platter spins, so if a plate of food that you wanted was too far from you, you can just turn the platter and have access to whatever dish you want. We began with appetizers such as 4 different salads, including fatoush (a salad with crispy pita), and tabouleh. There was also hummos and moutabol, olives, veggies, pita, kibbeh and more. Our main course included a variety of grilled meats (lamb, chicken, kefta), grilled veggies, and potatoes. This was truly a feast for kings. All of the food was amazing and I am so happy we got to enjoy this restaurant! It made a perfect end for our first night in Jordan.