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Jordan » Going Out

Food and Drink

The cuisine varies, although most restaurants have a mixed menu which includes both Arabic and European dishes.

National specialities:
• Meze (small starters such as fool, hummus, kube and tabouleh).
• Kebabs.
• Musakhan (chicken in olive oil and onion sauce roasted on Arab bread).
• Mensaf (stewed lamb in a yoghurt sauce served on a bed of rice), a dish which is normally eaten with the hand.
• Baklava (pastry filled with nuts or honey).

National drinks:
• Drinking Arabic coffee is a ritual. Coffee tends to be very strong and is served in small cups (with plenty of coffee grounds at the bottom).
• Local beer, wine and other types of alcohol are served in most restaurants and bars, except during the fasting month of Ramadan (non-Arabic nationals can drink alcohol only in hotels during Ramadan).
• Araq is a local liquor similar to Greek Ouzo, usually mixed with water and ice.

Tipping: 10 to 12% service charge is generally added in hotels and restaurants, and extra tips are discretionary.

Nightlife

There are nightclubs, theatres and cinemas in Amman, while some other major towns have cinemas. Often clubs will only admit couples or mixed groups. Many of the 4- and 5-star hotels have popular clubs and bars.

Shopping

Every town will have a souk (market), and there are also many good craft and jewellery shops. There is a particularly good gold and jewellery market in Amman. Special items include Hebron glass, mother-of-pearl boxes, pottery, backgammon sets, embroidered tablecloths, jewelled rosaries and worry beads, nativity sets made of olive wood, leather hassocks, old and new brass and copper items, and caftans hand-embroidered with silver and gold thread. Jordan is famous for its gold and silver; the centre of Amman has a gold souk with over 50 shops. Necklaces with a small golden coffee pot (dalleh, a national symbol) are popular and widely available.

Shopping hours: Sat-Thurs 0930-1330 and 1530-1800; some open as early as 0800 and close at 2000. Shops are closed Friday except for the souk.

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Information in this section was last updated: Tuesday, April 01 - 2008

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