Jordan » Going Out

Jordanian cuisine shares many of the characteristics of Middle Eastern cooking but the inclusion of freshly made, local yoghurt and cheese adds a twist to the menu. Aubergines, chickpeas, lentils and beans turn up in many of the dishes and rice and khoubs (flat Arabic bread) are staples. Most restaurants have a mixed menu including Arabic and European dishes. Alcohol is served in most restaurants and bars, except during the fasting month of Ramadan (non-Muslim nationals can drink alcohol only in hotels during Ramadan).

National specialities:
• Meze: A selection of starters that pre-empt almost every main meal; they include fool (thick stew made with fava beans), hummus (mashed chickpeas with tahini or sesame paste), moutabel (smoked aubergine dip) and tabouleh (finely chopped parsley salad).
• Mensaf: Stewed lamb in a yoghurt sauce. As with most Bedouin dishes, it is normally eaten with the fingertips of the right hand.
• Makloubat: Chicken with spices, including cinnamon, allspice, cardamom and nutmeg.
• Kibbi: Often deep fried, this ground lamb or beef dish is combined with burghul (ground, steamed wheat), onion and cinnamon.
• Baklava: Assorted honey-drizzled, nut-filled pastries.

National drinks:
• Arabic coffee: Strong and served in small cups, it’s more a tradition than a drink.
• Wine: Thanks to the Christian minority, Jordan has a long tradition of wine-production.
• Araq: This local liquor is similar to Greek Ouzo; usually served mixed with water and ice.

Legal Drinking Age: 18 years.

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

For many Jordanians, the most popular entertainment of an evening is going out for a meal. In Amman, however, there are nightclubs in the modern districts, mostly attached to 5-star hotels, which cater for an international clientele and some of which star visiting DJs. Many 4- and 5-star hotels have popular bars. Several cinemas in the capital show English-language films and there are several cultural centres for concerts and exhibitions of contemporary art.

Outside the capital, nightlife is thinner on the ground although the Dead Sea resorts offer a variety of entertainment (not usually open to non-residents, with the exception of those staying at neighbouring hotels), as do the 5-star hotels in Wadi Mousa and Aqaba. In smaller towns, the local coffeeshop sometimes doubles as a bar for locals. Men, or couples, may feel more comfortable here than solo women. For entertainment listings, pick up a copy of W2Go, a monthly publication, often available free from top-end hotels.

Every town has a souk (market) selling everything from clothes, pots and pans, meat and live chickens, to gold and silver jewellery. As with most countries in the region, the gold is usually 18kt or above and although the current price of gold is high, there is still no charge added for the craftsmanship of items like bangles, chains and earrings.

In more tourist-oriented towns, there is a wide selection of handicrafts. The chief of these is probably mosaic. Continuing a tradition dating back thousands of years, new mosaic schools (especially around Madaba and Mt Nebo) train young people to work with the colourful, locally hewn stone. The art of kilm-making (no-knap carpets or woven rugs) is practised by several women’s co-operatives (notably in Mukawir) using hand-carded wool and natural dyes.

Another distinctive local craft is ostrich-egg painting: the paint is applied with needle pricks and designs can take weeks to complete. In and around Petra and Wadi Mousa, shops specialise in beads: although many items are imported from Egypt or Turkey (and even India), many co-operatives import lapiz lazuli (semi-precious blue stone), malachite (semi-precious green stone), yellow amber or red coral to make into a variety the necklaces and bracelets using local silverwork.

Other hand-crafted items include sand jars, filled with layers of multi-coloured sand, light-weight, hand-blown glass and embroidered clothing. Bottled Holy Water from the river Jordan can also be purchased. Shops particularly in Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan sell an assortment of rosaries and icons made of olive wood. For the health conscious, skin-care products made of Dead Sea mud have become big business in all tourist-oriented shopping areas.

Shopping hours: Sat-Thurs 0930-1330 and 1530-1800; some open as early as 0800 and close at 2000. Shops are closed on Friday except for the souks which usually open from 1600.