Jordan » Going Out
Food and Drink
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.
Nightlife
Outside the capital, nightlife is thinner on the ground. The Dead Sea resorts offer a variety of entertainment (not usually open to non-residents), as do the 5-star hotels in Wadi Mousa and Aqaba. In smaller towns, the local coffee shop sometimes doubles as a bar for locals. Men, or couples, may feel more comfortable here than solo women.
Pick up a copy of monthly entertainment listings publication W2Go, often available free from top-end hotels.
Shopping
Tourist-oriented towns offer many handicrafts, including mosaic; mosaic schools train young people to work with the colourful, locally hewn stone.
Another distinctive local craft is ostrich-egg painting: the paint is applied with needle pricks and designs can take weeks to complete.
Other hand-crafted items include sand jars, hand-blown glass and embroidered clothing. Bottled Holy Water from the river Jordan can also be purchased, as can skin-care products made of Dead Sea mud.
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.
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Information in this section was last updated: Wed May 23 2012
