Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. I love the hustle and bustle of the morning and the variety you find in the different cuisines. This post is about Jordanian breakfast and the icing on the cake is that we’ve stumbled upon a local breakfast joint. Completely by accident and unintentional. Those finds are always the best and most satisfying to be honest! Al Fawwal, in Amman Jordan, is a breakfast spot that essentially does two dish: kaak sandwich and fatteh. Two breakfast staples.
Breakfast in Jordan
I love breakfast: I love the hustle and bustle you find on busy local streets in the morning. In the early hours you know you’re finding mostly locals out and about enjoying breakfast just before they go to work or school. I also love the variety you find across cultures. Breakfast is one meal I find where every culture has unique and interesting dishes. From your full English to youtiao and soy milk, and maple syrup pancakes to halwa poori. It is never a dull experience.
What’s the breakfast scene like in Jordan? Well, you’ve got your standard Levantine spread that is probably most common: hummus, ful, falafel and so on. We’ve featured that on another post. But in reality you’ll find this spread across the Levantine countries and even in the Arab countries by extension. Here we came across a breakfast spot that looked like it is something unique to Jordan even if inspired by Levantine dishes of course.
Fatteh
Fatteh (or Fattet Hummus) is a dish that is often part of the Levantine hummus and falafel spread, less known than its counterparts, but quite arguably an elevated version of them! It is a dish that has it all. Fried or roasted arabic bread, chickpeas, spiced yoghurt sauce, garlic and lemon. It’s an all in one and you consume with a spoon without bread (because it already has bread in it). A very wholesome and delicious way to start any day. This feels like a cheat code because it feels like you’ve ordered hummus with bread on the side, but with a lush yoghurt sauce that brings it all together and you just consume it like you would other dishes with a spoon. Truly, an all in one!
Kaak Sandwich
Kaak sandwich is something unique to this region. Kaak is basically the name of the bread you see. It has a soft and fluffy interior and usually has sesame seeds on top. In Lebanon they have a kunafa sandwich using this bread! And if you know what kunafa is and how heavy it is, you’ll know how crazy that sounds! And if it couldn’t get any crazier, they consume it for breakfast! Anyway, here a kaak sandwich is referring to one with fillings such as hummus, chips, pickles, falafel and ful. One for sandwich lovers! A right treat!
Al Fawwal
The name of the restaurant is Al Fawwal (@alfawwaljo). I stumbled upon this accidentally while I was getting laundry done and I had to wait for the clothes to get ready. Completely unplanned. It seemed very popular with locals. I went a little late (after breakfast time), but people were still continuously coming in taking away their orders. There was a buzz in the restaurant. The staff were super friendly and lively and as mentioned customers (who sounded like regulars) kept coming in. The decor is authentic and charming with an AMAZING view as a bonus. As well as the above two dishes I also got myself a mint tea and I left a very very happy man.
If you’re traveling to Jordan, especially for the first time, you’ll need a tour guide and transportation. It will make your life easier and the holiday that much more enjoyable. Visiting places like Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea in a country where English is not spoken much can be challenging. Get in touch to get more details on who we used and would recommend.
Getting there
Google Maps link