If you’re visiting Jordan, it is likely you’ll be visiting the historic Petra, a true sight to behold. And when you think about the history, it is so fascinating! But this post is not about Petra, this post is concerning what’s good for food in the area. You will obviously be looking to eat after you’ve explored Petra, which will take you a minimum of 3 hours if you’re doing a quick half day tour, and so this post is going to bring you an amazing all round option.
Al Qantara Restaurant
Here’s our recommendation: Al Qantara restaurant is just a stones throw away and it’s perfect for a quick delicious bite – you can go in, enjoy your food – delicious decent quality food – and be on your way to the next destination within half an hour. Charming authentic setting, comfortable family friendly spacious seating, buffet (meaning an array of authentic options to choose from) and they’ve even got a prayer space. The food covers starters, mains and desserts and it’s 12 JD per person, which I think is decent considering it’s so close to such a tourist attraction.
The decor and seating
You know those expensive looking spacious and grand Arab restaurants that you’ll find, this is the look and feel you get here. It is a look that manages to capture authenticity as well as a comfortable family friendly and spacious environment. You’ll go in there and will find it hard to not take out your phone or camera to take some shots of the decor itself. Their seating is nice and spacious: big tables and plenty of them. It’s got a nice grand family dinner outing kind of feel to it. It’s nice and cool in there too thanks to a fully functioning AC.
The food
This is a buffet restaurant, or come to think of it now I think it is one. I don’t know if they have a fixed menu too. But we went in for the buffet. It cost us 12JD per person, which very reasonable for such a location. Imagine an authentic buffet restaurant outside the shard or Eiffel Tower. This price does not include drinks, but we were offered water on the house. The buffet is made up of starters, mains and desserts. Starters include hummus, mutabbal, olives, tomato salsa and many of the other usual Levantine meze dishes. The mains included kabsa (a universal Arab main dish), kebabs, aubergine stew and bean stew as well as others. And then you have desserts too: loads of small little biscuits, cakes and other sweet treats including something that looked like Umm Ali, but didn’t quite taste like it.
Our experience
We loved it all. This was after a gruelling Petra tour (the last bit was gruelling because of the heat and because of how long we had been walking). To walk into something so grand, spacious and comfortable made us feel much better and relaxed straight away. The AC helped to cool us down and we felt at ease instantly. The buffet allowed us to try what we wanted from authentic dishes and do so quickly and efficiently. The tomato salsa thing, kabsa and Umm Ali were particularly delicious, but overall everything tasted good and definitely something we were happy with and satisfied with. And then on top of everything, they even had a prayer space or it seemed like restaurant space with prayer mats. I loved it!
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
