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Petra

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Liam Hetherington
Liam Hetherington
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4 out of 5
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34) Petra - Sweetmeats from the East

34) Petra - Sweetmeats from the East

Jordan – 07/06/09

So many times when reading about the famous Arabic hospitality, I have come across the phrase ‘sweetmeats’. It’s one of those words that you tend to just accept subconsciously without wondering what it actually refers to. But now, after dining at Petra I know precisely what the orientalist writers of yore meant by that phrase.

It might be a bit of a cheat to class this restaurant as Jordanian. When I asked over the phone what sort of food was served here I was just told ‘Middle Eastern’ or ‘Arabic’. However, since Jordan as a country only came into being in 1947, and was only created as a League of Nations mandate under British rule some 90 years ago I suppose this does show up the arbitrary divisions of what particularly counts as a ‘nation’ for the purposes of this culinary quest. Really it would be asking too much for an authentic differentiated national cuisine to have sprung up in Jordan in that timeframe – particularly as roughly 60% of the population since the 1960s have been Palestinian refugees. So what Paul and I would be looking for here would be middle eastern food of the sort you could find in Jordan – and presumably neighbouring ares of Syria and Palestine.

Still the restaurant looks the part. Opposite the hospital on Upper Brook Street it is very noticeable with its wood-panelled frontage and overhanging eaves. Inside there is more wood panelling as well as pictures of Petra, the ancient Nabatean ‘rose-red city as old as time’ which is Jordan’s chief tourist attraction and after which the restaurant is named (an image of the famous Treasury adorns the bills) and wonderful David Roberts prints of mid-nineteenth century Jerusalem.

Petra is not licensed, though you are at liberty to bring your own alcohol for just £1.00 corkage. I went instead for a freshly-squeezed orange juice; it was no surprise that Paul opted for a pot of tea. Some complimentary nibbles were brough to the table with our drinks – olives, pickled chillis and swede. They have quite an extensive menu – both in terms of main courses and mezze. In fact, the previous time I had dined here we had been a large party and just spent the evening gorging on plate after plate on mezze. Thinking back to that night I now recall that a half-Iranian friend had been very impressed with the food. And repeat customers did seem to make up a large proportion of the diners. On a neighbouring table a studenty couple ate mezze while they waited for a take-out to be cooked. They chatted with the host in familiar terms. Paul and I ordered just three starters. Sadly this did not include halloumi, the fried ‘squeaky cheese’ that I had so enjoyed on my previous visit. But what we did order was equally as good.

First off were stuffed vine leaves, tidy little packets stuffed with rice and mince and flavoured with sharp lemon juice (five for £3.20). Lemon was also a flavouring in jawaneh, grilled chicken wings (£3.40 for four). These were seemingly quite simply prepared, but quite delicious, with a startling lemon and garlic zinginess which made them some of the best chicken portions I’ve probably ever had. Honestly – they really are great!

Best of all though was lahem bajeen. These I can only describe as the aforementioned sweetmeats. For £3.75 we received two filo pastries topped with ground lamb. However, they had been sweetened with cinnamon and pomegranate juice. It was a quite unexpected burst of sweetness that worked very well.

After the great starters I was a tad disappointed with my main dish. I had ordered makloubah which is one of Jordan’s national dishes according to Wikipedia. This was quite literally a upside-down dish. Still shaped like the container it had been cooked in, one could see that the cooking vessel had been lined with strips of lamb and aubergine, and then topped up with rice. Once cooked it was inverted and emptied out, leaving a bowl-shaped pile of rice now topped with aubergine and meat. It was a pretty hefty portion for £8.50, but actually quite bland in taste. To make it more palatable I had to mix in some of the tomato-ey dipping sauce that had come with the starters, or even better some of Paul’s grilled artichoke. This was a stuffed artichoke filled with rice, tomato, pepper, and finished off with a salsa-style sauce. This cost £7.50 and had much more flavour to it.

In total our three starters, two main courses, and drinks added up to £31.60. The food was very well presented, the staff were friendly, and most of it was wonderfully tasty – often in quite unexpected ways. Really, it is just the slightly disappointing nature of my makloubah that prevents this from being a five-star restaurant in my view. But I have no hesitatation in recommending Petra for a meal – even if you are not scrambling to find a ‘Jordanian’ meal!

From journal Around the World in 80 Meals! (part 4)

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