After a lovely evening of cheap Shawarma in Amman, Jordan, we walked back to our hotel, in no particular rush to get back to the room. It’s part of the problem when we travel is how to spend our evenings when we don’t want to go out drinking. We had walked by a huge sweet shop, and although we are not big dessert people, we wandered into Al Sahil Al Ahkdar Sweets. I could smell the sugar in the street. We followed the saccharine smell and ordered some tasty desserts in Amman. This is when I learned that eating is one of the top things to do in Amman.
The Best Desserts in Amman
All we saw were enormous, round, metal sheets, loaded with every combination of the local sweet ingredients – sugar, nuts, filo pastry, honey, and more sugar.
There were no signs or prices, so we just started pointing to various desserts saying two of those, two of those, two of those.
One of the employees behind the counter even threw in two extra treats, he said “just for visiting.” It was another example of the friendliness of the Jordanian people. Once we felt how heavy the little tray was, we were concerned that we had just bought 20 dollars worth of sweet desserts in Amman.
Instead, it rang up at less than $3.00. Wow. I was simply amazed at the good value of the food in Amman, particularly with how expensive attractions are in Jordan. So, we lugged our tray back to the hotel, ate almost everything on the tray. Then, I swore I would go to the dentist once we were back in Kuala Lumpur.
Thank you Jordan, for the sweet treats and fabulous desserts in Amman.
If you are familiar with any of these sweets, please let me know their names – we have no idea what we ate!
Heading to Amman?
Where to Stay in Amman: Get hotel recommendations here. Or, we stayed at the Amman Marriott, where rooms start at $120 (Check Trip Advisor reviews here | Book here)
What to do in Amman: Visit Petra during a day trip or consider these cool things to do in Amman.
Learn more: Get a Footprint Guide to Jordan or the Lonely Planet Guide to the Middle East from Amazon.
Amber Hoffman, food and travel writer behind With Husband In Tow, is a recovering attorney and professional eater, with a passion for finding new food and drink destinations. She lives with her husband, Eric, in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Together they have traveled to over 70 countries.
Those were really delicious. This is perfect for a snack. Cab you post something like a recipe on how to cook any of this? I'd love to give it a try. I am fond of cooking and baking too.
I will surely post an essays of photos for this once I baked my own 🙂
Daphne, I wish! I have no idea how to make this, just some combination of phyllo dough with nuts, honey, and sugar. Good luck!
Great ingihst. Relieved I’m on the same side as you.
U had baklava and Kanafeh. And basboosa. Primarily