Eat Drink Hong Kong

The poet John William Burgon once described Petra, with its rock-cut architecture, as “a rose-red city half as old as time.” But the world heritage site in southern Jordan wasn’t known to the west until 1812, when it was discovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

I discovered Al Petra Restaurant on Wellington Street just before Christmas. That visit had been with a dear friend and was purely for fun but I was impressed enough to want to go back and have another look.

It’s a narrow doorway on the right just past the escalator as you make your way down the hill towards Sheung Wan. Quite easy to miss. There is a small bar area on the ground floor but the restaurant proper is in the basement.

The walls are painted in dusty yellows and ochre to evoke the sandstone walls of its historical namesake. These are decorated with an assortment of shields, swords and other items. The ceiling is hung with a sumptuous looking red cloth and dotted with lamps. It all helps to make what would be a comparatively large dining area feel rather cosy.

The menu is quite big and covers most of the table. Being alone this time I didn’t have to worry about knocking the candle into my companions lap so I spread it out and had a good read.

There is a wide selection of mezz, both hot and cold. Familiar dishes such as hummus and babaganouj are all in attendance. I’d enjoyed some of these on my first visit. This time I decided to start with Warak Enab ($75). These are little parcels of lightly spiced rice wrapped in vine leaves and marinated in olive oil with tomato, mint and other herbs.

They were very good, and I idled over them while reading the brochures from the Jordanian tourist office that had been placed on a small table a short reach from where I was sitting. Consequently the main course, when it arrived, caught me by surprise.

This, the menu assured me, was a traditional Bedouin dish and the national dish of Jordan. It’s called Mensaf ($250). It’s usually served on special occasions and shared between family or friends.

It consists of lamb braised in jameed. Jameed is a salted goats milk yoghurt and it made the lamb very tender indeed. it is served with fragrant Arabic spiced rice on pitta bread and garnished with pine nuts and almond. It comes with a tangy sauce which is poured all over.

Traditionally, it would be eaten with the right hand instead of utensils. I did think about this for a few moments but decided the probability of rice and jameed falling down my sleeve was very high and I should, perhaps, hone my skills in private before trying it in a public place.

Baclava was the only desert option. I wasn’t really in the mood for that so I decided to finish with an Arabic coffee. This is a very strong coffee indeed – if you’re planning an early night you might want to give it a miss. I found myself Googling tourist information on Jordan well into the small hours.