Where to go with Kids in Amman and around – the ultimate guide

ATICO Fakhreldin Group always strives to do its best by maintaining its high standards and constantly manages the tradition of delivering outstanding services. In order to establish a certain level of efficiency, ATICO Fakhreldin Group, believes in firm quality control, which certainly makes the difference. Established in 1991, ATICO Fakhreldin Group is a Jordanian holding company operating in multi-service hospitality management. Since its inception the acquisition and redevelopment of what is now a world-class boutique hotel). ATICO Fakhreldin Group has expanded its reach and core business to encompass over 10 leading restaurants, cafés and pubs, offering international cuisines, a catering service, and anevents management company, in Jordan and the Middle East. ATICO Fakhreldin Group has become renowned for its dedication, innovation, trend settling and provision of the highest standards in the hospitality sector. AlQasr Metropole Hotel, Amigo, Copas Central, Fakhreldin, Kebab Express, The Nub, The Qyard, Ren Chai, Trattoria, Vinaigrette, Wild Jordan Center, Yoshi, Amra Barcelona, Misk Al Bahar, Taboula and Sismsim Levantine Eatery are all managed by ATICO Fakhreldin Group.

With this diverse and very varied gastronomic offering, quality becomes an essential integral component of the growing industry. It is certainly a sound way to avoid and prevent faults, mistakes or defects to avoid slip ups. It works hard to deliver solutions to services to customers and helps meet the clients’ demands and expectations.

We had a talk with our new Quality Assurance Supervisor, Ms. Duaa Al Suliman and she gave an insight on her new job.

Tell us briefly about yourself. 

I graduated from University of Jordan with a BSC in Occupied Food Science and Technology. I am ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor, IRCA certified, ISO 22000:2008 Internal Auditor. I’ve worked previously as a Danata Quality Control Technician, as a Chizhilda Quality Assurance Officer, in Seagulls as Quality Assurance Supervisor and most recently now at ATICO Fakhreldin Group as a Quality Assurance Supervisor, since October 2018. I enjoy gliding!

Would you consider your gender an obstacle in your field? If so how?

Never, because it is known that there is no kind of business monopoly on males without females, and success of work is not because of gender, but with knowledge and passion and love of work and that gives an internal motivation for success.

Share an experience when you applied new technology or information in your job. How did it help?

When we started using storage temperature forms, to monitor refrigerators and control the food items, it helped the Chefs a lot.  It created a much easier way to know the condition of the food and the staff began to share their experiences while they found any issue directly and began to brain storm and think out of the box, in order to find the proper correct form of action, which needed to take place.

How has ATICO Fakhreldin Group been compliant with all laws, regulations and standards?

 One of our outlets got the trust certificates, by applying all the regulations that are imposed by Jordan Food and Drug Association.

Please share a new idea which you presented to the team and how was it received?

I don’t deny that all ATICO Fakhreldin Group employees are fully prepared to implement any new idea with which to succeed and develop. This was very clear to me when I gave them various instructions to follow and go by.

What is one thing you would like to develop?

I`d like to prepare our own lab to ensure that we are serving a safe food product from farm to fork.

CNN, Zoe Li, has a subjective look at some of the best food cultures and destinations.

When we went through the article we beamed! As ATICO Fakhreldin Group has at least five of the mentioned top ranking food cultures, which include the Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Mexican cuisines. The article includes the food culture that is much celebrated and sought out. At Trattoria, at AlQasr Metropole Hotel, accommodates a champion breakfast and a fantastic Italian lunch or dinner. The menu is full of a wide range of delicious pastas and pizzas and other Italian dishes. Ren Chai is a free standing Chinese restaurant in Jabal Amman, which offers a fine dining experience. It offers a large menu of Cantonese and Szechwan delicacies, which are enjoyed with various Chinese cocktails and tea assortments. Copas Central, on the other hand, in a quiet neighborhood in the 1^st circle of Amman, has a Latin inspired warm and laid back feel. It offers fresh cocktails and drinks with a varied Mediterranean Spanish inspired tapas menu. While Vinaigrette, at AlQasr Metropole Hotel and Yoshi, in Jabal Amman, offer Asian Japanese specialties and delicacies. While The Nub and Wild Jordan Center serve nachos and tortilla wraps, both inspired by the Mexican cuisine.

ATICO Fakhreldin Group seems to offer more than one of the best food cultures in the world in their well established and leading restaurants in Amman, Jordan. It’s a pity the report didn’t cover the Levantine cuisine, which is slowly creeping up the ranks, since it is an ancient cuisine with healthy and wholesome food, offered at Fakhreldin, Kebab Express and more recently in Simsim Levantine Eatery, in Berlin.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/world-best-food-cultures/index.html

What to do in Amman, Jordan for a 2 day itinerary?  It’s tough to squeeze in all this ancient city has to offer, but I’ll try.
Amman is a teeming city of 4 million and the capital of Jordan. Some travelers use Amman merely as a transfer point on the way to the archaeological marvels of Petra and Jerash. Big mistake! Amman rates a long leisurely visit. It needs to be savored.
One of the oldest, continuously inhabited cities on earth, Amman reveals itself slowly peeling back the layers of history going back to the Neolithic period.
Amman has soul. You see it in the graceful architecture of it mosques, temples and churches. You hear it in the melodic chants of the call to prayer.  You taste it in the nutty, honey desserts sold throughout the city, and you feel it in the smiles and hospitality of the people.

THE NEW JORDAN MUSEUM

Day One. To get a good understanding of Jordanian history and culture, start your day at the new Jordan Museum. This beautifully curated museum in downtown Amman offers multimedia exhibits presenting Jordanian culture in an engaging way.  Artifacts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, date from pre-history to the modern age.  A visit to the Jordan Museum will give you a good understanding of Jordanian culture so you can better appreciate Jordan’s archaeological treasures.

SAVOR THE STREETS OF AMMAN, JORDAN

Next head to the Roman Amphitheater but go there on foot either via King Talal Street or Queaish Street. Both will take you to the Amphitheater.  The walk takes some time, about one to two hours depending on how long you linger, but it will take you through some of the more interesting parts of Amman where the locals shop and eat.

You won’t see many tourists on this route. What you will see are large bustling markets, ancient winding streets, mosques and little alleys that end in restaurants serving steaming slabs of lamb and fresh baked bread.

THE ROMAN AMPHITHEATER

The Roman Amphitheater in Amman is a well-preserved structure that can seat 6,000 people. It dates from the 2nd Century CE when the city was known as Philadelphia.  Guides will accost you offering their services as soon as you enter. The going rate for a guide is about 10JD.  Ordinarily I recommend you hire a guide, but it’s not worth it in this case.

The theater is impressive with amazing acoustics – you can hear a whisper all the way on the other side of the theater.  There are two small folk museums on either side of the theater which are not well maintained and forgettable.

DOWNTOWN AMMAN, JORDAN

To continue with your heavy dose of authentic Amman, head to the heart of downtown Amman via Hashem Al-Amir Mohammad Street.

Here in this busy section of the city you will find the amazing gold souk (market) where gold is sold by its weight. The shop windows blaze with shimmering gold jewelry.  Even if you don’t buy anything, it is an interesting sight.

You should be hungry by now but even if you aren’t, have a meal at Hashem Restaurant. This is an open air restaurant on a busy street. They only serve appetizers or “mezze” a selection of Middle Eastern specialties like hummus, babaganoush (an eggplant and spices spread) and tabbouleh ( a combination of cracked wheat, vegetables and spices) in large platters. All this is served with freshly baked bread that is still hot when served. The bill will come to about 8JD rendering this meal one of life’s best bargains.

Leave room for dessert. A few doors down the street is Habibah Sweets, a local institution since 1947 serving kunafah, a traditional gooey, sweet, dessert masterpiece.  Seriously, you’ve got to try this.

THE CITADEL

Day two. Besides the Roman Amphitheater, the Citadel of Amman is the other must-see attraction in your two-day itinerary in Amman.

The Amman Citadel is an archaeological site situated atop one of Amman’s seven hills in the downtown area. The site is considered to be among the world’s oldest continuously inhabited places with ruins from the Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad (a Muslim dynasty from the 8th to 11th Centuries) periods.

There is a little Archaeological Museum at the Citadel which explains the history of the area and displays artifacts dating from the Neolithic period. The major ruins at the site are a Byzantine church and the Temple of Hercules.

Despite this wealth of archaeological richness, the big draw at The Citadel of Amman is the view of the city. If you can experience this view  during the soulful chants of the call to prayer, the moment is magical.

KING ABDULLAH MOSQUE

To appreciate yet another aspect of Amman, head to the King Abdullah Mosque. This blue-domed landmark was built in 1989 and can house up to 7000 worshipers. The exquisitely decorated mosque is the only one in Amman that welcomes non-Muslim visitors.

The inside of the mosque is very beautiful with symmetrical designs and large open spaces for prayer. It is worth visiting to appreciate the artistry.

If you are a non-Muslim female and wish to visit the mosque, you’ll need to dress in a dark, all covering cloak known as a burqa. This can be borrowed from the on-site gift shop.

END YOUR 2 DAY AMMAN ITINERARY IN RAINBOW STREET

Having completed your Amman archeological and cultural sightseeing in the morning, it’s time to experience the chic side of the city. Head to Rainbow street.

Rainbow Street is in a trendy part of town high in the Amman hills. It is a wonderful neighborhood to wander and explore the quirky little shops and boutiques.  As this street is so high on Amman’s hills, there are several lookout points that offer breathtaking views of the city below, especially of the Citadel.

This street is also a great option for lunch or dinner. If you want to sample a wide variety of local cuisines, take a self-guided food tour and enjoy the local foods; shawarma, waffles, curries, kebabs and sugar cane juice. One specialty you cannot miss are the smoothies found throughout the city. These are made with the freshest fruits and vegetables right in front of you; unusual concoctions involving pomegranates, pineapples, avocados, papaya, guava and kiwi that combine to be delicious and refreshing. Just point to what you want.

If you are in the mood to experience a more formal meal, head to Sufra Jordan, on Rainbow Street, specializing in traditional Jordanian food.

Another interesting location is Wild Jordan Center around the corner and down the street from Sufra. This organization offers tours of the country and provides information on the activities of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN).  They also have a really cool gift shop selling organic products like soaps, toiletries, artworks and bags. They really have beautiful things and if you are looking for unique Jordanian souvenirs rather than mass produced trinkets, this place is for you.

ROOFTOP VIEWS OF AMMAN, JORDAN ON YOUR 2 DAY ITINERARY

Wild Jordan Center also has a cozy café offering an organic menu. The views of the city from this angle are just amazing.

One more exceptional location of Rainbow Street is Cantaloupe Gastro Pub, on the corner of #10 Rainbow Street.  This is an elegantly appointed restaurant and bar with surprisingly reasonable prices.  It looks and feels like the kind of place that would become your go-to favorite bar if you lived in Amman.

I had read that Cantaloupe Gastro Pub had a nice rooftop bar with spectacular views.  I love rooftop bars and wanted to catch the sunset there but I arrived off hours and the rooftop was closed! Not only did the waiter let me in anyway, he prepared a little space for me where I could see the sunset. He then made me a meal, served me a drink, put a heat lamp close to me because it was a little chilly and put the nicest music on the loudspeaker. All this even through the place wasn’t even open yet!

The waiter could have said “Sorry, we’re closed,” which is what I expected. Instead he created a perfect environment for a total stranger, and a pretty shabby stranger at that, as I had been on the road for some time.  I wish I had gotten the waiter’s name so I could tell his boss about his exceptional customer service.

I sat there happily sipping the local beer watching the sunset over a timeless view in an ancient city, when suddenly the soulful, melodic call to prayer erupted over the city.  It was a perfect travel moment.  Moments like this are the reason you travel. It helped make this the perfect 2 day itinerary in Amman, Jordan.

Make sure you come to Amman armed with some good references books like Lonely Planet Jordan Travel Guide and The Rough Guide to Jordan.

See  the best choices for where to stay in Amman. Check out a tour of Amman that can be tailored to your own specific taste.

If you’ve recently tried our bread and desserts at AlQasr Metropole Hotel, Trattoria, Vinaigrette, The Nub, Ren Chai, Yoshi, Wild Jordan Center, Copas Central and Amigo you’re bound to know that it’s been flavorfully sweeter at ATICO Fakhreldin Group! Our Chef has been artistically crafting new sweets and savories for all of our restaurants and catering services. We’ve all tasted his delicious creations and seen his edible architectural masterpieces, decorating AlQasr Metropole Hotel, Fakhreldin Restaurant and Wild Jordan Center during the last holiday season.  So we wanted to get to know Chef Bassam who’s just joined ATICO Fakhreldin Group’s Central Kitchen as a Pastry Chef.

How did your interest begin in cooking and baking and what’s your earliest memory in the kitchen?

I was looking for something that was nice and different. I had to think hard about this because this was going to be my future.  That’s when I decided to learn more about sweets and breads mainly because of the way they taste, smell and feel.

Share an experience with us, which was very rewarding for you.

I began to learn more and more about the world of pastry and my life became more beautiful because I love my work so much.

What’s your favorite ingredient to work with?

Through my experience I discovered what were the difficult and easy ingredients to work with and found that chocolate used for decoration for example, was one of my favorite ingredients to work with.

Successful tips you would share with young Pastry Chefs….

I believe these should be the foundations their careers…to know what you love before you start, be sincere to your work, and have perseverance and honesty in what you do. You should also possess humility and respect to others.

Eat healthy fats.

This topic freaks a lot of people out—won’t it make me fat, they wonder. The right kinds will not, but they will provide powerful healing and support to help you feel your best. that’s coz 60 percent of you’re brain is made up of DHA, an omega-3 fat found in fatty fish, flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and algae. EPA is another important type of omega-3, and both of these fatty acids are critical for supporting brain function and mood, regulating metabolism, and preventing diabetes and inflammation. Avoid oils like canola, grape seed, corn, sunflower, and soybean, and be sure to eliminate hydrogenated oils completely, as they contribute to inflammation and the progression of disease.

Eating more healthy fats doesn’t mean you need to go low-carb. In fact, me suggest eating slow-carb instead. This means you’re choosing low-glycemic plant foods that are rich in nutrients and fiber but don’t mess with your blood sugar. Dark leafy greens, cauliflower, peppers, onions, asparagus, celery, radishes, mushrooms, blackberries, and blueberries are just some of the many colorful options to get these good kinds of carbs into your diet. As an added bonus, eating healthy fats with these types of foods helps you absorb more of the essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.

In my personal experience, I found that even though I was already eating a healthy diet rich in vegetables, embracing more of the right kinds of fat—like avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and even saturated ones, like coconut oil and grass-fed meat—pushed my mental clarity through the roof.

So what does this kind of diet look like? For me I like to start my day with a Green Machine Smoothie that includes brain-boosting fats like avocado and coconut milk, along with nutrient-dense spinach, hemp seeds, and matcha green tea. For lunch, I often make a big Fat Salad, topping arugula with wild-caught salmon, walnuts, fennel, cucumbers, olive oil, balsamic, and sea salt for a savory and filling plate of greens. Dinner could be a large, colorful plate of non-starchy roasted veggies, a small portion of sweet potato or squash, and some roasted chicken, grass-fed steak, or turkey meatballs.

There are so many delicious ways to incorporate more good fats into your diet. Focus on whole, real foods from high-quality sources, and you’ll quickly notice the amazing benefits in your body and brain.

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/how-healthy-fats-benefit-brain-health

Wild Jordan Center Menu, offers a seasonal menu, which provides wholesome and hearty choices. It has a wide variety of options to suit all tastes. You’ll find plenty of healthy fat options; Hummus, Foul, Eggs, Salmon, White cheeses, Lentils, Nuts, Smoothies, Chicken, Avocado

Try our Wild Jordan Center menu today!

WJC is managed by ATICO Fakhreldin Group and is owned by The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature. It aims to generate an income for the rural communities of the 8 reserves in Jordan protected by RSCN and also promotes ecotourism, whereby custom-made tours accommodate those interested in a very special and unique experience at various reserves. Wild Jordan Center provides many services, including musical and cultural events, long-term lodges, meeting rooms and an exceptional dining experience, using wholesome and local ingredients in various locations. The seasonal menu at Wild Jordan Center emphasizes natural ingredients and is admant about using local produce. It also offers an organic menu and a Daily Special, which includes a soup/salad, main meal and dessert.

Ms. Yasmeen Gedeon joined Wild Jordan Center almost a year ago as WJC Coordinator, back in July 2018. Ms. Gedeon has been doing a fantastic job and we wanted to hear more about her experience! With a Nutritional background and Yoga practice certification we thought we’d really like to hear more her about her position, achievements and objectives.

What path did you take to get where you are today?

I followed and pursued my passion for fitness, health, and nutrition. I sought out advise from those who I inspired me, and focused my time and energy on the things I loved doing.

What have you learned in the last week?

Working overtime and through weekends has definitely made me learn how to prioritize, and use my time more efficiently.

Which food could you never give up? And what’s your favorite dish at WJC?

I could never give up chocolate, but in small quantities of course. I love everything on the menu, especially ‘myskinnyseasons’ section, but perhaps my favorite is the Buddha Bowl, as it is nutritious and delicious.

What do you hope to see at WJC in 5 years?

I hope to see the center continue thriving as it has been doing, and to strengthen its reputation as a family-friendly go-to destination, known for its healthy local food offerings, its work-friendly ambiance, and its distinctive collaborations with health, lifestyle and nature related activities.

If you’ve never experienced a meeting, a lecture, a workshop, training or a talk at one of Wild Jordan Center’s Meeting Rooms, you have to! You see, WJC offers three ideal rooms. Well, two technically since one of them is rented out to a local artist, Mr. Farid Fakhriddin. The Tree Room, one of the meeting rooms at WJC, which is rented out, actually has blue iron windows, which overlook carob trees and old Amman. It’s also special because it has a tree trunk, at one end of the room, which sprouts through the wall on to the parking space above. It’s actually pretty amazing, and hence the name of the meeting room! The other two meeting rooms, Al Azraq and Yarmouk also have a magnificent view of old Amman, the Citadel and the large Jordanian Flag. Their names are derived from the local reserves. Azraq Wetland Reserve is a uniquely precious oasis located in the heart of Jordan’s eastern desert. It is distinguished by lush marshland and natural water collections that form glittering pools and streams, giving Azraq its name, which is the Arabic word for ‘blue’. It has a capacity of 25 pax in a u-shape setup, 40 pax in a classroom setup, 35 pax for workgroups, and 45 pax for a theatre style set up. The Yarmouk meeting room is named after Yarmouk Forest Reserve,which is located in the northwestern part of Jordan, at the border with Golan hill. It is covered by deciduous oak, with valleys, which descend towards the Yarmouk River. It has a capacity of up to 14 people in a U-shaped set up and occupies up to 25 pax in a workgroup/theatre style.

For your convenience, there is spacing just outside the meeting rooms, which is utilized during for coffee breaks. WJC has many options with a set menu suitable for all tastes and budgets.

Moussa