first step :la bruschetta

Thursday night is usually an indoor night for me - I either visit , entertain visitors or just re-energise from the past week. This wasn't the case as Dima and I drove in the crowded roads of Amman the   other day past the Abdullat Concert at one on the Candidates Campaign  in Madina Munawara street .I had an urge to go down and enjoy I like Abdullat but the Picture and Imagination of the Perfect Spaghetti Bolognaise was still haunting me . And I didn't like the candidate anyways, this dislike is based on his backround and personality .

Dima Left and Me

So after Al Madinah and Mecca Streets things were better the streets  from Um Uthaina to Abdoun   weren't that full . But you can feel the life in the city people are just starting to go out .So as first step for our Quest we headed to La Bruschetta.
 It was relatively early we reached  it at 9:00 PM .
The Restaurant is at the Corner opposite to The Abdoun Park Project and the Terrace oversees the noisy street.
It's a casual place with bright white motive inside but a garden style furniture on the terrace . I think it's suitable for all ages , family ,friends and business dinners.
So Dima and I decided to sit at the terrace as the weather was lovely and inside was empty .It wasn't a problem to find a place there.
There were a couple , business associate , 2 friends and old married couple and 2 families enjoying their meal out .
We were greeted by a friendly waiter and were offered the complimentary appetizers which
was a plate of finely chopped tomatoes and onions with a basket of bread.  The bread was supposed to be something like arabic Taboon Bread but was dry and not appetizing at all and the tomatoes weren't fresh .We added Balsamico ,oil and salt---which made it better but didn't make it pleasant .
We were a bit discouraged and worried that the Food won't be that great
The menu covered american , mexican and italian dishes . Starters , Soups ,Salads , Pasta ,Steak, Burgers and Pizza.
We knew what we wanted : The House Salad , Spaghetti Bolognaise (which was surprisingly not on the menu) and a Pizza
After the appetizers we weren't sure what we would expect :

we had different set of China and cultery ,,,so we were still worried..

Our friendly waiter came with the a Huge Portion of Salad ...it looked nice !

Salad Della casa (Ice berg lettuce , Sparagus , Mushrooms , Avo Cad, Artichock, Palmitto hearts , cherry tomatoes , in a (lovely lemon , mustard and vinegrette) dressing .

                                                      
                                                            Dima                                          Rima

Freshness                                    Fair Enough                              The Sparagus taste like canned                
Dressing                                      Perfecto                                         Delizioso
Ingredients variety                        Love it                                             Lovely
Out of 10                                      8.5                                                      8
We were now very optimistic and were expecting good things :)

The Spaghetti:  The Soul of the quest

We asked for Half Meatless and Half Pure Bolognaise in one dish ...2 mountains of spaghetti covered with dried parmesan and again a tiny Jordanian flag on the side of one of the spaghetti mountains (btw it was also on the salad mountain ) Large portion again emphasized !!

 

 

                                                                         Dima                           Rima
The Sauce                                                         Fair Enough                 Not that Rich
The Cheese                                                       little portion                 cheap
Olive Oil                                                            missing                        missing
Oregano                                                             missing                       not there
Served                                                               cold                            warm
Out of 10                                                             7                                    6
 
We were again uncertain what we would be expecting:
The Pizza: The Heart of the Quest
We were surprised to see Zucchini ,as it wasn’t mentioned on the menu,and we weren’t that thrilled about the asparagus.
Pizza –The Vegetarian
                                                                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                              Dima                              Rima
The Sauce                                                             Fair                                Doesn’t have much tomato taste
The Cheese                                                           small portion                   Plain
The Vegetables                                                      More than expected       Surprising Ingredients
Bake Degree                                                          burned                          Woody
Out of 10                                                                5                                  5
We felt we still needed something to Keep us awake . Hot , Rich and Cappuccino 

Cappucino                                                              Forte                              Rich 

Our of 10                                                                  7.5                                7.5
Other Criteria
Atmosphere:                                                           Noisy                            Noisy
Service + Staff                                                        Friendly                        Friendly
Price Vs Portion                                                      Good                           Good
La Bruschetta out of 10                                           7                                   6.5
Here's our verdict
Salad: Yummy :)
Spaghetti: Still Not the one
Pizza : Definitely Not it .
Restaurant: can go again.
P.S. Our Grades might alter in accordance to other experiences !



5.85 Spaghetti
4.75 Salad
4.75 Pizza

Eat Pray Love : Best Italian Food Quest Amman

Dima my dear friend  and I
watched “Eat Pray Love “last week.  And it was lovely, many claim it’s a chick-flick, some claim it’s a foodie movie and
some say it has the potential to be life altering although I doubt that.For us it was a nice "feel good "movie that kept us graving for Spaghetti and Pizza for a week now.

Rose (Julia Roberts ) trip for  Italy where she re discovers her passion for food ---Left us with a mouth watering feeling---and your stomach starts aching for Spaghetti and Pizza 
Since we can not afford Rome and Napoli :(

We started on the following Food Quest: to find the perfect Spaghetti , Salad and Pizza
in Amman.

Sounds Cheesy?

 I don’t care I just hope it is “yummy cheesy”.

All friends are invited to join in and participate.

I will be publishing the criteria soon. And we 'll start Alphabeticly :)

Titanic ,Salah El Din and Love

Today I think was a romantic movie night on Fox Movies as it showed "Titanic".
I remember being 15 when Titanic first hit theaters in Amman- Jordan. I remember the huge fuss about it and how for the first time "Galleria " a movie theatre at Abdoun Circle, an affluent district in Amman, at that time raised its tickets prices to 5.5 JD's for that specific movie. The whole world was taken by that scene of Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Lancelot at the front of the boat: it touched  lots of hearts. that ending ... oh how he sacrificed for her..

Celine Dion's song "My Heart Will Go On" .

Aren't we just fools for these silly Romances .
Even in Nablus- a Palestinian preservative town, the name of the Falafel and Humous deli across my grandparents house was changed from the renowned historic Muslim leader "Salah El Din " to "Titanic".

I always wondered about it : Did the Deli owner just decide to modernise his place ? Was resistance now old fashioned that the peace process was just starting ? Or did he want just to celebrate the love story behind the ship's destruction ?
Titanic Just Sell : how much promotional items "Original" and "Chinese" were sold all over the world .

Till now that image is stuck in all our heads .

Does Love just Sell Better ?   

 Is it like the 3 cents opera where all celebrate love but love itself is not invited ?

Are we over compensating its absence by these celebrations and consumptions.