Wow! This might be my favorite meal of our travels so far.
On our way out of Jordan we spent one night in the small town of Madaba. We got into our hotel in the late evening and looked up nearby restaurants for dinner on Trip Advisor. It turned out that one of the top rated restaurants in Madaba called Haret Jdoundna was just down the street from us.
The main dining area of the restaurant is a large open air courtyard and has an awesome laidback Middle Eastern vibe. We started out with fresh baked pita and a Shepherd's Salad which was pieces of goat cheese topped with tomato and basil. Similar to caprese salad but with goat cheese. For our main dish we split some Chicken Fatteh. I had no idea what this was and even after the waiter described it to us I was still unsure. I gathered that it was some kind of creamy chicken dish… or something. Whatever. I’m just hungry. Bring me food.
It’s hard to explain the strange perfection of this dish. It was a large bowl of chicken covered in a yogurt sauce and topped with crunchy pita strips. Other flavors included lemon, thyme, pine nuts or cashews (or some crazy hybrid of both) and parsley. At first taste, the savory chicken feels out of place with the sour lemon and yogurt flavor. But once your taste palate adjusts, it is complete harmony. Sour and savory aren’t flavors I normally put together but after tasting this dish I can see that they are a match made in heaven. The pita strips on top added the perfect accent to balance the stronger flavors of the dish.
After a week of mostly falafel and hummus, it was glorious to discover a new and unexpected Jordanian dish.
The Kolt Score:
