Restaurant in Amman, Jordan
Hometown cooking, reframed. Worth booking.
Alee brings Chef Ali Ghzawi's personal take on Jordanian home cooking to a well-positioned address at First Circle, Jabal Amman. The menu draws directly from domestic recipes rather than restaurant convention, making it a stronger choice than most Levantine options in the city for diners who want something rooted and specific. Book it for a second or third night in Amman — it rewards a return visit.
Alee sits at First Circle in Jabal Amman, one of the city's most established dining addresses, and it earns a clear recommendation for anyone wanting to experience Jordanian home cooking reinterpreted through a chef's lens. Chef Ali Ghzawi's project is personal in the most direct sense: the menu draws from the everyday recipes he grew up eating, not from a trend or a concept. If you're deciding between this and a more conventional Levantine restaurant, Alee offers something harder to find — food rooted in domestic memory rather than restaurant tradition. Book it, especially if this is your second or third visit to Amman's dining scene.
The address alone signals intent. Building 44 on Othman Ben Affan Street, First Circle, places Alee in the older, denser part of Jabal Amman — a neighbourhood where the dining options tend toward the established and the considered rather than the loud or the new. First Circle has long been the entry point into Amman's most characterful dining corridor, and Alee fits that context well. The space is not a spectacle, which is the point: the physical setting is meant to frame the food without competing with it.
On a first visit, the priority is understanding Ghzawi's vocabulary. His cooking starts with familiar Jordanian domestic ingredients and techniques , the kind of food that exists in homes rather than in hotel restaurants , and treats them with the care and precision you'd expect from a chef who has clearly thought hard about what makes those dishes worth preserving. That's not a small thing in a city where many restaurants translate "local cuisine" into something generic and tourist-facing. Alee resists that direction.
On a second visit, go deeper. Once you know the register, you're better placed to order around the edges of the menu , the dishes that don't announce themselves, the ones that reward the diner who already has a frame of reference for what Ghzawi is doing. The multi-visit logic here is direct: the first time you're calibrating, the second time you're choosing with intention. Amman's better restaurants , Fakhreldin, Sufra, Dara Dining by Sara Aqel , all reward repeat visits in different ways. Alee's reward is specifically about accumulating familiarity with a chef's personal culinary reference points.
A third visit, if you're a regular in Amman or staying long enough, is worth planning around whatever Ghzawi is doing seasonally. The backbone of the cooking is rooted in memory and place, which means it shifts with the seasons and with ingredient availability in a way that mass-market Levantine restaurants don't. That specificity is the strongest argument for returning.
For context on where Alee sits in the global conversation about chefs building menus from domestic and maternal cooking traditions, it's worth noting that restaurants anchored in this kind of personal food memory , from Lazy Bear in San Francisco to Emeril's in New Orleans , have consistently proven that the format translates into serious dining experiences when executed with discipline. Alee is working in that space from a Jordanian starting point.
Booking is direct. First Circle is well-connected within Amman, and Alee does not appear to operate with the kind of demand pressure that makes tables hard to secure. Plan ahead by a few days to be safe, but this is not a restaurant where weeks-out booking is required under normal circumstances.
See the comparison section below for how Alee sits against Amman's peer set.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Alee | — | |
| Dara Dining by Sara Aqel | — | |
| Fakhreldin | — | |
| Sufra | — | |
| 13C Bar in the Back | — | |
| Shams El Balad | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Jabal Amman's First Circle dining scene generally runs smart-casual: neat, presentable, but not black-tie. Alee's positioning around personal, memory-driven cooking by Chef Ali Ghzawi suggests a relaxed but considered atmosphere rather than a formal one. Clean casual or smart-casual is a safe call. Avoid beach or gym wear.
Sufra is the go-to if you want traditional Jordanian mezze in a heritage setting with a longer track record. Fakhreldin offers a more formal, classic Lebanese-Jordanian experience and suits corporate or family occasions. Shams El Balad skews more casual and vegetable-forward, and is a strong pick for daytime dining. Alee's distinction is its personal, chef-led narrative rooted in Chef Ghzawi's own family recipes — that specific angle is harder to replicate elsewhere in Amman.
Alee sits on one of Amman's more competitive dining streets at First Circle, Jabal Amman. For weekends or special occasions, booking at least one week ahead is sensible. For a Friday or public holiday, aim for two weeks. No live booking data is available, so check the venue's official channels to confirm availability.
No specific dietary policy is documented for Alee. Given the menu is rooted in Chef Ali Ghzawi's home-cooking tradition, many dishes are likely based on regional staples including meat and dairy. Flag any restrictions clearly when booking or on arrival — do not assume accommodation is automatic.
Yes, with the right expectation. Alee's story — Chef Ghzawi translating his mother's everyday recipes into a restaurant format — gives the experience a personal weight that suits a meaningful dinner rather than a high-volume celebration. For a milestone birthday or an intimate anniversary, that narrative adds genuine context. If you need a private room or a large group setup, verify availability directly; that detail is not confirmed in available data.
Alee's address at Building 44, First Circle places it in a walkable, active part of Jabal Amman, which makes arriving and leaving solo straightforward. The chef-driven, personal-cooking format tends to work well for single diners who are engaged with the food rather than the scene. No counter or bar seating is confirmed, so call ahead if seating format matters to you.
The menu is built around Chef Ali Ghzawi's reinterpretations of the everyday Jordanian recipes he grew up eating at home — so dishes rooted in that family tradition are the reason to be here. No specific menu items are published in available data. Ask the team on arrival what reflects Ghzawi's current focus; that question will also get you more out of the experience.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
