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Pizza El Rais: Despite disappointments, worth the trip
By Raja Attar, Jordan News
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AMMAN — Upon
opening its doors in 2018, Pizza El Rais almost instantly became one of Amman’s
best Italian restaurants. I frequented the place as often as I could; the heavy
traffic leading there never deterred me from satisfying the urge for real-deal
Italian food.اضافة اعلان
Pizza El Rais’ classic margherita. (Photo: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
Today’s particular experience, unfortunately, fell short of my expectations of greatness; the food district at the end of Mecca Street is an absolute nightmare to get into, and finding parking was a story of its own. Luckily we managed to park the car close by and made our way to the restaurant.
A friend and I was surprised to see some drastic menu changes, it seems like their specialty Italo-Lebanese items are no longer a thing. We ordered the parmigiana and pollo Caesar for starters, a pizza napoletana, a classic Margherita, and a funghi risotto.
Pizza El Rais’ funghi risotto. (Photo: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
We started with the pollo Caesar salad as it was the first dish to arrive. The Caesar dressing was exceptionally delicious, and the salad to crouton ratio was perfect, but the chicken breast was a bit too dry for my liking. Overall, a very good salad.
Next to arrive was the pizza napoletana (or the fritta napoletana). This particular pizza is the reason why I still frequent El Rais — a Neapolitan street food favorite. This calzone pizza is stuffed with three kinds of cheese, san marzano tomatoes, and their own pomodoro sauce, and then deep fried to perfection. The frying process adds so much flavor and richness to this usually spectacular pizza. The dough was perfectly cooked and the filling was equally delicious.
My only grievance was that the pomodoro sauce lacked the depth I’m accustomed to from past experiences and was slightly under-seasoned. Nothing a dash of salt can’t fix though — this alone is worth the trip to El Rais. Recommended.
The façade of Pizza El Rais, in the food district in Mecca Street. (Photo: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
The margherita followed shortly after. The crust dough like it was over-proofed; it was too fluffy and had very little body, as if it rested a bit longer than it should. The pomodoro sauce was once again, under-seasoned and slightly underwhelming. I felt like the pizza could have used a few extra seconds in the oven to perfectly cook the dough and give it a much needed touch or char.
The eggplant parmigiana was also a bit of a disappointment. It was under-seasoned and tasted a bit flat. The more-than-generous position of cheese covering the parmigiana was a bit too much for my liking.
The risotto was the last to arrive. While we were originally told the risotto would take 25 minutes to prepare, we waited a bit longer for its arrival, but when it did it was bland and extremely salty as far as my preference goes. It lacked the depth I was expecting from the broth and the mushrooms. I was disappointed to end the meal on such a note.
One cannot deny the quality of El Rais’ food, as they use high quality ingredients and top of the line equipment, which has allowed it to become one of the city’s most popular Italian restaurants. I’m not sure this experience represents the El Rais that I grew to truly love over the last three years. That being said, I will definitely be coming back to satisfy my urge for the always delicious fritta napoletana.
Read more Lifestyle
Pizza El Rais’ classic margherita. (Photo: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
Today’s particular experience, unfortunately, fell short of my expectations of greatness; the food district at the end of Mecca Street is an absolute nightmare to get into, and finding parking was a story of its own. Luckily we managed to park the car close by and made our way to the restaurant.
A friend and I was surprised to see some drastic menu changes, it seems like their specialty Italo-Lebanese items are no longer a thing. We ordered the parmigiana and pollo Caesar for starters, a pizza napoletana, a classic Margherita, and a funghi risotto.
Pizza El Rais’ funghi risotto. (Photo: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
We started with the pollo Caesar salad as it was the first dish to arrive. The Caesar dressing was exceptionally delicious, and the salad to crouton ratio was perfect, but the chicken breast was a bit too dry for my liking. Overall, a very good salad.
Next to arrive was the pizza napoletana (or the fritta napoletana). This particular pizza is the reason why I still frequent El Rais — a Neapolitan street food favorite. This calzone pizza is stuffed with three kinds of cheese, san marzano tomatoes, and their own pomodoro sauce, and then deep fried to perfection. The frying process adds so much flavor and richness to this usually spectacular pizza. The dough was perfectly cooked and the filling was equally delicious.
My only grievance was that the pomodoro sauce lacked the depth I’m accustomed to from past experiences and was slightly under-seasoned. Nothing a dash of salt can’t fix though — this alone is worth the trip to El Rais. Recommended.
The façade of Pizza El Rais, in the food district in Mecca Street. (Photo: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
The margherita followed shortly after. The crust dough like it was over-proofed; it was too fluffy and had very little body, as if it rested a bit longer than it should. The pomodoro sauce was once again, under-seasoned and slightly underwhelming. I felt like the pizza could have used a few extra seconds in the oven to perfectly cook the dough and give it a much needed touch or char.
The eggplant parmigiana was also a bit of a disappointment. It was under-seasoned and tasted a bit flat. The more-than-generous position of cheese covering the parmigiana was a bit too much for my liking.
The risotto was the last to arrive. While we were originally told the risotto would take 25 minutes to prepare, we waited a bit longer for its arrival, but when it did it was bland and extremely salty as far as my preference goes. It lacked the depth I was expecting from the broth and the mushrooms. I was disappointed to end the meal on such a note.
One cannot deny the quality of El Rais’ food, as they use high quality ingredients and top of the line equipment, which has allowed it to become one of the city’s most popular Italian restaurants. I’m not sure this experience represents the El Rais that I grew to truly love over the last three years. That being said, I will definitely be coming back to satisfy my urge for the always delicious fritta napoletana.
Read more Lifestyle
