Al Petra

"Been somewhere exotic lately?" No, this is just a very authentic arabic cafe opened in the middle of Tsim Sha Tsui. As you probably know that I am fond of exotic cusine and have even famously cooked a middle eastern feast for 12 people all by myself in those days in England. There is a little Arabic grocery in the seedy district of Nottingham which equipped with all the strange spice I needed then. Back in Hong Kong, I have never found satisfying middle eastern food, the up market restaurants in Soho just doesn't really feel right. My shish kebab should be down to earth, straight forwardly delivered with a street food touch. That is before the arrival of Al Petra, opened by two Jordanian and cooked by a former five star hotel Jordanian chef. The tiny cafe occupied the last shop on a dead end street and the knock down front wall layout enhance the ambiance of a street cafe from Marrakesh. The night I was there, a group of Indian youth were smoking sheesha and playing card around a table on the pavement. What about the food, it was simply like the best of the best I get from anywhere around the Arabian Sea. The best bit was the chicken kebab, they've marinated the chicken for 2 days and the taste of the spice fused with the meat was astounding. And can't go without mentioning that one of the owner is a DJ and no doubt the Arabian pop music also help fooling my brain to imagine that I have just taken a little trip half way around the world.