Have you ever had one of those restaurants or pubs that you think "Oh, I need to go in there one day" every time you go past it? Most of the time you never actually will, but you can go for years repeating that to yourself.

Little Petra looked like it was going to become that for me. I started working in Cambridge around a year ago and every time I have walked down Hills Road and seen the Jordanian restaurant I've thought 'I'd like to try that at some point'.

I think it's the name that first got my attention. Petra is an ancient city in Jordan, known as both a 'rose red city half as old as time' and 'and that place where they shot a bit of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.

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Petra in Jordan
Petra in Jordan

I visited Petra many years ago and to this day I think it remains one of my all time favourite sights. However, despite having been to Jordan to see 'big' Petra, I'd never eaten Jordanian food - which is what Little Petra offers.

When I backpacking for a fortnight in the Middle East in 2009 I was a lot younger, travelling on a tight budget and not quite as good at trying foreign food as I am these days. As a result my big day out at Petra ended with me having a massive pizza when I got back to Amman, the Jordanian capital - it was filling, but it was not exactly traditional regional food.

This seemed like an opportunity to correct that mistake and actually try some Jordanian food. So, at lunchtime last week I booked myself a table for lunch.

'Little Petra - In the heart of Cambridge'
'Little Petra - In the heart of Cambridge'

The restaurant

Arriving at the restaurant you're greeted with the vast array of awards Little Petra has won over the years - it has a 4.5 rating on Tripadvisor for a reason. The family-run business originally opened on Mill Road in 2019 and moved to Hills Road in early 2023 - and has scooped an impressive collection of accolades in that time, many of which are on display in the window by the entrance.

Inside you're greeted by a very modern and clean restaurant that very much warms to its theme of Petra. The walls are painted with artwork of the ancient city, and it is very tastefully done.

Even at 12.30pm on a Wednesday many of the tables were marked as reserved and as I was shown to my table I realised I'd done the right thing by booking ahead. That's the 'tip' teased in the headline above, book ahead if you want to go.

The new restaurant includes a large mural depicting the ancient site of Petra in Jordan.
A mural of the ancient city of Petra


The menu

Before we go any further with this I think it is only fair to let you know that I am far from a food connoisseur, I'm from North Staffordshire and oatcakes will do me just fine. My previous culinary Cambridgeshire adventures include eating the county's biggest naan bread and heroically trying out the new Wendy's in Peterborough - just in case you're expecting any special insight that frankly is not coming.

The menu includes a range of meze dishes, both hot and cold and served with flat bread. These include falafels, hummus, sambusa and chicken livers.

There's also a range of main courses on offer including marinated lamb tongue, okra and traditional Jordanian moussaka. There's a also a range of grilled options as well as burgers including double chicken and double lamb.

The drinks menu is similarly impressive and includes options such as Turkish coffee and lemon and mint fruit juices. For alcohol options include a range of wines from both Jordan and Lebanon and arak.

I opted for labnah, which is a traditional yoghurt, followed by a mixed shawarma - which includes lamb and chicken. This was served up with rice.

In terms of drinks, as tempting as a bottle of Jordanian wine was, I decided I had to be more sensible and should stick to what I know - beer. So a bottle of Beirut it was.

Beer at Little Petra in Cambridge
Cheers!

The meal

I had skipped breakfast that morning. Partially because I'd opted for a lie-in but mainly because I expected portions here to be fairly generous and I did not want to spoil my appetite ahead of a nice meal.

As the food was swiftly placed on the table in front of me I realised this had definitely been the right thing to do. It was like a small banquet had been assembled before my eyes, and all of it looked lovely.

Food at Little Petra in Cambridge
Food at Little Petra in Cambridge


Being a man of simple tastes I opted to start with the labnah and the flatbread (which came served in a little basket). The labnah was how you'd expect a good natural yoghurt to taste.

The one I had was plain (I know, I'm adventurous), but if you're looking for something with a bit more diversity in flavour then there are options for it including mixed nuts, mixed nuts and honey and mixed nuts, cucumber, black olives mint and olive oil. Plain was good enough for me though.

Food at Little Petra in Cambridge
Labnah at Little Petra


Next I moved on to the main course (and frankly even looking at the photograph as I write this article is making me hungry). It is just as well I am a journalist rather than a restauranteur, because if I had a restaurant and it had shawarma and rice on the menu then that is precisely what you would get on your plate - nothing else.

Fortunately the team at Little Petra know the food business far better than I do and the main course was a treat for both the eyes and tastebuds. This was a full platter of food, piled high with shawarma, rice, vegetables and three little pots of sauces.

Food at Little Petra in Cambridge
I'm getting hungry just placing this photo in this story...it was a good meal!


They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I think the photo above speaks to that. It was delicious, both the chicken and the lamb were incredible and cooked perfectly.

The rice and salad were both really good too. I am afraid I don't know the names of the sauces (I just nicknamed them "the sort of white one, the red one and the other sort of white one") but if you're eating there then I'd recommend trying them all out.

The Beirut beer was not bad, it was not one I'd had before (I tried as many types of beer as I could between Damascus and Cairo when I was backpacking, naturally). An exceptional beer? No, but very much standard for beers around the Mediterranean and certainly drinkable.

There is a dessert menu including baklava, basboosa and knafa, however by this point I was full.

The verdict


I imagine it is fairly obvious by now that I really enjoyed this meal. But I think it's important to emphasise at this point that I paid for it myself - this is very much my opinion and no one else's. Mainly because no one is ever going to pay for me to give my opinion on anything.

The food was exceptional and the staff were friendly and efficient. They asked several times if I wanted anything else and the service was really good.

Is it somewhere I am going to visit regularly on my lunch break? Probably not, it is a bit extravagant for that. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Would I go there again? Definitely. Would I be selling it as a great Valentine's Day destination if I had written this story before February 14? Probably.

Just make sure to reserve in advance! (And don't have a big breakfast!)