Jordan restaurant offers mansaf-lovers an opportunity for a nap after meals

This combination of photos, created on July 15, 2023, features the Jordanian iconic dish “mansaf” (right) and a customer during during a post-meal nap nap in a restaurant in Amman. (Supplied)
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Updated 15 July 2023
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Jordan restaurant offers mansaf-lovers an opportunity for a nap after meals

  • Mansaf is a traditional Levantine dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt
  • The air-conditioned “bedroom” offers mansaf-lovers a good post-meal napping opportunity

AMMAN: With the Jordanian iconic dish “mansaf” believed to cause severe sleepiness, a restaurant in Amman is offering its customers a napping opportunity to overcome their post-meal tiredness.

Mansaf is thought to cause drowsiness due to its high-fat ingredients, especially during hot weather, prompting lovers of Jordan’s celebrated national dish to avoid restaurants and only eat it at home where they can have a quick nap.

However, a restaurant in Jordan’s capital Amman has solved the post-meal sleepiness of mansaf by providing lovers of the traditional Levantine dish with beds for a quick nap.

Named “Moab” after the ancient Kingdom of Moab in Jordan’s southern city of Karak, the restaurant only serves mansaf.

“The idea to put beds in the restaurant started as a joke and decoration to reflect the sleepiness mansaf-eaters’ experience after they have the high-fat meal,” Musab Mubeideen, son of the restaurant’s owner, told Arab News.

He said that mansaf “is a fat-laden meal cooked with lamb meat, rice and jameed (ghee), and these ingredients put together are just a recipe for sleepiness and total tiredness.”

Mubaideen is from the city of Karak, 90 km south of Amman, which is famous for its high-quality “jameed.”

“Why don’t you put beds in the restaurant,” said a customer, who was rubbing his eyes and was sleepy after eating mansaf. Then other customers told us the same,” Mubaideen said.

“So we brought beds and set them up in a separate section in the restaurant. Customers now really use them for a quick nap after they have mansaf,” he said.

The “bedroom,” he said, has an air-conditioner and is also quiet, offering mansaf-lovers a good napping opportunity. “They also can have traditional Jordanian coffee there.”

Mansaf, meaning a large platter, is a traditional Levantine dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgar. The Jordanian version of mansaf uses bread on the bottom of the plate.


What We Are Buying Today: Snowhite Arabia beauty products

Updated 16 January 2026
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What We Are Buying Today: Snowhite Arabia beauty products

The Saudi beauty market is saturated with shelves lined with creams, serums and promises. If you have entered a local pharmacy recently, you likely already noticed Snowhite Arabia’s products — the distinct pink packaging is hard to miss.

Consider this your sign to try it.

Founded in 2014 by Heba Al-Madani as a home-based workshop, Snowhite Arabia has since evolved into a substantial operation, manufactured at Al-Madani’s factory for Snowhite Est., proudly labeled with the “Saudi Made” stamp.

I started with the hand cream, which the package recommends using twice a day while avoiding direct sun exposure. The formula includes avocado oil, aloe vera juice and mango butter, among other ingredients.

The Snowhite hand cream is moisturizing and fragrant, but without a greasy or overly perfumed aftermath. After a few uses, my dry-prone hands felt noticeably smoother.

I also like how it is vibrantly-colored so I can easily fish it out of my tote bag to reapply when I am out and about.

For the home, I tried the Moroccan soap in the bath. Its dark color, slimy texture and pungent smell were slightly alarming at first. Once worked with a bit of water, it foamed easily, and I learned quickly that a little goes a long way. I now like it.

Snowhite Arabia also offers hair masks and other products, though these are the only ones I have tried so far. I am looking forward to trying the broccoli shampoo next.

For now, the hand cream stands out as the most practical winter companion and my current local favorite.

Follow them @snowhitesa_ on Instagram.