Urban Review: Turtle Green Tea Bar

April 18, 2010 at 6:59 pm · Filed under Amman, Urban Reviews

Turtle Green, Tea Bar

There is hope for Jabal Amman yet, as the newest outery, dubbed “Turtle Green Tea Bar”, happily proves.

During the past few years, Rainbow Street has suffered from the marring attacks of crappy, non-nonsensical, tourist-seeking “village style” design. This design style (also affecting downtown Amman) is really, REALLY stupid, butchering the modern history of Amman and the ancient history of Philadelphia. It would work in a city like Damascus, but the vintage wood, “Bab Il Hara” visuals, and waiters wearing 2aba2eeb is complete historical vandalism for a city as young as Amman. Even Falafal Al-Quds, one of our modern landmarks, has succumbed to this hideous trend. Ahmad had predicted this marring back in 2008, so you can read his post here.

Turtle Green, Tea Bar

Turtle Green, Tea Bar

Turtle Green, on the other hand, half way between Old Times Cafe and Falafel Al-Quds, is the epitome of what Rainbow Street represents, historically speaking. Laid back and brilliantly modern, yet completely unassuming, Turtle Green is Amman’s first tea bar.  

Taste

Style

Vibes

Price

Parking

Staff

The interior of the place rocks. It is neither underdesigned nor overdesigned. Some additions are kitschy, and others are stunning. The mix is extremely comfortable — it’s the kind of place where you’d feel so comfortable sitting at for hours, and hours, whether working using their free Wi-fi connection or chatting with a group of very good friends.

The staff (mostly the owners at this point) did a great job at making me feel like this place can be home. The tea selection is not overwhelming, and I really enjoyed my cold jasmine tea.

This is my favorite new place since Las Tapas.

Turtle Green, Tea Bar Turtle Green, Tea Bar IMG_3381 Turtle Green, Tea Bar

Final verdict: Kick ass. Totally recommended.

Total:

Location: Jabal Amman, Rainbow Street, across from the British Council
Reservations: no
Phone: no idea
Recommended Item: Jasmine Ice Tea
Average Price: 2.5 JDs






  • http://www.aliwritings.blogspot.com Ali

    Very interesting review roba, Will definitely check it out, And i agree with you on the wooden bab al hara style that is being seen a lot in amman these days, Enough with that already.
    .-= The latest from Ali´s blog ..For the love of Jabal Webdeh =-.

  • http://www.ohseriously.wordpress.com Dee

    thanks for the this post and the one before it.. i’m going to make sure to try both this weekend :D sankyouuuuuu
    .-= The latest from Dee´s blog ..*Dreaming of that Camera* =-.

  • http://www.360east.com Ahmad Humeid

    It seems like a great place. I was there for a few seconds with Mayor Omar Maani, who congratulated the owners on what they did during a recent tour of rainbow. The mayor totally understands what’s going wrong with the street. Architect Rami Daher and the mayor both talked to an owner of one of those “bab el hara” fake damascus style place. I can tell you that these people are well meaning but totally misinformed. They were taken aback when Rami explained to them that what they are doing destroys the real heritage of the place.

    It’s not a totally hopeless situation, but still pretty depressing. The mayor is genuinely interested in the street and promised closer follow up. The only solution is case by case approval of every addition to the street. GAM doesn’t have the capacity to properly follow up but I think they will try harder.

    It kills me when I see this awareness gap destroying the real soul of Amman.

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  • Rami Daher

    I totally agree, many can learn from this tastful addition to Rainbow Street. It is contemporary and yet respects the essence of Rainbow Street (linked to Amman’s heritage of Modernity). I was with architect Ahmad Hummaid and HE the Mayor and we tried to explain to some resaurant owners about the adverse effect they are doing to the Street by this excessive cladding (alocobond, wood, other) which completely destroys the original urban fabric of Rainbow. Some understood, others did not. But it is obvious that we need to do an effort of awareness as many are doing these hiddious additions with good intensions.
    The most autentic addition is a one that carried a contemporary stamp and image and yet does not attempt to immetate the past (let alone a different past), but rather offers a new interpretation of the place. And Turtle Green is definitly a true very good example of that. I wish many restaurant owners could learn from that experience. Sincerely
    Rami Daher

  • Rami Daher

    I corrected some typos in my previous comment. Sorry for that. Here it is again.
    All the best, Rami Daher

    I totally agree, many can learn from this tasteful addition to Rainbow Street. It is contemporary and yet respects the essence of Rainbow Street (linked to Amman’s heritage of Modernity). I was there a couple of days ago with architect Ahmad Hummaid and HE the Mayor and we tried to explain to some restaurant owners about the adverse effect they are doing to the Street by this excessive cladding (alocobond, wood, other) which completely destroys the original urban fabric of Rainbow. Some understood our point, others did not. But it is obvious that we need to do an effort of awareness as many are doing these hideous additions with good intensions.
    The most authentic addition is a one that carries a contemporary stamp and image and yet does not attempt to imitate the past (let alone a different past), but rather offers a new interpretation of the place. And Turtle Green is definitely a true very good example of that. I wish many restaurant owners could learn from that experience. Sincerely
    Rami Daher

  • http://www.360east.com Ahmad Humeid

    Well said Rami.. I think we need to continue to hammer on this issue. Downtown is starting to suffer from the same “Bab el Hara” problem. In a way, I envy Beirut for better understanding their own urban heritage. I think it would be great if we go through the street, photograph all the out of place stuff and suggest remedies and hand the file to the Mayor’s office.
    .-= The latest from Ahmad Humeid´s blog ..Rebooting Jordan: do we need a bigger kick in the butt than what happened in Salt? =-.

  • ahmad bdour

    TG is one of a kind place with extraordinary atmosphere, a place am never bored of !
    the menu is delicious, they have a lot of weird but fantastic drinks.
    love it love it love it !!!

  • alice kazan

    i love ..adore..TURTLE GREEN…
    i almost live there ..
    drinks are amazing , the stuff are so0o0o0o0o0oo0o0 friendly .. with a beautiful and so comfortable place to hang out …..
    love it .. :)

  • tareq

    If you sit on second floor (or 1.5 floor i guess) at Turtle Green in the after noon, you will get sucked into the most comfortable zone in amman…..really first time I sat there I felt like am in a different world…am into tea that much but now I am more interested in trying all the nice tea drink they got…probably best design of a place I have yet to see in amman….

  • tripthelight

    it is a very pretty place indeed…was wondering what you guys thought about the name though ?
    I’m thinking not the best of choices?

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Ali, I know! 3anjad enough!

    Dee, my pleasure :) Let me know which you like more :)

    Ahmad, yeah, I’m not saying that they’re trying to ruin Amman’s image on purpose. I guess relativity is a powerful concept :) I really hope that the GAM can figure out a plan of action that’s efficient and cuts down the mess that is happening to the city’s older districts.

    Rami, I’m flattered to have you comment on this blog :) Cladding is ruining Amman from its West to its East. Alucobond is a good example you mentioned. We’re a culture of “cool”, sadly. Thoughtlessly attempting to fit in. I hope people learn from Turtle Green as well.

    Ahmad, it is pretty cool :)

    Alice, they are very friendly! and I love the free wifi!

    Tareq, I should try that out for sure!

    Tripthelight, I actually think the name is super cool :) So cute!

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  • http://freewifiwiki.net jj1

    Awesome that the Turtle Green Tea Bar has wifi. I am compiling a list of places in Jordan (and worldwide) with free open public wifi – http://freewifiwiki.net/index.php?title=Jordan

    If you have any others to contribute please do!
    .-= The latest from jj1´s blog ..Guatemala =-.

  • mindy

    I hove Turtle Green! I LOVE
    everything about it! ! A great, great discovery I made here on Rainbow Street! Keep up the great work!!!!

  • http://www.bello.fi bello

    Looks great! Great design, a bit of “cold” trendy design but mostly homey feeling.

  • http://www.bumstumsandthighs.com/ Jon

    Looks like a nice little bar. My only experience of an middle eastern tea bar was Cafe Tarzan (I think) in Tunisia on the Paris-Dakar rally route. It was dark when I got there, options were mint tea or coffee. Was great though.

    Does this bar do many green teas? Loose leaf varieties of oolong and such? Or just tea bags?
    .-= The latest from Jon´s blog ..Green Tea and Oolong Tea – What is the Difference and Do They Aid Weight Loss =-.

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