.jpg)
.jpg)
Pizza Nina is a new hub for local pizza enthusiasts
By Raja Attar, Jordan News
- +
- -
AMMAN — In a city that absorbs global food trends faster than usual, Amman has become a hotbed for restaurants exploring new methods and flavor combinations. اضافة اعلان
The recent explosion in the pizza scene has become more noticeable over the last two years — from serving classic Italian pizzas from different regions to its widely popular American cousins in all its forms — now is the best time to be a pizza enthusiast in Amman.
In this new realm of pizza is the relatively new Pizza Nina. Located on the ground floor of Sweifieh Village next to the dining area, Pizza Nina serves Sicilian-style square pizzas using sourdough, making it stand out amongst the average circular pizzas served in most places.
The interior of Pizza Nina in Sweifieh Village. (Photos: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
Other than Pizza Nina, I can only think of two or three other places that serve Sicilian-style pizza, and it is safe to say that Pizza Nina is becoming a local favorite. Given Pizza enthusiasts’ obsession with dough and bread, this form of pizza seems to satisfy a big chunk of pizza lovers across the city as the dough is usually thicker and fluffier than the average classic dough.
For today’s mission, I brought my friend with me as we embarked on yet another pizza journey — after all, pizza is best enjoyed with friends!
Upon our arrival, we noticed that this place only serves pizza and perhaps one or two salads. The menu was easy to navigate through and pretty straightforward. As good patrons do, we placed a healthy order of pizza to get a clear idea of what Pizza Nina is all about.
We decided to order a half porcini and truffle oil half vegetarian and four single orders of pepperoni, Margherita, spicy beef sausage, and spinach ricotta. The half and half we ordered were made fresh. The rest were made earlier and needed a quick visit to the oven before being served.
The spinach ricotta pizza, served with a roasted cherry tomato on top. (Photos: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
After a swift 15 minutes, the entire order arrived in two pizza boxes. We decided to start with the single portions as the half porcini half vegetarian pizza was still very hot. Each portion is four square pieces.
First was the Margherita, the most basic pizza of them all. The simplicity of the Margherita makes it the best pizza to measure the taste and quality of any pizza restaurant. This particular slice of Margherita was good. The sourdough gives the pizza a unique touch as the crust comes out thinner and is slightly chewier than your average Sicilian crust.
The tomato sauce tasted fresh and clean, not so deep and rich in flavor, but overall very good. They put just the right amount of cheese on the pizza, and it was not as greasy as I had imagined a solid base to build on.
The pepperoni was good, but nothing spectacular. The spicy beef sausage was also good; the sausage was tender and adequately spiced and seasoned. The spinach ricotta, on the other hand, was one of our favorites of the night.
It was served with a generous amount of a ricotta and spinach blend on top of a bed of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. The ricotta brought out a big textural contrast which adds a creamy and pillowy feeling to each bite.
The roasted cherry tomato on top adds a lovely acidic kick. The manager later told me they put spinach in the dough, which explains why the pizza had a deeper than expected flavor of spinach. Recommended!
The half porcini and truffle oil and half vegetarian pizza by Pizza Nina. (Photos: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
After a bit of a wait, we were more than ready to try the porcini with truffle oil and the vegetarian pizzas. This pizza was sliced into eight long pieces since it was ordered fresh. The porcini with truffle oil was very tasty; the porcini mushroom brings a beautiful earthy and nutty profile to the cream sauce.
Sadly I couldn’t taste the truffle oil, so I went back to ask for some more, which did the trick. I was more than happy to end the evening on a high note as the vegetarian pizza was another favorite.
The veggies were pre-cooked before adding them to the pizza, preventing unnecessary moisture from ruining a perfectly good pizza, and the cheese portion was spot on. For me, the choice of vegetables is what made this pizza so good: a medley of eggplant, zucchini, kalamata olives, mushrooms, and onions with a touch of thyme. A fitting way to end an enjoyable experience.
Read more Good Food
The recent explosion in the pizza scene has become more noticeable over the last two years — from serving classic Italian pizzas from different regions to its widely popular American cousins in all its forms — now is the best time to be a pizza enthusiast in Amman.
In this new realm of pizza is the relatively new Pizza Nina. Located on the ground floor of Sweifieh Village next to the dining area, Pizza Nina serves Sicilian-style square pizzas using sourdough, making it stand out amongst the average circular pizzas served in most places.
The interior of Pizza Nina in Sweifieh Village. (Photos: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
Other than Pizza Nina, I can only think of two or three other places that serve Sicilian-style pizza, and it is safe to say that Pizza Nina is becoming a local favorite. Given Pizza enthusiasts’ obsession with dough and bread, this form of pizza seems to satisfy a big chunk of pizza lovers across the city as the dough is usually thicker and fluffier than the average classic dough.
For today’s mission, I brought my friend with me as we embarked on yet another pizza journey — after all, pizza is best enjoyed with friends!
Upon our arrival, we noticed that this place only serves pizza and perhaps one or two salads. The menu was easy to navigate through and pretty straightforward. As good patrons do, we placed a healthy order of pizza to get a clear idea of what Pizza Nina is all about.
We decided to order a half porcini and truffle oil half vegetarian and four single orders of pepperoni, Margherita, spicy beef sausage, and spinach ricotta. The half and half we ordered were made fresh. The rest were made earlier and needed a quick visit to the oven before being served.
The spinach ricotta pizza, served with a roasted cherry tomato on top. (Photos: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
After a swift 15 minutes, the entire order arrived in two pizza boxes. We decided to start with the single portions as the half porcini half vegetarian pizza was still very hot. Each portion is four square pieces.
First was the Margherita, the most basic pizza of them all. The simplicity of the Margherita makes it the best pizza to measure the taste and quality of any pizza restaurant. This particular slice of Margherita was good. The sourdough gives the pizza a unique touch as the crust comes out thinner and is slightly chewier than your average Sicilian crust.
The tomato sauce tasted fresh and clean, not so deep and rich in flavor, but overall very good. They put just the right amount of cheese on the pizza, and it was not as greasy as I had imagined a solid base to build on.
The pepperoni was good, but nothing spectacular. The spicy beef sausage was also good; the sausage was tender and adequately spiced and seasoned. The spinach ricotta, on the other hand, was one of our favorites of the night.
It was served with a generous amount of a ricotta and spinach blend on top of a bed of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. The ricotta brought out a big textural contrast which adds a creamy and pillowy feeling to each bite.
The roasted cherry tomato on top adds a lovely acidic kick. The manager later told me they put spinach in the dough, which explains why the pizza had a deeper than expected flavor of spinach. Recommended!
The half porcini and truffle oil and half vegetarian pizza by Pizza Nina. (Photos: Raja Attar/Jordan News)
After a bit of a wait, we were more than ready to try the porcini with truffle oil and the vegetarian pizzas. This pizza was sliced into eight long pieces since it was ordered fresh. The porcini with truffle oil was very tasty; the porcini mushroom brings a beautiful earthy and nutty profile to the cream sauce.
Sadly I couldn’t taste the truffle oil, so I went back to ask for some more, which did the trick. I was more than happy to end the evening on a high note as the vegetarian pizza was another favorite.
The veggies were pre-cooked before adding them to the pizza, preventing unnecessary moisture from ruining a perfectly good pizza, and the cheese portion was spot on. For me, the choice of vegetables is what made this pizza so good: a medley of eggplant, zucchini, kalamata olives, mushrooms, and onions with a touch of thyme. A fitting way to end an enjoyable experience.
Read more Good Food
NEWS RELATED TO