Just had dinner at Alia Restaurant in Abdoun with my family. The service and food quality are subpar. We paid 73 JOD total, which included a more than 5 JOD service fee. Yet, the service that we got was quite appalling, maybe intentionally because of our ethnicity. The waiters of the staff, who were all Arab, were not respectful to us.

My family and I are Filipino, and we received inferior treatment compared to the Arab customers of the restaurant. Instead of serving us fresh bread (khubz), the waiter grabbed the bowl of leftover bread from another table that was occupied by an Arab family. He literally served us these food scraps from the previous Arab customer, which offended us greatly. How would he feel, how would you feel, if we do the same thing to you? I would offer fresh bread to a white or Arab customer, but then if you are brown or black-skinned, I would give you their leftover bread. No one deserves such poor, double standard treatment. We had to confront the waiter and request to be served fresh and new bread.

In addition, after we finished our meal, the waiter haphazardly and carelessly grabbed our plates and poured all the food scraps into one plate in front of us. Some of the food scraps spilled over on our table while we have not even paid and left it. He could have just grabbed the plates separately without having to make a whole mess in front of us. Or he could have waited for us to leave then proceed to clean the table. But his manner was so moronic that it felt deliberate. The service was so unprofessional and unhygienic.

Along with being initially served leftover bread, the kebab that we ordered was not freshly cooked. We have been living here in Jordan for many years, and we know if dishes like kebab are freshly cooked or not. The kebab at Alia Restaurant was meat that was reheated. Mind you, it was barely lukewarm and not even hot as a freshly cooked kebab is supposed to be served. For the price that we paid (18 JOD per 1 kilogram), it was not worth it.

I have colleagues and friends all over the world in Asia, America, and Europe. When they visit me, I will not bring them to Alia Restaurant. I will not recommend this restaurant to them. To the people I know, I will tell them all about the abysmal service, inferior double standard treatment, and subpar food quality of Alia Restaurant. To anyone reading this, you are better off avoiding this restaurant and going somewhere that has good food and a decent service staff that will not be racist and discriminatory.