With writer’s block now but a distant memory, all I really crave as an accessory to my newly inspired typings is a wonderful backdrop. Doubtless, my present location is thronged with cafés, if you enjoy the sticky greasy formica varity with bacon sizzling away or the all-too common Starbucks and Costa branches with their high a/c and low-key music. The real gem is the independent - yet novel - café, something that Amman (and indubitably a pletora of other cities across the Middle East) does with real panache.

My personal favourite while feeling unusually studious was Books@Café, a wonderful café in Jabal Amman, just off the 1st Circle. From the music to the food to the books downstairs – not to mention the views over the surrounding hills – it proved the perfect place to escape the harassment of downtown, while retaining the casual atmosphere that could prove elusive in uptown areas.

Here are a few pilfered images of a much-missed haunt: