Chef Qais Malhas

Shams El Balad | Amman

Since taking the helm of the kitchen in 2016, Qais Malhas has transformed Shams El Balad from a small café in downtown Amman into one of the most celebrated restaurants in the Middle East. A self-taught chef with a background in film, Qais brings a cinematic sense of narrative to every plate, blending ancestral food knowledge with contemporary techniques and bold regional expression.

Under his culinary direction, Shams has garnered widespread acclaim, earning spots on the MENA’s 50 Best list three years in a row, coming in at #8 in 2025. His work has been featured in several global publications such as Monocle, The New York Times and Vogue for reimagining Arabic cuisine in ways that feel at once nostalgic and new.

Qais has elevated local ingredients and culinary traditions into a dynamic dining experience rooted in place but driven by reinvention. The menu continues to evolve with each season and each idea reflecting Qais’s relentless curiosity, artistic sensibility, and vision to push the boundaries of what Arabic cuisine can be today.