S. Worthen | Weblog

Locations: 88 Wardour Street just north of Old Compton St. W1F 0TJ; 37-63 Southampton Row at the Holborn end. WC1B 4DA. London.

There is a pair of restaurants in London dedicated to hummus. I've been hearing about them for the past year or so, but hadn't made any plans to visit until Monday, when, simultaneously, two unrelated groups of people made plans to visit them this week. Thus, between dinner last night at one branch of the Hummus Bros. and lunch today at the other, I've had quite a bit of chickpea goodness in the past 24 hours. Good, but not so good I want hummus again for at least a few days.

The restaurants are casual - order at the counter at lunchtime, full table service at dinner, long communal tables, a jaunty warm color scheme, staff in co-ordinated t-shirts. The menu really, truly is about hummus, although they serve some other fine dishes too. Hummus comes in seven regular varieties with several specials augmenting the selection each day. Topping ranges from the classic to guacamole to chicken or beef. My favorite was one of the specials, a rich pesto mixed with chunks of fresh tomato.

Non-hummus items include a variety of salads (good tabouleh) and superb desserts in the form of a satisfyingly rich round chocolate brownie and a gentle milk pudding, malabi, topped with sticky-dense date honey. I really liked the fresh mint and ginger lemonade (that's classic lemonade, none of that bubbly stuff) and the aloe vera juice was striking - soft little lumps of aloe vera sweetened with a bit of honey and grape juice.

Seven of us shared a slew of dishes, a feast of food, with sides, desserts, and non-alcoholic drinks at dinner last night. Including a lavish tip, it came to £11 per person.