Hummus Bros Cheapside

January 22, 2010 | Map

I am so lucky to work within walking distance of a Hummus Bros branch. And today I had the one item from their menu that I haven’t had before. Yes, I am now through their complete menu! Not only that, my lunch today was even free: Hummus Bros were opening their new branch next to St Paul’s Cathedral in Cheapside, and they were giving away thousands of free lunches.

My decision to go reasonably early paid off. When I left, the queue was easily twice as long and growing by the second, and I guess queueing outside in light rain wasn’t really fun, yet people braved the weather easily. Once you managed to get inside, the wait was only about 10-15 minutes, and you were welcomed with a nice mint & ginger lemonade. Very refreshing, though to be honest, I would have preferred a hot tea in this miserable winter weather. Or their brilliant hot spiced apple juice.

Hummus Bros obviously focus on hummus. It forms the base layer of a dish, which is complemented with a usually generous cold or hot topping, and this is what you actually select. The cheap options cover chickpea or beans from a 5,000 year old recipe, they claim, whereas if you add a pound or two, you will get meat or guacamole. Warm pita bread always comes with a dish, as does either lemon-garlic or chili sauce. You can order sides if you want, however, the regular portions are quite filling on their own, even though they might not look that much! Stick with small portions if you are not a good eater.

The new branch introduced a quirk: the guy who filled the takeaway containers or eat-in bowls with the base layer of hummus did so from a raised platform in the middle of the serving counter, not unlike, no, very much like a pulpit. That says a lot about how serious they take their hummus, albeit this presentation is clearly tongue-in-cheek. Or maybe they want to establish hummus as a new religion? Be thou my master, hummus-man.

My missing item of yet untasted Hummus Bros mains was the chicken, so I went for it. And, as always, it was good. Really good. Ah, I am so lucky to live within walking distance of a Hummus Bros branch now.

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