Hummus! and What I like about Falafels

 

As I walked past two balding men by the maître d’ desk (If I could guess I would say one of them was probably the owner) rapidly speaking Hebrew so soulfully I’d wished I could speak the language myself, I entered Tarzana’s Hummus Bar & Grill expecting to eat a relatively decent yet genuine Israeli meal. When I had called to ask for their cross streets (Ventura and Yolanda), without thinking I asked what the wait was like. My mother then commented that it was a somewhat pointless inquiry; after all it was already eight o’clock on a Monday evening.

It was kind of crowded! At the same time, it wasn’t noisy. We felt invited, not overwhelmed. We also got the last empty table. I wouldn’t call the place hole-in-the-wall, but it definitely has that type of vibe to it, in a good way. The restaurant is an elongated rectangle, with the grill on one side and maybe twelve tables on the other side, separated by a dining counter with a muted-yet-intense rugby game on the widescreen above.

We’ve never had such an easy time figuring out what to order. Of course we had to try the Hummus, and we ended up just going with the standard recipe. Also on the menu are tempting variations such as adding grilled mushrooms or meat. Clearly the returning patrons were going for these. The unlimited servings of all their 12 vegetarian salads for $5.99 per person nearly convinced us, but we already had too much else in mind: the next order of business was a shoe in; we had to order a plate of falafels. Nothing says more about a Mediterranean restaurant than the way they prepare their falafels.

Six of them. A decent number. I mean we weren’t there to eat nothing but falafels. And these were heavy. There were still small, just slightly larger than bite-sized, you know? Have you ever seen those falafels where they’re almost the size of a passion fruit or something? Those creep me out. No. These had that perfect size. But they were very filling! After the first bite I was able to examine their composition: verrry green. Like almost neon, at least as far as garbanzo beans go. There’s nothing wrong with that, and in fact some people, including a number of my family members, actually prefer the thicker, more flavorful falafel. I don’t know. For me, there’s something indescribably satisfying about the ones so light and so hot that you pretty much eat them in one bite and can’t even remember that you’ve just finished a whole plate of falafels by the time you’re done. They’re sooo good. If that’s more like you’re style, you must go straight to the recently (and fantastically) redesigned, reopened Amer’s Falafel, Carnival (delicious yet reasonable Lebanese), or if you really want to go for the gold, Carousel is a bit fancier, and if you really want to take advantage of the menu consider going for a birthday (or at least have some excuse for splurging) and getting one of their fixed menus. But make sure to try their frogs Legs (yes, you heard me right) and under no circumstances can you get away without ordering the falafels! They don’t give you enough and they’re kind of pricey, but okay. They’re shaped like doughnuts. Enough said.

Was that a tangent or what!? Anyway, The Hummus Bar & Grill is yummy. More importantly it’s reasonable. There were three of us, and we easily ate more than we should have of some more-than-decent hummus, falafel, unbelievably tender chicken skewers that came with fresh (I mean fresh) Israeli salad and Israeli fries (I don’t really know what the difference is, but I do have an easy-to-forget obsession for them). Not to mention the more-than-you-can-eat laffa bread, which was amazingly addicting. We even tried they’re dessert, Malabe (custard-like heaven topped with pistachios, candied coconut, and drizzled with rose water. Near perfection.) As our waiter handed us the work of art he said he’d be glad to take the leftovers home with him. After our first bite there wasn’t a chance that he’d be getting any. All of this including the tip? $42. I’ll be back.

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