Gastronomic Excursions : The Hummus Place

I ran into a new friend named Nikki yesterday. We chatted for a bit about jobs, weird people,the awesome weather. I havent had lunch at that time yet so we started talking about food. She is from Israel and has a fascinating penchant for handsome men and delicious food (although the word delicious can be used interchangeably here). I was really enjoying our conversation but I felt I was about to drool about our delicious topic (yes, Bradley Cooper and yummy food)so I had to excuse myself to look for something to eat. She recommended I try this place which was not too far from where we live. Its called the Hummus Place. Im not really crazy about hummus per se and since thats the first thing that came to mind, I didnt eagerly consider it. But the way she described how the food tasted made me very curious. So I  met up with the hubby after he came home from school and we decided to give the place a try. 

It is officially spring now (although it felt more like summer) and more  people were out enjoying the very fine weather (82 F outstanding!) clad in skimpy but comfortable looking outfits. Just last week everyone still donned their down jackets, scarves, hats and boots. Now all of a sudden people are in short shorts and cropped tops. I noticed also that bars were streaming with patrons. 

We savored the beautiful day by picking out a fresh restaurant (not new, but something we havent tried yet) which was geographically desirable and highly recommended.

Location: 

The restaurant is between first avenue and A along St Marks

The ambiance was very inviting. The smell that wafted from the kitchen was mouth watering. We quickly found ourselves a nice spot by the window and scanned the menus. I ordered a mint iced tea and the Shakshuka Halumi. The hubby ordered the Hummus Fava, same drink as mine and a Babaganush.

The wait time was only 8-10 minutes. I didnt really notice because my head was glued to my ereader and I was somewhere in the lands of Westeros.

My reverie was favorably interrupted by the sound of the server's  delightful "and here is your meal :

The gooey thing in the middle is the Babagaganush

My meal 

Shakshuka Halumi

The hubby's meal 

Hummus Fava

1) QUALITY (ie DELICIOUSNESS) : It was really very good. The consistency, flavor and the "symphony" of the combined taste was amazing. I could even commit to being a vegetarian if every meal was as great as the one I just had.

2) PORTION SIZE : I was satisfied with my meal. I couldve gotten an additional flat bread but the serving was sufficient to hold me over until midnight.

3) BANG FOR FOR YOUR BUCK : On this side of the city, the going rate for very good meals are usually 7USD up. Sometimes they even ask for more but the meal is crappy. The Hummus Place prices are very reasonable.

4) COMMENTS OR RECOMMENDATIONS: 

Although the lady server did ask us if we wanted more flat bread while she saw me trying to wipe out clean the bowl of babaganush, I did find it odd that we were served only one flat bread each. The interesting thing was the lady sitting next to us, had 2 flat breads in her basket. Or maybe the flat bread is only for one of our orders and the  server offering us more is complimentary. I honestly dont know. It doesnt even matter because the overall experience was splendid. We will definitely go back very soon.

YUM YUM METER VERDICT : Excellent, excellent, excellent

The yumminess didnt end here though. We capped off our chow experience with something a little sweet and salty. 

oh yes that is the name

I have to write a separate post about how good the icecream is at this place. Oh and by the way, they have a painting of a huge Unicorn on their wall. They also have a little unicorn inflatable toy and a unicorn toy with an action figure on the saddle. Im not kidding.

Daily thoughts - Let's save beautiful AMBER

Please visit this link and follow the instructions posted at the bottom. It wont take too much of your time. You'll never know it could be your email and your heartfelt intention to spread the word and help that could save Amber's life.

Daily thoughts : Nemo found us!

I am not going into the detail of how the name came about, the link can fill in that part. Although the name makes me all warm and fuzzy because the picture below is what I think of, I am sure this storm is not going to be "cute". I havent experienced my real first blizzard but I am darn sure I am a tropical mammal not designed to weather such extreme conditions.

I dont like snow. It looks good on TV, magazines, movies, photos, in short not in real life, at least not for me. Its only nice to look at when you are in the comfort of your own home. But when I know for sure there is snow coming, I try to avoid it at all cost. Better hunker it down and wait it out till its gone. The bitter cold out there makes my head hurt so bad its like literally brain freeze. Then there is that danger of slipping on the sidewalk when you come across sleet. I hate that. One time we were coming out of Barnes and NObles and I was so excited because it was my first time to really experience snow not just from the balcony like I did when I first got here. But I almost slipped. I dont think it would have been great if  landed on my ass or worse broke my damn hips. There was that metal structure on the floor (maybe like a manhole for pipes) and it was covered up by a carpet of snow that nobody would have noticed it at all. Unfortunately too I was wearing sneakers that dont have any traction at all. So we had to walk across Union Square like old people to avoid slipping and hurting ourselves.

So when I heard about this weather forecast, I charged my camera right away. But I realized too I may not be able to take a lot of photos outside since Im too much of a sissy to go out and really look around. Nevertheless I wanted to be prepared in case I do feel adventurous tomorrow. Im just hoping that this storm isnt as bad as Sandy was.

Speaking of Sandy, Man, that was 4 nights of hell! we had no water, no heat, no food! everything in the fridge had to go. Worst, we had to haul water on a flight of stairs 8 floors up! It sucked because if you had no water, you cant use the toilet and go, you know what I mean. Then the next day I also had to walk an hour to get to work. I did kinda look forward going to work that time. It was the only way to charge my dead electronics and use a clean toilet. I washed my face and brushed my teeth at the office. Shower? whats that? hehe oh I showered before heading back to the apartment.  We swung by at Mom's apartment, appropriated some boiled hot water from the stovetop and used a pail full of ice cold water. I cant really complain. That primitive preparation soothed my aches and pains for the day.

 I failed to mention, no help arrived during those 4 days and nights of hell. Our grandmother was too sick to go downstairs to get herself food, water or any supplies. So we had to check on her too and make sure she had candles, flashlight and other stuff. I like to whine about it especially about the fact that on the upper east side, they had traffic lights. whereas on our part of the grid, it was major black out. Anyone can get run over by a vehicle just by crossing the street. The hought of thieves and rapists lurking in the dark was another thing to worry about too. Luckily, we managed to get home safely.

Also I would like to think that we werent really that unlucky. Some boroughs were hit hard than we were so I am still glad the chaos we had to put up with lasted  less than a week. I wanted to post some photos unfortunately too I have none since I didnt charge my camera the night before. I thought the news was just exaggerating the possible outcome of that storm. Downplaying that event was disastrous. We spent a lot of money having to get supplies that were overpriced. We had to use a small crappy flashlight my coworker gave to me (which fortunately came in so handy because he gave it just the day before) to get up to our apartment.8 small candles cost 8 bucks at the deli near where we live. Opportunistic pathogens.

Anyway, that Sandy experience deserves its own blog entry but I never had the time to go into detail about it. I was just so busy with work, and getting our place cleaned up. you know the wifey chores I had to do. But in short it was a nightmare that Im sort of terrified to go through again.

So I hope Nemo wont be a name I would despise too.  Ill find out tomorrow. Time to pick up on my reading. But first things first, I have to scoop the damn litter box because my cat just let out a rotten turd and the damn bastard called spouse decided to turn on the fan to ensure i take a whiff of it. Asshole.

potty dome