Hummus Bros – Review

Between Christmas and New Year I expected to be able to wander around St Paul’s and take my pick of anywhere that was open. I expected London to be a dystopian wasteland of quietness. Oh how wrong I was, the streets were busy with people whom like me who had no holiday left to take.

However there was one place that I had wanted to try for a while that was less busy than a normal day, Hummus Bros which promises the delights of hummus mixed with chicken, beef, falafel, salads and other stuff. Hummus Bros was set up by two college friends in 2003 who were searching for something filling and healthy that would taste great, and still leave some change for drinks at the Union Bar. They ended up settling on Hummus and for that I salute you both.

When you walk into Hummus Bros you get the feeling of quite a sociable place to go for lunch with large wooden benches on your right where you can all sit together or just join other fellow hummus lovers and the decor is very ‘on trend’ for ‘trendy’ lunch places.

The menu is relatively straight forward, you pick what you want and pick the size, I went with a regular (the largest size) because I’m a bottomless pit when it comes to hummus. Just give it me with carrot sticks or crisps and I’ll consume it all day long. I went for the chicken and swapped out guacamole for sun-dried tomatoes. My large portion also came with two lovely and warm small pitta breads.

Off I went on a sort of mini hummus challenge that didn’t really feel like a challenge. The chicken was tasty in its light tomato sauce which was quite suitable, whilst the hummus tasted different from the supermarket types and was incredibly smooth. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked it and then I noticed a sign saying their hummus does not contain garlic so you can still have your afternoon meeting. Good to know and explained the difference in taste, though it was never a concern for me in my nearly empty office, it does explain why it is so busy at lunch times.

As the bottom of the pot got closer I started to feel full, really full. It was a very strange feeling that I’d never had before with hummus, so I powered on thinking it was merely a blip. However I soon learnt it was a mistake as by the end I felt sick, but this was solely my fault as I’d had felt the warning signs. Perhaps next time I’ll also get a fresh mint tea.

The larger pot plus sun dried tomatoes cost just over £7 which felt a little steep, but would I go back again? Yes I would though I’d pick a small one next time, as my dream of being a hummus bottomless pit was shattered on a very mild day in late December. As a result it gave me an unexpected New Year’s resolution, eat a bit less hummus.

I reviewed the St Paul’s branch, but there are also branches in Holborn, Soho and Exmouth Market.