The Best Israeli Experience at Hummus Bar and Grill Restaurant

Gerry Furth-Sides and Roberta Deen) At Israeli Chef-owner Tomy Talio’s Hummus Bar and Grill restaurant in Tarzana Village Shopping Center on Ventura Boulevard, one of the blissful add-ons is the plentiful parking that makes a trip to the valley start with a smile. You might expect a variety of Hummus, Babaganoush, and warm pita out of the oven and perhaps even Chopped Liver.  But finding the best, most refined and beautifully seasoned grilled Beef Sweetbread skewer anywhere, including any French restaurant?  Read on.

Chopped liver

First comes a small bowl of cabbage salad and one of lightly pickled cucumber with tiny green olives (pits are in) with your menu.   The menu is cleverly divided into whimsical categories: First Bites, I’m on a Diet/I’m so Vegetarian, Everything That Doesn’t Fit In A Category, No Utensils Needed.  

This is the perfect time to introduce white and red wines offered offered by the glass and bottle. There are Israeli wines on the list.  The “Golan Heights” Sauvignon Blanc (by the glass) tastes of cool rock and the slightest touch of tannins, perfect to accompany any of the dishes.

A choice of  16 colorful small dishes filled with salad (more than enough to feed 4-6 guests) comprise Ima’s Mediterranean Salads. They are served and priced by half pints or pints.  Each and every bite is so satisfying, it becomes an instant favorite. On the list: Garbonzo beans w/tahini, egg salad, Hummus, excellent, slightly sweet, chopped liver,  Moroccan Beet salad, Greek eggplant, babaganush eggplant with tahini and mayo, spicy eggplant with Harrisa (our personal favorite), corn and red bell pepper, tabuli (finely chopped herbs and bulgar wheat), spicy fennel and green grapes and Turkish salad (roasted red bell pepper).

There is a small touch to almost every salad that makes it special.  Green grapes are the unusual twist to a fennel salad, and the contrast in textures is perfect.

Earthy Baladi Eggplant is a cult favorite.  A whole eggplant, fire-roasted, butterflied and dressed with white tahini, honey dates, pistachios, and fresh thyme that tastes like silk in the mouth.

Shakshuka, another middle eastern favorite, is served in the classic iron skillet. Here the tomato background to the egg is more of a tomato sauce than paste.

Butcher Shop offers entrees with one or two skewers and two sides (the vegetable rice is light and fluffy). Choose from four chicken versions, rib eye, beef fillet, Middle eastern ground beef kabob, lamb, fois gras and for the venturous, sweetbreads expertly done and served with a light lemony dipping sauce.  From the Grill: Rib-Eye Skewers Romanian Kabob with rice and red cabbage so delicious it has almost become signature.

The two desserts we tried where eye-opening versions of familiar middle eastern standards. The Inside-out baklava comes on a shale slab with a wood-pile stack of tightly rolled nut and filo logs, a snowfall of finely shaved halvah and a melon dipping sauce. The Knafe Mallabi is a stuffed wheel of golden kataifi (shredded filo) filled with a mild, melting white cheese with a delicate touch of rose water in a pool of lightly sweetened syrup.

Mint tea is a do-it-yourself glass mug of fresh mint in hot water with a tea bag of your choice of Lipton black, green or camomile tea.

Service is brisk and knowledgeable and friendly.  The place feels like a party and the staff rightfully calls themselves “a team”. Customers are congenial. Hummus Bar & Grill regulars (who told us themselves it is as much fun as a Tel-Aviv outing) also love more classic fare like Schnitzel and Shawarma.  For the larger appetite or groups there is a Jerusalem Mix with tons of meats and vegetables to try, along with a falafel plate.

Simple setting, black and white, cloth napkins, crisp black and white photographs march along the walls at seated eye level.

Hummus Bar & Grill is open daily from 11:00am to 12:00am and on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Hummus also offers a delivery system provided daily from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., except on Sundays, when it resumes at 6:00 p.m.