Aug
11
Los Angles Times

By Linda Burum
Follow the aromas -- and the crowds -- to two shipudiot, or skewer houses, along Ventura. The lure? Kebabs, a dazzling assortment of Israeli salads and dips and oven-fresh flatbread.
..Hummus Bar & Grill offers its own take on the shipudia meal in a slightly less flamboyant style and with lower prices.
When it opened in 2006, it seemed to have dipped into a trend taking hold at the time in Manhattan. The limited menu offered hummus and more hummus. It still serves six variations -- such as with grilled beef, or mushrooms.
But sprawling L.A. is not Manhattan, and so about a year ago, new owners broadened the menu. turning the stylish spot into Hummus Bar & Grill. This bright. animated place has the requisite patio seating. There's a long bar where you can sit and watch a baker pull rounds of laffa off a rotating grill to dip into spicy tomato purée and the dozen other salads and dips.


True, you're served fewer of these mezes than at Itzik's, but the prices are $10 without an entree and only an extra $6 with one. The selection includes, among other things, chopped liver sweet with caramelized onion, guacamole-like mashed avocado, egg salad, beet and carrot salads, tabbouleh and baba ghanouj.
All the expected kebabs from Iamb and beef to foie gras and chicken hearts are here. As at flak's, the price escalates (but not as high) should you select filet mignon medallions or aged rib-eye, both $26.
A cone of shawarma rotates slowly in the open kitchen. It's made from turkey with a bit of lamb fat threaded throughout, which is typical in Israel, says an expat. Layer it into a swatch of warm laffa drizzled with tahini to alternate with varied bites of salads and you're in shipudia heaven.


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Hummus Bar and Grill

18743 Ventura Blvd,

Tarzana, CA 91356

Phone. 8183446606

Email. manager@hummusbargrill.com