-
hummus king: vegan paradise in the valley
32August 25th, 2010hummus king, LA restaurantsUPDATE: hummus king in thee valley has closed down, but they are offering catering and free delivery until they hopefully re-open in silverlake!
ever since we posted brittany’s glowing review of hummus king, an all vegetarian restaurant in valley village, we have been dying to go there. we finally made the trip this weekend, and i can safely say that it’s one of my new favorite spots.
the menu at hummus king is large, inexpensive, and almost entirely vegan (i think the only animal products at the restaurant are eggs as a topping). they’ve got several platters, salads, and sandwiches filled with your choice of homemade falafel, spiced vegan shwarama, and SEVEN different kinds of hummus to choose from. the second we walked in, a friendly fellow behind the counter started whipping out spoons filled with hummus, offering us a chance to try each flavor. they were all super tasty; i knew immediately that we were in for an awesome meal.
falafel platter: small hummus plate, eight falafel balls, two sides, two pitta breads, and a fountain drink. $9.95
we decided to share the falafel platter, which isn’t a platter at all, but rather several small plates of food. this would probably be enough to feed 2 people, or one VERY hungry person. our platter came with 8 falafel balls (a mix of normal and fire flavor), a side of salad, a side of shwarama, a side jalapeno hummus, 2 pieces of pita bread, and fountain drink.
lemme start by saying the falafel was FANTASTIC! some of the best i’ve ever had. super fluffy in the middle and crispy on the outside, yet not burnt to a crisp. it wasn’t overly oily, and it was perfectly seasoned. i highly recommend doing what we did and asking them to throw some “fire balls” (spicy falafel) into the mix, because those were even better than the normal falafel.
the side of shwarama that came with the falafel platter was huge, i couldn’t believe it was just a side when they brought it to our table. one bite of this stuff and i was in love—thinly sliced and super meaty, it was all mixed up with fantastic mediterranean spices and little bits of grilled onions. i’m definitely gonna work this shwarama into my order every time i go to hummus king.
the salad was very nice as well, light and refreshing with crispy cubes of cucumber, plump tomatoes, and shredded cabbage. it went great stuffed on top of the falafel in the warm pita bread.
the last component of the falafel platter, the small side of hummus, was probably my favorite thing on the table. there were so many flavors to choose from, but we went with jalapeno and were not disappointed. this was some of the creamiest, most flavorful hummus i’ve ever tasted and it was finished off with a chunky scoop of chickpeas and some spiced oil. TO DIE FOR. i honestly wanted to pick up the plate and face palm it.
the falafel platter was so good, i would highly recommend it! i mean just look at the four pictures above—all that food for under 10 bucks! and you can’t even see the pita bread!
vegetarian shwarama sandwich: pita bread with choice of hummus, filled with mediterranean spiced shwarama, chopped vegetable salad, green tahini and mango sauce. $6.95
oh, but that’s not all my friends. not knowing how epic the falafel platter would be, we also got a shwarama sandwich to share. this was a very generous portion of the same tasty fake meat described above, shoved into a soft pita picket with salad, hummus, and green tahini. i would order this hefty hand held meal again any time, it was wonderful! it was all the deliciousness of the shwarama, salad, and hummus i described above neatly tucked together in an easy to eat sandwich. if i were at hummus king on my own for lunch, this would be my go to meal. it’s the right size for one person without having any leftovers.
our first experience at hummus king was phenomenal, and just thinking about it makes me want to drive over there right now. the place is pretty basic on the inside (as you can see in the picture above), but the food is out of this world. plus, the service is friendly, the prices are low, and you can sample pretty much anything you want before you order. oh, and it’s kosher!
get over to the valley and show this vegetarian business some support! you will thank me later.
hummus king
12422 burbank blvd
valley village, ca 91607
818-509-7999
sunday – friday 10:30am-4:00pmclick here and here for the menu.
Tags: falafel, hummus, north hollywood, shwarama, the valley, valley village
30 responses to “hummus king: vegan paradise in the valley” 
-
I will be there for sure!
-
Everything looks so good. It looks fresh, tasty, not boring. If I am every in the area, I will be sure to visit.
-
silverlakerunner August 25th, 2010 at 07:18
Oh my lord, that looks so good. I love falafel. My favorite place for falafel is on Santa Monica & Normandie, Alex Falafel I think. They serve meat dishes, so I might have a new favorite falafel place to replace it with!
-
Screwdriver August 25th, 2010 at 08:12
Since the Hummus King was first reviewed on QG my wife and I have been there 6-7 times. In fact yesterday waiting for the plumber to replace out hot water heater, my wife went and picked us up lunch there. We both had the shwarama sandwich, cabbage salad and fire balls.
Hummus King has turned into our new local favorite….and I love we can walk there in less then ten minutes.
-
Hummus King is nearly around the corner from my house, so I’ll be heading over there to try the food very soon! 🙂
-
Greg C. August 25th, 2010 at 09:00
I’ve gotta go again and try the fire balls…he was all out of them last time I went.
My one suggestion for Hummus King is to get iced tea. I bought a combo (assuming there would be iced tea) …but he only had soda and I generally don’t drink it. It was still cheap enough that I didn’t bitch about it…plus he gave me so many samples I felt like I had a free extra meal! 🙂
-
My veggie co-worker and I are constantly trying to expand our valley lunch options so I was psyched to try this place. We went on Monday and the shwarama sandwich ROCKED! This will now be on our weekly rotation.
Agree with Greg C. – I got the combo and was bummed by the lack of iced tea too.
-
veganinla August 25th, 2010 at 10:21
I know where I’m going this weekend!! (I hope they add iced tea soon as I’m not a soda drinker.)
-
Do you know what the shwarna is made of? Imported bullshitmeat? Gardein? Ever since Operation Pancake I’ve become very careful with fake meats.
-
trishells August 25th, 2010 at 14:38
i have no idea wtf a fire ball is but i want one so bad. right now.
-
You should come to detroit sometime. there is tons of food available like that.
-
i went last night and jason told me he was overwhelmed with customers all day!!! he had to make all new hummus, bc he sold out!
quarrygirl effect!!! woo!
-
Greg C. August 26th, 2010 at 19:13
FIREBALLS! They’re not kidding….wow, make sure you have something to drink if you eat these!!!!
-
Gauri Radha August 26th, 2010 at 21:32
“i went last night and jason told me he was overwhelmed with customers all day!!! he had to make all new hummus, bc he sold out!
quarrygirl effect!!! woo!”Oh that’s so cool !! 😀
-
Screwdriver August 27th, 2010 at 07:29
Quarry Girl needs window stickers to hand out to QG approved vegan joints. They could read….
“Quarry Girl Fucking Approves Of This Place!”
-
And the award for ‘first thing on a Sunday morning to make me laugh’, “i honestly wanted to pick up the plate and face palm it.”
I’m so jealous, this place sounds absolutely divine!
-
The shawerma looks / tastes / feels to me like garden variety dried soy meat – essentially TVP. Has a mild, but distinctive taste which I don’t really prefer, and I thought the seasoning was a little not that great. I think if it were served hotter, it would have tasted a little better, but I really would have preferred a seitan-based shawerma, with more nuanced spicing. So it’s cool that they have it and all, and I was curious enough to make the trip for it once, but I’d really prefer to eat a good falafel somewhere else.
The falafel was Ok. Not the worst I’ve ever tasted as someone said above, but not really worth a trip to the valley for either.
Hummus was pretty good; the ful mudammes was really awful, though – didn’t taste like any rendition of ful I’ve ever had. It tasted more like pinto or kidney beans than fava beans, and the spicing was all wrong.
-
“i honestly wanted to pick up the plate and face palm it.” –classic!
-
I’ve gone once and the shwarma was really good, though it wasn’t as seasoned as I’d hoped. I little tapatio saved the day. However, I’ve gone by 3 other times in September and they’ve been closed every time! Not sure if observance of Jewish holidays / sabbath is the reason, but I’m losing hope.
-
ricco ross January 11th, 2011 at 17:20
Amazing, healthy, tasty, affordable, quick… I am sold on it! Ricco Ross
-
ricco ross January 11th, 2011 at 17:20
WOW, I have never been into hummus but had to because a friend wanted to. My was I in for a treat. This product is amazing, healthy, choices. What more could you ask for for an amazing meal. Ricco Ross
-
Hummus King will be closed for Superbowl Sunday — have a great party everybody!
2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks
-
The Best Thing I’ve Eaten All Week: Vegetarian Shawarma « I Dream of Greenie September 2nd, 2010 at 08:15
[…] couldn’t get a good picture (check out pictures on quarrygirl’s review) but I ate one of the most delicious sandwiches I have ever had in my life…. the pita was […]
-
[…] found out about Hummus King from a post on Quarry Girl and with a review like that, I knew I needed to go. I did as instructed and ordered the falafel […]
Dale August 25th, 2010 at 05:09