English food, good? Quoi??

Today I finally had good- nay, fantastic- food in London. That's not to say that everything I'd eaten til now had been abjectly disgusting, but none of it had been amazing (probably due to the fact that Britons are obsessed with meat and it's nearly impossible to find a decent selection of pescatarian/vegetarian tasties). I mean let's face it, London: you do a lot of things well, but food isn't exactly one of them (unless you are one of the few who adore various odd organs of sheep, cow, etc). Of course, the food I had today wasn't exactly native British cuisine (pretty sure hummus didn't originate anywhere near the fair Isles), but still- it was food, it was good, and it was in the UK. So that's got to count for something.

I happened upon the fabulous 'Hummus Bros' today on my way back from a flat-viewing (more on that later), when I was in the lovely first stages of food/water/sodium (according to my neurologist)-deprivation which for me involves short periods of blacking out whilst still remaining lucid and being only just able to remain upright. No big deal. Anyway, when this happens I know it's time to stop for a bit of a snackie. So I popped into the first place I found that looked remotely affordable, and it happened to be my NEW FAVORITE, Hummos Bros. I ate alone and didn't even feel like a loser, that's how good it was. I was too busy thinking about how DAMN GOOD the hummus was to worry if anyone was thinking, 'Wow, why is that wee American girl sitting all by herself with nary a book or magazine to distract her?" (Though to stave off any excessive staring I did text the lovely Stephen during my meal, just so everyone would know I *did* actually have friends.)

Anyway, get this-- this place is actually a HUMMUS BAR. Aka, you order hummus as a base and then add in stuff to go in the middle of the plate-- chickpeas, chicken, salad, WHATEVER. And of course it comes with pita bread. What I didn't know when I ordered was that this is the BEST PITA BREAD EVER- yes, better than the stuff I had in Morocco- AND, that beverages are always half-price if you're student (which in case you've been living under a rock, I AM). So all that to say, Hummus Bros is my new fave and if you come visit me here in London (which you should), I will probably drag you there and you will be obligated to say that you love it.

Because not only do they have amazing, cheap food suitable for vegetarians, but it also provided me with a much-needed link to home (whatever that even means to someone who grew up in about twenty hundred different places). Yes, I know I'm not Middle Eastern (though let's face it- loads of people I come across think I am. Okay, two people I've come across think I am.)... but hummus (and maybe having a good food experience in general) reminds me of things that are familiar to me. When I sat down in Hummus Bros and tasted the best hummus I've had in a LONG-ASS TIME, it reminded me of the amazing hummus I had (nearly every day, because our cafeteria food sucked some serious patootie) when I was in Morocco- which just happens to be the same place I made some of the most amazing friends ever. And when the dear little waiter came over and tried to get me to pour weird garlic-lemon sauce all over my already-perfect dish, it reminded me of how my lovely Stephen made the mistake of buying flavored hummus for our Bible study group and I bitched at him because everyone KNOWS that I think flavored things are unnatural, and then next time he came prepared with Original flavor hummus with nothing weird and extra added.

So thank you, Hummus Bros, for a) being awesome AND cheap, and b) giving me a strangely tangible link to some of my favorite people and memories. I'll be back soon :).