Hummus Abu Adham, Tel Aviv

Abu Adham Humus, 7 Carlbach

Abu Adham – אבו אדהם. You know every Israeli knows the best hummus place in town right?  Don’t try to argue with them.  You can make your opinion known but chances are they know an even better smaller place in the city.  Or off a side street in this small village. And they’ll swear no one knows about it.  And they know the owner.  He’s a nice guy.

I’m not here to argue what the best humus joint is in Tel Aviv, since I don’t want to start a third intifadah (can I say that?  Or did I just get political?) Anyway…

My friend Ido goes to this humus place – Abu Adham, on Carlbach street because it is the best hummus in town. As previously mentioned, I’m not here to argue.

But it’s hard to argue with him when the hummus is probably the best I’ve had.  And yes, I’ve eaten at Abu Hassan.  My conversation on that very aspect went something like this:

“You know Abu Hassan?” Ido asks.

“Ya, I’ve eaten there once.”

“It’s better than Abu Hassan.”

And we just stood there silently, letting those words fall between us.  Somewhere, a chickpea angel got her wings.

The truth is, the food there is very good, but it’s the tradition that Ido and his friends created that make this place so great.  Thankfully I am able to join them.

It’s a weekly ritual for this gang, where one person brings a bottle of Arak, and by the end they always toast to their friend who is getting married soon (he isn’t).  But Mazel Tov anyway! We order falafel, fries, pickles, olives, pita and hummus and by the end of the smorgasbord everyone throws their credit cards in and we split the bill.

The linchpin of the group is Ido, a colleague and friend from my time in Los Angeles.  The group consists of old high school friends and army buddies and occasion friends of friends.  I’m honored to be included.  It’s something very fun, refreshing and hilarious being around a group of Israelis joking around.  There is a real camaraderie amongst them.

It gives me a chance to practice my Hebrew, which usually consists of:

“What did I just order?” and “No thank you. It’s a bit early for Arak.”

I have yet to master the name of what I ordered, but it’s half hummus and…um… half hummus?  That other half is called “mashawsha” and it’s tasty.  Half-and-half is perfect because it’s as though someone put chunk and smooth peanut butter in the same container (are you reading this Skippy?!?) Sometimes you just want some texture and other times you don’t. With mashawsha you have options.

Another challenge is ordering, since for the most part Israelis will let you know what they think is the best humus at the humus place – with beans (called “ful”), with an egg, with two eggs, with beans and egg, with chickpeas on top (as if there weren’t enough chickpeas in the humus) and so on and so on.

Suggestions

You won’t go wrong with any dish despite what your Israeli or non-Israeli friends insist.  The food is quality and that can be seen by the long, let me repeat that…loooooooooong lines that form at Abu Adham.  Which allows me to suggest:

Go with a group of friends of 5 or more! 

By going in a larger group you can occupy one of the two long tables outside. If you go with one friend you might be waiting upwards of 1.5 hours, which is what I observed on the Friday afternoon.  It’s worth the wait, but it’s always more fun to go with a friends and make getting hummus a group ritual. And surprisingly Arak isn’t so bad in the mid-afternoon.

Dishes
Hummus, Falafel, Fries, Ice Tea, Lemonade, Olives, Onions, Pita
 
Total 43

Blarg!

Consider I’ve never seen the bill I just know it comes to about 40+ for all the hummus, falafel, pita, pickles and fries.  Not a bad sum to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of their friend (Mazel Tov!)

Rating