Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Hummusology

1112 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 592-6505
Website

Middle Eastern food is one of my weaknesses. I could live on any countries cuisine that includes warm breads, dips, and spice. In particular, Israeli food is favorite. I was looking for something healthy to eat before a baseball game that I knew would not be healthy. Hummusology was an obvious choice.


They have a small kitchen, that is bright and clean. The staff was incredibly polite and put their heart into it. And it showed.


The dishes are all humuus centric, obviously, but the execution is so varied you would never grow tired of the standard spread.


The hummus itself is just heavenly, silky smooth, warm, and perfect balance of tahini and blended bean. The toppings are unreal. For example, below is the hamshuka hummus platter. The literally have a shakshuka topped hummus. I can die happy. Creamy hummus topped with Shakshuka and warm chickpeas, sprinkled with paprika and a pinch of cumin, olive oil, green sauce, and tahini. Hot damn.


The shakshuka was sweet, spicy, and succulent. The balance was about as good as I have ever had. A warm pita to scoop up the goodness made this irresistible. Easily one of the best dishes of the year for me in the price range ($12).


The contrasts in flavor, texture, and taste were amazing. A healthy drizzle of olive oil and generous spice did not hurt.


The pickles and pickled vegetables added a tart contrast to the rich main course.


The sabich, a stuffed pita sandwich, was memorable, though outshadowed by the perfection that preceded it. Pita stuffed with hummus, roasted eggplant, hard-boiled egg, Israeli salad, and tahini. This benefited from the addition of the table side salt and spice mix, and some pickled hot sauce. The egg was perfectly cooked, and the smokey eggplant was substantial enough to make you forget you were eating no meat.


This is a rather substantial sandwich, and I still ate every bite.


See below with the spice shake and hot pepper relish addition. Delicious.



Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Gritty McDuff's Brew Pub

187 Lower Main Street
Freeport, ME 04032
(207) 865-4321
Website

Freeport Maine is known for their reasonably priced active outdoor-wear, and Gritty McDuff's (probably). This place is pretty well known in Maine, and so I generally make it a point to visit when I am in the Pine Tree State for some beers and decent bar food. Check out the bowl of Iggy Azalea below. Just kidding, it is actually lobster bisque, not clam chowder.


It was certainly creamy. And had lobster chunks. I would have loved some sherry swirled in, or some heat to it, but overall it was solid comfort food.


One of the more interesting things I tried was the barley battered fried chicken sandwich. The chicken was great, a nice hearty crunch, and the portion was huge. I would have liked the Swiss to be melted, however.



Honey mustard, bacon, lettuce, tomato. Good bar food.


A pair of lobster rolls (it IS Maine after all) were again pretty tasty, though obviously nothing gourmet about them. For about $14, it was a nice deal, and made for a tasty bar bite.


The lobster was fresh and well cooked, nothing rubbery here.


A bit of bib lettuce made this basically a salad.



I would certainly order all of the above again, but would love if they stepped it up JUST A BIT. Either way, when you have bought all of the plaid shirts and rubber boots you can carry, this place is the next stop for a pint and bite.