A London Lunch No. 9: Pilpel – Falafel heaven

A friend and fellow blogger Leila of Swallower of Lives introduced me to Pilpel last summer and I really should thank her for that!

Falafel and hummus are the stars of the show here – it’s a great example of sticking to a small selection of lunch options and executing them very, very well.

You can either opt for a filled pitta or my preference which is a container, filled with your choice of salads, dressings and either hummus or falafel, or if you are anything like me, both.

The salads include everything from cucumber, pickled cabbage, tomatoes, feta and those Middle-Eastern staples of chickpeas, tabbouleh and an irresistible smoked aubergine that I’ve never tried outside of Pilpel which is frankly divine.

The falafels themselves are fantastic – crispy and with crunch on the outside, but moist on the inside and filled with flavour. The hummus is immense – hence why I never opt for the either/or situation – it just has to be both. They also offer guacamole if you fancy mixing it up as well as labneh which is also incredibly moreish but my preference is a good drizzle of tahini and some chilli sauce for a bit of fire.

Pitta comes with the container option and believe me that it’s always a very filling and satisfying lunch.

Everything is priced around the £5.00 mark so it offers good value for money in the centre of the city too – a definite lunch recommendation.

The Pilpel I visited is located on Brushfield Street just off of Spitalfields Market but has another concession inside the market, as well as a branch at St Pauls.

A London Lunch No 6: Hummus Bros, Soho

As regular readers will know, Soho is my general stomping ground, whether work related or otherwise. The area is undoubtedly my favourite part of London, and some of my preferred eateries, not to mention watering holes, exist in this area.

Wardour Street is host to numerous delights and for a delicious and filling lunch I can thoroughly recommend Hummos Bros.

Open since 2005, it pretty much does what it says on the tin and makes bloody good hummus, with a seriously impressive selection of toppings.

My absolute favourite is to have the ‘chunky beef with tzatziki’. This is casseroled, large pieces of beef cooked in a rich stew-like sauce and each time I’ve had this I’ve been in heaven. The meat has been mouth-wateringly tender and falls apart. The beef sits on a bed of the delicious hummus, here it is rather smooth, although not as smooth as commercially produced packet hummus. It has that wonderful garlic hum, without being over powering. Two pitta bread pockets come alongside in a regular dish and all priced at £7.65 – a bargain.

I can never stick to one dish, especially when they are as flavourful and moreish as they are here, so I generally grab either the tabbouleh salad, or if I’m hungover and in need of stodge, the falafel salad – both of which are flavoured with my favourite herb, coriander which just makes everything taste incredibly fresh and, at least to me, delicious.

Although I am often a creature of habit, ordering the same dish when I return to restaurants, I feel almost smug in the fact I can also suggest the chicken, guacamole and mushroom version of the hummus topper, as I have also eaten and enjoyed all of these.  

The concept here is simple and it works. To me, this just proves that a simple menu can work well if you perfect the dishes on there and don’t deviate too much or try to over complicate.

If you’re a lover of hummus, don’t delay, head to Hummus Bros.