A little “Hummus House” action

The $7.99 Chicken Skewer lunch deal

I have been coming to this great little Turkish place called “Hummus House” in Hawthorne for years. It started off as a market across the street from a large Muslim mosque. Well using the theory of  “if the “locals” eat there it must be good as in “a Pho place with a bunch of squatting Vietnamese guys smoking cigarettes outside the door” must be fantastic because they are not serving lunch to yuppie white guys, but squatting Vietnamese dudes…anyway, the same theory applies at Hummus House. The meat is “Halal” which means the meat is slaughtered in accordance with Islamic religious guidelines (much like Kosher). Inside are a bunch of “tents” which is pretty cool and gives a fun ambiance to the place. The hummus  is outstanding and for $3.99 you can get a nice sample platter of 9 different flavors from artichoke to my favorite, jalapeno cilantro! The lunch menu is great and you are served quickly, I have been trying to eat better so I order the beautiful chicken skewer plate that comes with your choice of hummus, rice and a nice salad! You can also get the beef skewer with big chunks of beef roasted over a hot fire grill.I would not recommend the “Sharma” in any form as its just average at best…stick with what they do best, beef, chicken and shrimp on a stick.

iPhone pic of the falafel , a nice green inside from the herbs

Falafel , the little balls of fried chickpeas are fantastic at Hummus House, in fact they are addicting. The outside is crispy and the inside soft and chewy. $3.99 a plate for the appetizer is well worth it, it comes with tahini and you can ask for some of the really tasty “garlic” sauce. They also have samosa at Hummus House, both meat and veggie…They are crispy and good, served with a mint chutney, but a bit small and not really worth the $3.99…get the hummus or the falafel. I think its worth the drive and great little hidden joint that you should check out for lunch or dinner. its located at 12211 Hawthorne Blvd in Hawthorne PH 310 675 3400

falafel at hummus house

So close yet so far

I still have not gotten to eat the famous Kogi taco truck here in Los Angeles…I am on the way to the station after checking a house for a robbery suspect that got away (whole other story)…and I see the Kogi truck in the lane next to me….I think to myself “so close yet so far away”….indeed it is!

Olive Garden Lasagna Frita

Ok I am trying a quick blog from my iPhone here. Went to Olive Garden for lunch today (yea I know so don’t bother with the hate mail). Well they had this new appetizer called ” Lasagna Fritta” it’s Parmesan breaded lasagna pieces that are fried then topped with marinara sauce and places onto an Alfredo sauce covered plate. Well it sounded good and you know what, it was good! The dish had great texture contrast of crunchy fries pasta and creamy gooey cheesy inside. I felt guilty as hell when I smeared my portion around in Olive Gardens fantastic Alfredo sauce…come on, even you serious foodies know that Olive Garden has a great Alfredo sauce …so bottom line on this, it wa a tasty and creative starter and for $9.99 a decent deal…

Guilty from all the butter

mmmm...butter!

Man, I feel so bad about last night..I was at Fleming’s at L.A. Live for the 5-6-7 Happy Hour and ordered the amazing “BBQ Shrimp”. Its not really “BBQ” in the pure sense, but comes in a bath of cajun butter, with a piece of wonderful crusty bed floating in the island of butter. Well, the shrimp were gone and the butter was left so what was I to do? It was calling me by name, “Chris…Chris…you know you want me”! So, fat ass butter loving foodie that I am, I went for it! Damn…it was frigging delicious, artery clogging spicy butter goodness…before I knew it the “island of bread” was gone…but there was still more butter, so what was I to do?…”Fuck it” I said to myself, and I asked the bus boy for another loaf of bread…and proceeded to dip it in the ramekin of garlic butter at the table, before dipping it into the melted cajun butter. When the butter and my 2nd martini was gone, I left,  with a tinge of guilt and a smile on my butter smeared face…knowing that I had lost the “battle of the butter”, but knowing I had won as well….now I wish I could say the same for the L.A. Kings which is where I went after the butter fest…Stupid Kings, how dare you lose!

Chris

Lets get it started!

I got to do the whole "celebrity" thing and walk red carpet for Ratatouille premier, it was cool!

Its been sometime since I have been on the “foodie scene”. I kind of dropped off the planet for a while, burned out, took a look at my priorities a bit and decided to spend a bit of time just being me! The whole “foodie” thing had become “work” and was no longer fun, so I just took a break.  I have decided that now I am ready to have some fun again, on my terms! I will use this blog to talk about food, chefs, Food TV, etc. I have led a pretty incredible life and gotten to do  some amazing things and meet amazing people. I will post some pictures and tell some stories here..some of you have heard them, some of you were there, some of you have no idea what I am talking about but that’s why I am doing this. This blog will come from the heart, from my soul…not what a producer wants me to say, not what an editor wants me to write, but what I want to write!

Chris Cognac

AKA The Hungry Detective