to vote
https://www.facebook.com/hamsarestobarHamsa, or to give the restaurant its full name "Hamsa Hummus and Happiness Israeli Restobar," superficially gives me a few reasons not to sample their fare. First, there is no way that hummus will ever make me happy, I can't stand the stuff. Second, it's located on Szeroka Street, which is awash with money-grabbing Jewish restaurants. Third, anything with "Restobar" in the title deserves to be shunned in the same way that an Amish person would shun an iPhone.
However, thanks to a vernissage I had the opportunity to sample some free food there, and jolly nice it was too. This time I would be a paying customer along with some fellow members of the Yelp community (Yelp is a review site for those of you who aren't familiar with it).
The interior is rather pleasant, featuring the Hamsa symbol (a two-thumbed symmetrical hand) and a nice cream and blue colour scheme. The walls are adored with various photographs from Israel.
I ordered the Near-Eastern chicken with salad rice. The portion size was very generous, with three well-seasoned pieces of chicken (which are hidden by a tasty smattering of parsnips in the photo). I really enjoyed my meal, it proved to be both tasty and filling. The other Yelpers weren't so impressed, rating the meal as merely average and not particularly ethnic. To be fair some of them didn't order inspiring food, some of them had salads, another person had soup.
I'll probably be back to the restaurant at some point to sample some more Israeli cuisine. Hummus, however, is strictly off the menu for me.
