A beloved Kensington restaurant known for their hummus has now opened their doors north of the city in Thornhill.
Abu Hummus specializes in authentic hummus, mimicking exactly the way you would find it in the Middle East. Boris Giller, one of the co-owners who has travelled extensively across the Middle East after being born in Kazakistan, fell in love with the creamy chickpea mixture and wanted to find a way to celebrate this dish. Ashutosh Jha, the other owner who is half Nepalese and half Indian, jumped at the opportunity to share his love for hummus when he met Giller.
When they first started out in Kensington, it took some time for the team to convince people hummus could be a full meal. That's how it's eaten across the Middle East and Abu Hummus felt it was important to adopt the same philosophy in Toronto when they opened.
"The way we eat pizza here is the way we eat hummus back in the Middle East," says Giller. You can also find Yemen's staple hot sauce Schug and Moroccan-style shawarma spice at Abu Hummus.
When Giller moved to Canada, he endlessly looked for good hummus but couldn't find anything like it as it was in the Middle East. He decide to learn how to make his own hummus, following the actual steps to resemble its real taste. It takes over two days to refine the quality and flavour of the hummus. It took him a few attempts, trial and error, recipes and hacks before he nailed it.
At Abu Hummus they use organic chickpeas, churned in a giant pot every morning using natural lemon juice, fresh garlic and no added preservatives. Whatever isn't sold for the day, Giller and Jha make sure it is donated to local homeless shelters.
Some hummus bowls you can find at Abu Hummus is their Chicken Shawarma Bowl made with chicken shawarma and amba mango sauce on a bed of their fresh, homemade hummus paired with pita, pickles, Schug (cilantro and parsley hot sauce) and Tatvila (pickle juice and mild tangy sauce). They also cater to vegans with their vegan shawarma bowl made with crispy cauliflower, flavoured with their homemade shawarma spice mix, on a bed of hummus.
Thornhill was the perfect spot to expand for Abu Hummus because of the community that continuously came down to Kensington asking Giller and Jha to open up in their neighbourhood. Giller shared there is a large community from the Middle East in Thornhill that appreciates and understands hummus as a full meal and they couldn't be happier to move up there.
Even though they had a difficult time in the pandemic, working around lots of regulations and challenges, they've received strong energy from their new home in Thornhill. They are located on 10 Disera Drive with hours extended from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
