oren's hummus shop

oren's hummus shop  126 castro st., 650-938-6736.  $.  a branch of the mother ship in palo alto that specializes in authentic middle eastern cuisine, this spot by the cal train station offers a nice outdoor space that lets you fully enjoy the sound of the signals and passing trains.  the food style reminds me of what i enjoyed at similar simple spots in israel, and that should be no surprise since many of the basic ingredients are imported from there.  a complimentary bowl of tangy coleslaw arrives with the menu and helps tide you over until your order arrives.  service can be slow.  my menu favorite is the sampler plate that includes eggplant three ways and a slab of labane yogurt cheese, plus marinated beets moroccan carrots, and fluffy pita breads.  i always like to purchase some hummus and eggplant to go for my next day’s lunch.

great location. great ambience! great food and great service.

we had
falafel sandwich - good
mushroom hummus - excellent
falafel balls - good
wheat and white pita breads - their puffy fresh pita are to die dor
labane - its a hung curd prepration and i just loved it!

some crazy delicious hummus, pita sandwiches and baklava. the service is great and the food is lip smacking good. we had a very heavy dinner at oren's. this is an awesome place for vegans.

place well known for its fresh pita and hummus. and well we were not disappointed at all. both of them are excellent. but that's up to it. nothing spectacular about anything else. we ordered chicken schnitzel, chicken skewer, and hummus lamb.
both the chicken items were good but lamb was sweet. may be it is the way it needs to be but yuck!!! it didn't taste good either.
lemonade in drinks was really good. overall, i should say it didn't meet the expectations in food and quite expensive too.

if you like hummus and mediterranean food in general, this is the place for you. great selection of hummus, eggplant dishes, salads and more. i had hummus with chicken liver, which was excellent. also ordered "cauliflower fries", which was really lightly fried cauliflower florets - outstanding, super - tasty.
restaurant also offers limited selection of wines, all reasonably priced.
prompt, friendly and attentive service.
definitely recommended.

oren's serves some good mediterranean cuisine in a casual dining setting. the place is crowded, especially on weekends. however, coming from the middle east, it's not too easy to rate mediterranean restaurants here too high.

we tried out their sampler dish, which had an assortment of middle eastern side dishes. a notable exception in the dish was hummus. but it served up a fair idea of the variety of sides in the middle east.

we also tried their rice bowl & chicken skewers. the rice bowl was a cross between indian pulao and arabic mandi. the skewers came with hummus so we didn't miss it.

if i do come here again, i'm definitely gonna try the various hummus dishes they have. it's something i felt was unique about oren's.

the service was prompt; very friendly and attentive; and of course: the food was great.
i had the classic hummus, with whole-wheat pita, and a side of falafels and tabule, with chocolate mousse for dessert.
i recommend it.