Hummus alert: Balila opens second location in Downtown Vancouver

The hummus-oriented eatery offers a build-your-own model at its new outpost

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      Balila has opened its second location at 983 Helmcken Street.

      It follows the March launch of the hummus-focused eatery’s original spot at 47 West Hastings Street.

      The new outlet, in the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel, takes a slightly different approach, with a build-your-own-wrap or -bowl concept.

      Customers select the style of wrap or bowl ($9 and up): the original Balila hummus dish (a hot meal of whole chickpeas mixed with garlic, salt, lemon juice, cumin, and olive oil); veggie (cauliflower, lemon potatoes, mushroom, or Mediterranean veggies); meat (garlic chicken, sirloin cubes, meatballs, or chicken kabob) or Armenian sausage.

      From there, you pick up to three scoops of hummus “antioxidants”: garlic, olive, beetroot, or kale among them.

      The option of grains comes down to chickpea or saffron rice or bulgur wheat.

      Then people can opt for superfood toppings such as spinach leaves, sliced radish, steamed broccoli, walnuts, or chia or hemp seeds, among others, then finish with their choice of dressing (tahini, hot sauce, garlic, or lemon-oil). Et voila.

      Brothers Waleed and Mazen Sukkarie run Balila, which is inspired by the kind of neighbourhood mom-and-pop shops called hummusanis they grew up with in Lebanon.

      Both Balila locations also serve Middle Eastern salads and soup.

      More info is at Balila.

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