Ten London restaurants are entering a battle for houmous supremacy this June
Beware of houmous-ide
At this point, houmous has fully escaped its original role as “that beige thing next to the carrots at a buffet”.
It’s now serious business. Londoners will happily queue for it, argue about it and pay concerning amounts of money for a bowl of chickpeas if it comes topped with enough chilli oil and crispy shallots.
Which is probably why The Houmoffs 2026 exists. London is officially getting a dedicated houmous competition this summer, with ten of the city’s biggest East Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurants battling it out to decide who makes the UK’s best version of the dip.
Hosted by Brother Marcus in Victoria on the 2nd of June, The Houmoffs will bring together chefs from some of London’s most popular restaurants for a one-night showdown centred entirely around houmous. Which sounds ridiculous at first, until you remember how aggressively competitive London’s food scene has become around very specific dishes.
The lineup includes Bubala, Miznon, Berber & Q, Maroush, Comptoir Libanais and The Athenian, alongside Oden London, Naroon, Sohaila and Brother Marcus itself.
Across the evening, chefs will compete in both Classic and Signature categories, meaning some entrants will stick closer to traditional recipes while others will inevitably start doing things to houmous that would probably concern several grandparents across the Med.
London’s East Med food scene has exploded over the last few years, with younger diners in particular fully embracing the region’s flavours, small plates and café culture. Houmous has quietly become one of the centrepieces of that movement, evolving from supermarket tub filler into something restaurants now treat with near-fine-dining levels of attention.
Brother Marcus co-founder Tasos Gaitanos summed it up pretty well, saying houmous has “officially outgrown the supermarket shelf” and become a full-blown food movement. Which feels pretty spot on. Somewhere along the line, everybody collectively decided whipped chickpeas deserved the same reverence as sourdough and natural wine.
The event itself will welcome around 200 guests, including food media, industry figures and members of the public, all tasting and voting throughout the night to crown the winner. There’ll almost certainly be strong opinions involved.
Importantly, tickets are surprisingly affordable too. Entry costs £10, which in London now barely covers a small plate and a drink, let alone an entire evening dedicated to competitive houmous consumption.
The Houmoffs takes place from 6pm to 10pm on the 2nd of June at Brother Marcus Victoria.
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