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Mataam Bab Touma (literally “Bab Touma Restaurant”) Damascus Syria
This is a great place to experience real Syrian and Damascene street food in a cafeteria type setting without getting too far off the beaten tourist track. That said, this is a real deal Syrian street food place with most patrons male Syrians and little to no English (or anything other than Arabic) spoken.
The solution for Bab Touma Restaurant is a very small menu, just three items, and they do all three perfectly. You sit down at one of the many plastic tables, either inside or outside with a view of the roundabout and entrance to the touristy area of Bab Touma and order either 1, hummus, 2. foul (ful – aka fava beans) or 3. soup.
(ful) They bring you a metal pitcher of water and one metal cup for the table to share. You can also buy your own water and/or soft drinks from the outside cooler. They also present the table with an excellent assortment of pickled vegetables (mainly turnips and cucumbers) and wedges of onion. A container of coarse salt and one of pepper and spices also completes the table.
Their hummus and foul are some of the best I’ve had, albeit very heavy on the olive oil, which may be part of the reason! If you order hummus make sure to order it “na’im” or “mixed” (ie as a dip) if you want it as you normally expect hummus, otherwise they will present you with traditional ‘hummus’ (which merely means ‘garbanzo beans’ in Arabic) – a bowl of garbanzo beans in oil.
The Ful is delicious, a bowl of fresh large fava beans, some cheese and oil and tomatoes, served "unmashed". The hummus is also served with chopped tomatoes and is also delicious. Any dish is also accompanied by a plastic container of pita bread, which the waiter (usually a young boy) refills if you run out, for free. When the check comes don’t be worried, the price is real, it’s usually about 30 cents USD for your meal (which includes the ‘entrée,’ unlimited bread, pickles and onions and free water), I think the ful is about 10 cents more and the soup is 10 cents less.
The restaurant is very easy to find. If you are walking out from Bab Touma in the Old City, pass the parking lot to the left (coming out of the city) of the monument in the roundabout and before you walk over the bridge the restaurant is the first business (unless someone is selling some fruit on the street) you come to on the left. It’s got a blue sign with Arabic writing and is the only thing before you cross over the bridge. Highly recommended for an inexpensive, filling and fresh meal (after several bouts of travel sickness my friend recommended this place as a cure, he said you’ll never get sick from here and he was right). Cash only – no alcohol – not sure of the hours, open for lunch and dinner – very informal
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