Hookah Bar

[deliad]

Just noticed yestreday that a "Hookah Bar" is coming up in Chantilly, where Oasis Indian restaurant used to be. The banner said Hookah bar and Middle eatern restaurant

I remember sneaking a few puffs at our neighbours hookah when I was a pre-teen back in Delhi, India. Cool smokes.

Does any one have visited any other hookah bars here in the DC area. Please share your experience.

Cheers

[DCMark]

No offense but when hookah bars hit Chantilly the trend is played out. If its authentic you will be smoking shesha in a water pipe and drinking mint tea. They are quite popular in France where I first experienced it. Its quite fun and can be a good conduit for conversation.

[Chef Shogun]

Deliad: I can admit to a bit of experiance in this particular area. Here's a short list of DC area bars. This trend is/was pretty big among GW students. Especially, it seems, among members of the engineering fraternity I'm in. We'd go out after parties for food and shisha, and sometimes even have it AT parties, if they were at friend's houses who had pipes. It's always fun with a group of friends late at night, with an assortment of dips and naan, and a couple pipes. Never liked returning home at 3 am, starting to sober up, but needing a shower before crashing unless I wanted my bed and room to smell like strawberry or mango smoke for the rest of the weekend.

Sahara: Georgetown, near the big movie theater, closer to K than M. On the hill there.*

Good food. Actually, quite decently acceptable food, especially the dips, and rice pudding. Pretty good shisha, but try to avoid the house blends**. They're pretty hit or miss. Very busy on the weekends. UV lights and paintings of tigers on velvet on the wall.

The Prince: Georgetown, Wisconsin and...the first or second street on the left when you turn off of M.

Kind of small, cramped, dark. Never had the food but I hear it's ok. Has some connection to Sahara, but I forget what, not that it matters too greatly.

Mehran: Penn Ave, near the foggy bottom metro.

Small Pakistani place, with food that you'll either like or hate. Personally, I like the butter chicken. Shisha upstairs.

This Cyber-Cafe Place In Dupont: Dupont, somewhere.

I've never been, but I've heard from friends who were satisfied enough. Only shisha bar I know of with a liquor license. Drinks were reportedly very expensive. No word on food. Go or not, I guess, if you're in the area.

I'd recommend Sahara, since the food is good, and it has less of a 'sketchy opium den' sort of feel that The Prince has.

-- C.S.'s evil twin, "Saucier Shogun", and the only person in the world it seems who doesn't like the damnded 'double apple'.

* I'll bet you didn't know this, but back in the Scouts they called me "C.S. the Human GPS" for my keen sense of 'knowing where stuff is'.

** Even though a friend of mine came up with a few of them. When we'd go with him, he'd 'call' a few blends off-menu that were sometimes very good. Think the citrus blend was pretty good.

[hillvalley]

Chi cha used to have them, but it's been awhile since I was there so I can't be sure.

[JennyUptown]

Chi cha used to have them, but it's been awhile since I was there so I can't be sure.

Still do. It's a good place to go on a week night, but packed to capacity on weekends.

[littlechinagirl]

I believe Soussi in Adams Morgan (18th and Kalorama?) has them upstairs.

[eunny jang]

There's a place in Georgetown where you can smoke sheesha - I want to say it's called Zanzibar or somesuch. Dark, dingy room with oily, unmemorable korma. Creepy, crusty hookahs that look very, very worse for the wear. Unsavory characters sitting around giving breasts lascivious looks.

[foodgeek]

There is also Oasis, a 24 hour cafe (w/hookas) in Skyline (Alexandria/Falls Church border.)

[raisab]

No offense but when hookah bars hit Chantilly the trend is played out.  If its authentic you will be smoking shesha in a water pipe and drinking mint tea.  They are quite popular in France where I first experienced it. Its quite fun and can be a good conduit for conversation.

I don't live in Chanitilly, but I do take offense. DC may be nice for getting out, but it ain't IT!

Hasn't this board gotten enough flack in the press (and free publicity I guess) for being presumptuous about Colorado Kitchen and the name of DaSto? I think some of us in this board need to step back into reality.

Edited August 17, 2004 by raisab (log)

[DCMark]

forget it....

Edited August 17, 2004 by DCMark (log)