newsman Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 I was in the East Village today and found a bar/hookah lounge on 1st Avenue, so I decided to check it out. It's called Karma Lounge. I ordered a pint of Stella and asked the bartender how much a session was. He said $15. Not bad for NY, I guess. I asked him what kind of shisha they used, and he said he didn't know. I sipped my beer for a bit and checked the place out while I tried to decide whether or not I wanted to drop $15 on a smoke. They had three brass, single hose rotators and what looked to be three MYA acrylics. On closer inspection, I noticed that there was already water in the bases and the hookahs looked like they hadn't been cleaned in... I don't know how long. The trays were caked in old ash and the the lightest colored water I saw was roughly the color of apple juice. A couple of the acrylics looked they had coke in the base. That's how old the water was. One of the rotators had such a brown build-up in the base it looked like algae growing. Needless to say, I decided against ordering a smoke. That $15 will buy me a 250g tub of AF with change to spare. The only good thing about the place was that the Stella pints were 3 bucks a pop. I had two and left.I clean my hookah after every smoke, but I understand that a busy hookah lounge may choose, or need, to continue to use the same water until the end of the day, but really... I was the only person in the place (they had only opened a few minutes prior to my arrival). Couldn't they have at least cleaned the hookahs at the start of the business day? Actually, I don't see why they can't change the water between customers. It doesn't take that long. After all, you have to wait while the coals fire up, but who am I to say.I shall not be returning to the Karma Lounge... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingjunkie Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Talk about bad Karma! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsman Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share Posted June 25, 2007 Talk about bad karma indeed. I was in the same neighborhood on Saturday, so I decided to stop back in to check them out again. Maybe they had cleaned their hookahs, and maybe I would shell out $15 for a smoke (and besides, $3 pints are nothing to sneer at...). I ordered my Stella and asked the bartender, a different one this time, what brand of shisha they used. She didn't know. One of the workers was smoking at the end of the bar, so when I went to the men's room, I stopped and asked her what flavor she was smoking and what brand it was. "Al Wa-something," she said."Al Waha?" I asked her."Yeah. That's it." She seemed too bored to continue the conversation, with that I'm-too-hip-to-talk-to-you-because-I'm-from-the-East-Village attitude, so I moved on.The hookahs hadn't been cleaned either. The stuff I saw in the bases still looked like pond water. Oh well...I shall quote Scalliwag: "ARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahwahoo2006 Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 thats gross. i would not go to a place like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheetz Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 QUOTE (newsman @ Jun 20 2007, 08:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I understand that a busy hookah lounge may choose, or need, to continue to use the same water until the end of the day, Umm, no. Big no to that one. It takes 10 seconds to dump the water out and AT LEAST swish some clean water through dump that and fill it back up. Any lounge that does not change the water, I would never go to. So thanks for the heads up.Ok, just read your second post. If you go back and you get another bitchy woman again. You need to say "Damn girl, if your water is that dirty I don't even want to know what your"......... I wont finish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsm29 Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 (edited) If you go down McDougal, you'll find a place called Luxor Cafe, right next to Land of Budda. They've got a pretty chill enviroment going, people are friendly, $15 a smoke. They can do apple, orange or pineapple heads for $25 and a juice base will add another $5. The use Naklah shisha, the water is always new, hookahs are spotless. In fact, yesterday I heard they have all new hookahs. It's a great place I highly recommend it, they open at five on weekends, weekdays I believe sooner. Check it out.- Tyler Edited June 25, 2007 by tsm29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAKCuMG Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 There's a place right next to it, on La Guardia Pl. between Houston and Bleecker. I think its called Pharaoh's. Hookahs there stink, they use Soex (vomit face), and charge $15 a head. Looks pretty chill, but dont smoke there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsman Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share Posted June 25, 2007 QUOTE (Scheetz @ Jun 24 2007, 10:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (newsman @ Jun 20 2007, 08:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I understand that a busy hookah lounge may choose, or need, to continue to use the same water until the end of the day, Umm, no. Big no to that one. It takes 10 seconds to dump the water out and AT LEAST swish some clean water through dump that and fill it back up. I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, but you're right. They could rinse out the base while waiting for the coals to heat. Bad business.Tsm and MAK, thanks for the heads up on Luxor and Pharoah's. I'm definitely going to try Luxor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now