6/8/09

Riverviews first Hookah Cafe

This afternoon, I visited the Hookah Cafe. Open two months ago, owners Jehad and Suhad Husein could not have been more friendly. Suhad, who does most of the cooking, likes to add artistic flair to everything she prepares.



Both cafe and restaurant, the Hookah Cafe offers coffee, smoothies, ice cream, gyros, falafel, chicken or beef shawarma, Greek salads, grape leafs, fried kibbe and more.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I've been on an organic coffee kick lately. But can you blame me for choosing this non-organic Frappe Mocha? I was thirsty, craving chocolate, and it was splendid!

I asked what these S-shaped cookies are called, and I nailed it. They're called S cookies.


I sampled the date-filled cookies, which were buttery, crunchy and spiced with a hint of cinnamon.


Suhad prepares her specialty, Lamb Shanks, on Friday and Saturday evenings. She marinates the shanks first with her own blend of Arabic spices and serves them with roasted vegetables and basmati rice. I can't wait to try them!


The two-foot high hookahs, or hubbly bubblies as they're sometimes called, are popular with the hip crowd. The shisha menu has at least 30 different, flavored tobaccos.

11226 Boyette Rd.
Riverview, FL
(813) 741-1801



2 comments:

mvmaithai said...

Great to know there's a Middle Eastern restaurant near us. Thanks Lynn! I remember having excellent lamb chops at a Greek restaurant in downtown Sarasota several years ago. Wonder if it's still around ...

Table Scraps said...

You must be talking about El Greco Cafe (http://www.elgrecocafe.com/). Yes, it's still there.