Hookah Goes There?
First and foremost, be warned about Jasmine's Hookah Bar in Richardson, just slightly north of Dallas. If you're past the quarter century mark, you may just find yourself the oldest around. That's pretty much what I was this past Thursday night as my thirty something self had to come to the reality that those days are almost long gone.
All I knew, other than the location, was people go, order the tobacco flavor and smoke away. I was most concerned about passing a tube/pipe/whatever around sharing saliva and tobacco backwash, but I was quickly informed we would each get our own mouthpiece. Then I'm being told that there were flavors of tobacco like apple and coffee and then my curiosity was piqued! Also, according to my trusted buddies, the tobacco is pure and not (as) dangerous as a cigarette. Less tar? Less nicotine? Something to that affect. I'm sure they wouldn't steer me wrong about inhaling foreign (but legal!) substances into my lungs.
The place is actually pretty cool. It's basically a large room with tables and sofas. It would have been a better coffee house. The decor was mostly Indian or Asian but not like it was trying to be. Either a good decorator or an owner (whom I call Akon) with a great eye was at work here. Minus the cheesy turquoise curtains with the red valances. EEPS! Funny thing is, the place smelled good! This beautiful aroma that I could not put my finger on and I was in love. With what, not sure.
We sit, we get a menu and for $8.99 we order apple tobacco. A few minutes later, our waitress comes out with a bong...er I mean hookah and sets us up. We start passing it around and I must say, it was somewhat nice.
I had to get my rhythm but soon enough I was huffin and a puffin. It was such a smooth flavor and I never felt grossed out the way I do around cigarette smoke. And then about 30 minutes later, my head was swimming and deep breaths were hard to come by. I wasn't high mind you. But I had been feeling funny ever since the Vietnamese meal I had just a bit earlier that night.
It's a nice place to hang but the bar tag is lost on me. It was way too lit and yeah, some food options on the menu, but no liquor. Which made me think the place caters more to the younger crowd. Do students get a discount? It was sure crowded on a Thursday night but it's also spring break. And what better thing to do than smoke?
It was fun and something to check off the 'try this' list. Of course, I felt like everytime I spoke after, that smoke was coming out my mouth. Not cute.
To get back into my groove, I headed over to South Dallas to hit up the Absinthe Lounge and then Lee Harvey's. Two quite different bars but loads of fun. Highly recommend those two for your nights out. And Shelly the bartender at Absinthe is the best! As for the hookah, well, there are better places that are closer to town.
