Battle of the Hookah Lounges Vol: 1 - Habibi Café vs. Gypsy Café

If you live in Los Angeles, chances are you have hit up the Westwood area to check out the UCLA campus or to do some shopping. It is a great place to chill for the evening and just so happens also has two rival Hookah Lounges. The Hookah Addicts decided to put these two establishments to the test to see who come out victorious in the battle of Westwood village. We will go through our list of criteria for a great Hookah lounge, obviously giving more weight to the quality of the shisha.

Ambiance

Habibi Café is a lively place with excellent décor with lots of comfortable places to sit and a great outdoor area. When you drive down Broxton it is the first thing you see, plus they have a D.J. on weekends. Habibi is usually pretty loud and is hit or miss with service. Gypsy Café is a bit more laid back and suites my hookah experience a bit better. The décor is no where near as elaborate as Habibi, but you usually get decent service and is not a crap shoot. It is even at this point but the fact the Habibi is the preferred place of UCLA students gives the ambience check mark to Habibi.

Habibi Café √ Gypsy Café 

Food

Both are good and you cannot go wrong either way. They both have good sized portions and have great Taboulleh, I tasted both the Kabob and the chicken and both were excellent as well. But there are two things that separate them, first the Hummus at Gypsy is amazing make sure you order it when you go. Also price is important to a young adult such as my self and Gypsy wins there too. Complementary water, cheaper prices, and the ability to serve alcohol (Habibi lost their license) gives the check to Gypsy.

Habibi Café  Gypsy Café √

Hookah

Now for the most important part of the Hookah lounge experience, the shisha. I will not even make this suspenseful. Gypsy wins!!!! Not because it was the best, it just saved it self from being the worst. Gypsy’s flavor selection is good although the shish was a little bland and hit a bit hard; it still was satisfying and was a nice experience. Habibi, on the other hand, was awful, it hit really hard I found myself coughing a lot and there was no taste at all. Plus, you have to wait for the waiter to adjust your coals which took forever. It just was not a great place.

Habibi Café  Gypsy Café √

Conclusion

Habibi looks like the place to be from the street, but you are much better off crossing the street and heading over to Gypsy Café.

Hookah Charcoal – What Keeps The Smoke Rolling

Hookah Charcoal is the product that is placed on the hookah bowl that burns the tobacco and produces smoke when a user inhales the hookah. The hookah charcoal also known as “coals” is placed over the tin foil that is covering the tobacco. Prior to lighting the coals, it is recommend that the charcoal is broken in half in order to properly fit on the tin foil and bowl, so that it does not roll off or that it is not too big for the foil. Once the hookah charcoal is broken in half. Place the charcoal over fire for about 2-4 minutes depending on the type of charcoal. After the hookah charcoal has turned red, place at least 2 pieces on the edge of the hookah bowl and begin inhaling. Soon the smoke will come out of the hose and your hookah is started. Be sure to take off the coals with a tong every 10 minutes to ash and do not touch the coals with your fingers as it is very hot. After you are done smoking hookah, place the remaining coals on the hookah vase for it to die out.

The various types of hookah charcoal:

• Japanese Charcoal
• Wood Charcoal
• Instant Light Charcoal