Egyptian Cafe in West Lafayette
February 5, 2008 12:10 pmA new hookah cafe has opened in West Lafayette , Indiana (Where I live). We already had one hookah cafe, but I guess the owners of the new place saw enough demand to open a second one in the town (2 minute walking distance from the other one).
The owners of the Egyptian Cafe claim they don’t want to be come a “Hookah Bar” rather a “homey” lounge. No matter hat they do, I love the fact that we have a new place merely because competition makes both places better for us - the customers.
I came to Egyptian Cafe the first night they opened and wasn’t impressed. I wanted to give them a second try before I write a review. So I went there today again and here is the review:
Pros: I like their decorations and the atmosphere. It feels very Middle Eastern. They have Middle Eastern - Spanish arcs, pillows, and generally a good atmosphere. (Their bathroom was clean too - unlike the other Middle Eastern lounges and restaurants in town). Their location is also very good.
Cons: Ok! Here come the bad parts:
Food: I had food twice there and don’t think I will again. I had the Lamb Kabob today. It was $12. It had very small amount of rice, just 4 pieces of meat and the rice was cooked bad. My friends who had their sandwiches were not happy with the food either. The price might not be bad, but there are other places close to campus that offer better quality for cheaper or same price.
Hookahs: They use Nakhla tobacco and Layalina which are both the cheapest tobaccos available on the market. The prices are $8.99 and $9.99. But the old Hookah Cafe offers hookahs at the same price with Al Fakher and better tobaccos (Hookah Cafe (the old one) has better tobaccos too but more expensive).
The colas that Egyptian Cafe uses are bad. They are very large and make the tobacco burn faster, they give extra taste and smell to the tobacco too.
The hookahs themselves are nice, but without good tobacco, coal, and service that means nothing.
Service: First time I went to Egyptian Cafe, I ordered Grape Leaves. Our server brought it out. I told my friends “This is rather dry food, it shouldn’t be, and it usually comes with a sauce.” Anyways, we finished the grape leaves and 10 minutes after the server comes back and says “Oh, I forgot to gave you the sauce for the grape leaves”.
Generally they don’t have good service right now, I think mostly due to the fact that they are new. Also, the servers hookah knowledge is rather limited.
Other: I was eating there today and saw an old lady that worked in the kitchen (Someone told me she is the owner’s wife), smoking cigarettes in the kitchen. I’m sure there are health laws against that.
Sorry that I don’t have any pictures of the place, I will try to take some pictures and update this post later.
Conclusion: I don’t like the place. I think in a month or two they will realize that they can not survive in this business (given their already established competition) with continuing the same quality of food/service/hookah. And then they will change. But until then, I’m going to stick to the old hookah cafe and other coffee shops around the Purdue campus.
Categories: Hookah Bars
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