On weekend nights at this Cafe, you might want to get there early. Starting around nine at night, you can have up to a two hour wait to get into a local hookah lounge, The Casbah Cafe. While they have seating both inside and out, the wait times are tedious and often people leave before being seated. However, they do have a bar, so you can go get yourself a drink and return to your friends waiting outside of the gate for you.
The interior of the Casbah Cafe is very traditional, but also pretty cramped. There are two sections, one is what you see when you first walk in. That section is full of tables and chairs, like a restaurant. The second section is off to your left, with row benches, ottomans, stools, and tables. None of which were too comfortable. The stools were completely hard, no cushion whatsoever. The tables were wobbly, and felt unstable. Besides those flaws, the cafe had a very comfortable atmosphere.
Dining was immaculate. The server had no problems taking our orders, which were very inexpensive considering the quality and quantity of the meal. Me and my partner had a combo, which let us taste a little bit of a lot, for a very minimal price. Some of the things we were able to try were Lamb, Swordfish, hummus, pickled eggplant, and some kind of fried cheese. The lamb was completely tender. We were able to tear it into pieces with just our forks, and it had just the right flavoring. While this was our first time trying swordfish, I was completely dumbfounded by the deliciousness of the fish. Seasoned to perfection, and obviously fresh. As for the other À la carte’s, they were no lower in standards than the main dish. The eggplant was nothing less than mouthwatering, while the hummus and cheese were neutral flavored. Overall, the dining was immeasurably the best part of the experience.
Our friends have told us about The Casbah Cafe’s soothing “Citrus Bowl.” It’s a house blend of orange, lemon, and cherry I believe. While the flavor was really interesting,the smoke kept getting harsh. The server didn’t check up on the hookah, at all. We had to use our kabob sticks to move around the coals ourselves, which is apparently a “No No.” The lack of upkeep on our hookah made us feel like the waiter was too busy to handle us, even though we rarely seen him unless he was over by our tables. As for the hookah experience, I would say it was a mid grade experience. I’ve smoked there before, and will more than likely continue to smoke there.
The Casbah Cafe is called a cabaret because of the belly dancers there on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The women are beautiful, and look very experienced. While they are dancing, the music is turned up pretty loud, and it feels like they’re trying to drown out some of the talking. Besides that, the belly dancing is a pretty unique experience, if you’ve never witnessed it before.
In quality, overall, I would give the cafe a 9/10. It’s by far the best hookah lounge in Jacksonville, not only because of it’s hookah smoking, but also because of the location. The lounge is definitely something I would recommend to tourists and locals alike.
