Istanbul Cafe — Restaurant in New York

My first time here since COVID and I had an amazing experience I had love 66 with the fresh grapefruit head was so good and it lasted way more than an hour and the mint tea was perfectly steeped peace and quiet was on point music was just high enough amazing variety service was fast paced hookah guy was great bathroom was so clean I got a refill it did taste a little too much like charcoal but the fix to that was to take out one of them and only put two instead of three and they were refilling the charcoals right on time I just wish they had more outlets for if you have to charge your phone definitely coming back again this is definitely the best hookah in town and the price that I paid was definitely worth it compared to other places I have been they don’t over charge and the service was amazing and worth...

About 10 years ago, this place was poppin! The last 2 years it’s been disappointing. The other day I was craving hookah so we went here. Ordered a mint regular hookah. The first rounds of pulls were not to my satisfaction, there was no full/thick smoke no matter how much my young lungs pulled. When the coal flipper came around I told him how I was not happy about the hookah and he gave me a smug look as that we should have got the (upgraded) grapefruit head. If basic level isn’t good why spend more $$. We didn’t feel valued as customers and when I looked around, there were legit no other customers there at 8pm. Ordered tea and it was good, however the main attraction of hookah left me feeling bummed out! Also the person I went with hasn’t been able to stop coughing & is now continuously coughing...

It just has such a very relaxed environment. You can bring games or just sit on your laptop. They have REAL shisha and even some crappy herbal blends.

I think they pack the bowls too close (touching) to the shisha. I usually make a bowl more like an oven, not a grill. Because of the tight pack, shisha burns too much for a harsh smoke. I usually remove 2 of 4 coals on top or just tell the guy 2 pieces. It lasts longer and you get big, smooth clouds of smoke without the burn.

I also notice people, employees included, blowing the coals to knock the ash off, hot embers flying. I think thats an accident waiting to happen. I do a short drop on the coal tray, knocks the ash off and keeps the...