SanguineSolitude Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 Aladdin express is a pizza and middle eastern restaurant located right next to VCU in Richmond. A friend took me there for the first time last night and i was fairly impressed. The interior of the restaurant was simple but pleasant with wooden benches and tables (with coal burns in them) around the outside of the rectangular restaurant, a counter for ordering takeout at one end, a cute fountain and fishtank both filled with interesting fish, and the tallest hookah ive ever seen. At some point i seriously need to get a picture of this thing because i swear it was 20 feet tall easily. This wasnt a high class hoity toity sort of place but more of a student and local dive. The food was fabulous. I had the kabab plate which consisted of a huge pile of deliciously seasoned lamb kabab served on a mound of absolutely divine jasmine/morrocan spiced rice. it was served with a cucumber sauce which complemented the meat nicely and cut through the spices. to drink i had the house tea which was a sort of clove/jasmine black tea. very tasty indeed. With the hookah i ordered a turkish coffee which was also fabulous with again a hint of jasmine in the background (accented heavily by the jasmine shisha i was smoking at the time) other offerings included pizzas a selection of gyros/kabab dishes, some middle eastern delicasies, and beautiful looking pastries all at reasonable prices. For hookahs the waiter, who was very efficient, polite, and amiable, brought out a handmade syrian style all metal hookah whiche bore the telltale signs of hand beated designs. very attractive and quite well made hookahs which smoked very well, i would say they were approximately 25-8 inches tall. Shishawise, the selection was limited to nakhla/El Basha in about 10 flavors which if i remember right included double apple, mango, cappucino, prune, jasmine, rose, apricot, strawberry, and cherry (maybe 1 or 2 more) the price was right at about 7.99 per hookah(2 people = 4 bucks a person). when changing flavors a new hookah was brought out and the old one removed. The waiter kept the coals well stoked with quicklight golden or 3kings style disk coals. nothing great but quite good. Me and my friend tried the prune (pretty good but nothing i would buy again), the mango (very good mango with lots of flavor and quite accurate), and the jasmine, which i had never tried before. the jasmine was out of this world, the flavor was strong and clear jasmine with a hint of anise lingering in the back. the smoke produced was impressive in volume and not at all harsh. very very good. i highly recommend this flavor to be accompanied by a turkish coffee, the slight jasmine taste of their coffee really picked up the taste of the shisha leaving my palate in jasmine heaven. i need to buy some jasmine. the service was terrific, the people jovial, the atmosphere nice (except for a couple d-bags in the table behind us) and the food delicious. the prices were reasonable 8-10 dollar dinner plates .75 for tea 1.75 for turkish coffee 7.99 for a hookah and no limit on how many people share it. I look forward to going back to alladin express. if youre in the richmond area be sure to check it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepyrofish Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 Not too close, but not that far either. Sounds like it would be worth it for a treat (which all cafe's are for me really) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 Funny you should post that..I was in Richmond today. Kind of a whirlwind trip for a SCA symposium. It was lunch time, a littl eafter noon, and I found out about Aladdins. So we headed over there to find...it wasn't open yet! Ah well...perhaps next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Perry Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 I used to go there all the time last year. It's a shame that most of what they say regarding people of color other than arabs (when they speak in arabic) is the most derogatory sh*t I've ever heard come out of anyones mouth. I work at a place called ali babas which is less than a block away from Aladdins. You take laurel towards broad, take a left, then your first right should be goshen next to taquira loco, go down there and ali babas is on the left. I'm not plugging my place, I just know that aladdins ripped me off, and my friends off (who live above the restuarant) and those guys are the shadiest motherf**kers ever. Chances are if you were smoking something, it was prepacked two days ago OR they just used the remains of someones jasmine or mango, sprinkled a bit of new tobacco on top, and served it to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguineSolitude Posted June 25, 2006 Author Share Posted June 25, 2006 hmm. they seemed very friendly towards people of color and joked around with them as well as with their caucasian clientelle. Im not saying i dont believe you, just thats not what i expereinced. ali babas eh? i might have to check that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
web250 Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 Seems pretty good.But tobacco choice limited to Nakhla...eghh that's rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 Ali baba's huh? got a strret addrsss and were you guys open at noon on saturday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahwahoo2006 Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 Man, it seems like theres a lot of people on here from the Richmond area or close to it. I. myself am only an hour away. We should have some sort of HF event sometime this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEO_WRX Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 wow...i can't believe people are talking about VCU and Richmond and all that on a board that reaches so many parts of the world. My sister graduated from VCU and my parents live in Newport News which is about 45 minutes south-east of the area. I haven't been to either of the places discussed in the thread, but there is a decent place in Newport News if anyone is interested in meeting up at one of the two places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Perry Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 I'm living in Leesburg virginia about 20 minutes from a place called SHISHA in the dulles town center area. I go to school at VCU. When I get back in the area some of us richmond hookah heads should meet up at ali babas and smoke. The owner is using nahklah right now becuase he's been trying (with no avail) to find a place to buy fahker at a reasonable price. It will come soon it will come soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Perry Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 Oh also, btw, you are muslim, don't eat at aladdins. They say the meat is hallal but it's just some stock lamb from sams club. Buyer beware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buford Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 I've never been to Alladin's, but I've been to Sahara once which is I think about a couple blocks from there on Grace St. They also use Nakhla and 3 Kings, but their shishas are Myas with acrylic bases. I live out in Henrico County about 10 miles away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Perry Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 [quote name='Buford']I've never been to Alladin's, but I've been to Sahara once which is I think about a couple blocks from there on Grace St. They also use Nakhla and 3 Kings, but their shishas are Myas with acrylic bases. I live out in Henrico County about 10 miles away.[/quote]I used to work there. From November until may. I'm home now becuase my job here pays better, but chances are you've seen me there. Tall, dark curly hair, or tall, and a shaved head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Oh...Va=Virginia. I thought you were talking about Vancouver. You see, there is a suburb of Vancouver called Richmond. Well, I'm a dumbass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepyrofish Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 [quote name='TJ Perry']I'm living in Leesburg virginia about 20 minutes from a place called SHISHA in the dulles town center area. I go to school at VCU. When I get back in the area some of us richmond hookah heads should meet up at ali babas and smoke. The owner is using nahklah right now becuase he's been trying (with no avail) to find a place to buy fahker at a reasonable price. It will come soon it will come soon...[/quote]Woah woah woah, what is this place called Shisha? I live rediculously close to DTC. I am about a mile east of the 28, near Innovation. Google time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepyrofish Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Sorry for the double, but I found the place. It's just off Harry Byrd, near where it crosses the 28. Addy is 20921 Davenport Dr Sterling, VAI think I'll check it out this week. Anybody been there have a review/comment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Perry Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 [quote name='thepyrofish']Sorry for the double, but I found the place. It's just off Harry Byrd, near where it crosses the 28. Addy is 20921 Davenport Dr Sterling, VAI think I'll check it out this week. Anybody been there have a review/comment?[/quote]They serve rommann there, never really that harsh. All rotator hookahs. It's a small place with really sh*tty service. Don't go too late at night or it's too much like some wannabie club. It's good for relaxing with people you know, but don't go alone because the regulars are f**king OBNOXIOUS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Perry Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 Also, another thing to add about aladdins. Check your check yourself before you pay the bill. They usually try to tack on a few extra bucks without telling you. They also sometimes charge 10% service charge without really letting you know about it. Just a heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguineSolitude Posted July 6, 2006 Author Share Posted July 6, 2006 they tried to put 10 bucks extra on the bill last time i went. i am going to go to ali babas and see how that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 Mna, you guys make me glad the place was closed when I tried to go there for lunch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguineSolitude Posted July 6, 2006 Author Share Posted July 6, 2006 i'd still give it a try mush. good food and decent hookah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 No No..thats quite alright..I'll find the Ali Babba place before I go to a location that treats its customers like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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