UAE | General
Shisha tents wear a deserted look
Ramadan tents across the city have been reporting a tepid response from shisha-lovers this year but restaurants and owners of shisha places are hoping they will get better business as the month goes along.
- By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:47 September 3, 2008
- A small group of shisha-lovers meet up at a coffee shop in Dubai.
- Image Credit: Asgar Khan/Gulf News
Dubai: Ramadan tents across the city have been reporting a tepid response from shisha-lovers this year but restaurants and owners of shisha places are hoping they will get better business as the month goes along.
The cover charge at shisha tents erected at five-star and four-star hotels is anywhere between Dh30 and Dh45; at the Ramadan tent in Media City, the fee is Dh100. Prices vary according to the choice of flavour and the mix preferred by the smoker.
Small-time shisha parlours located in Hor Al Anz and Deira are coping better. These places not only have more of a regular clientele but also attract a large number of tourists and local residents during Ramadan. People can just walk in, buy shisha and pay accordingly.
Unlike open tents at the more exclusive places, the familiar closed-doors experience over steaming cups of Arabic coffee and tea still seems to be preferred. A shisha costs between Dh13 and Dh15, again depending on the flavour. People who run the smaller places are apprehensive about talking to the media for fear authorities will clamp down on their businesses in view of new regulations.
New rules
As per new rules laid out by the civic body, only four and five-star hotels are allowed to serve shisha, that too in temporary iftar tents, during Ramadan.
In a statement to Gulf News, Redha Hassan Salman, Director of the Public Safety Department, Dubai Municipality, confirmed that shisha would be regulated under new anti-smoking laws introduced earlier this year.
Salman said shisha would come under the purview of the smoking ban once Ramadan was over. Under the new rules, smoking is banned in all hotels, except for designated outdoor areas.
The new regulations stipulate that Ramadan tents should clearly display signs saying that smoking is banned for under-20s.
An employee at the restaurant reservation section at the Royal Mirage said: "We have erected two Ramadan tents. They are the most beautiful ones in town."
The cover charge for a shisha experience at the Royal Mirage is Dh35 and it is open from 8pm to 2am. Regular flavours like apple and grape cost Dh40 while mixed ones cost from Dh45.
"There were not many people on the first day of Ramadan but we expect to have the tents fully booked from between 8.30pm to 9pm. Reservations are accepted only for ten people and above but comes with a set menu," said the employee.
Season's special
The Lailati air-conditioned tent at the Grand Hyatt is proving to be quite a hit with shisha smokers who socialise until into the wee hours.
The entry fee is Dh30 and the shisha itself comes for Dh45. Entry is allowed between 8pm to 3am.
Sami Hassan, an Egyptian, had this to say: "It would be dull without shisha in the evenings. I crave shisha more during Ramadan, when all of us friends gather in the evening and sit chit-chatting until 2am. But I like to go to the small-time shisha places which retain the traditional Arabic allure; the modern tents are just more showy. Apple is my favourite flavour and it costs just Dh13 instead of the Dh45 charged in tents erected in five-star hotels," he said.
Manish Nehra, an Indian computer analyst, said he quite liked the ambience of the shisha tents at the Royal Mirage.
"I have been invited to various shisha tents by my Muslim friends and I love to just sit back, relax and smoke a shisha. Ramadan without shisha is like having food with just salt to go with it," he said.
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