Food & Hookah, Fifty Five Lounge

Hookah, food and non-grungy couches is almost nonexistent uptown. So, when we stumbled upon this spot last night on our way to a neapolitan pizza spot, we ditched the pizza and hit this up instead.

Food 

I'll start off by saying that the food was nothing amazing. It was, quite possibly, a level up from bar food. Pretty standard hummous but nowhere near close to the best I've ever had. I'm a HUGE hummous lover and can tell you when I'm tasting fantabulous hummous.

 The mixed green salad had some sort of purchased dressing that tasted like it could've been from Hale and Hearty, meaning, it was good, but nothing artisan or farm-to-table-esqe. The babaganoush happened to have been really light and didn't taste like it had mayo like most cheap babaganoush. The falafels, like everything else, were no artisan falafels, but were fried fresh and the fries were the exact Manhattan diner fries you can get anywhere. They weren't really too crispy but still fresh and definitely weren't sitting under a heater either. This is what I would call upper level bar food, nothing more. The margarita pizza was long and sliced into eighths. It was quite cheesy and the sauce also tasted like a purchase and was not made fresh in-house. I used to work in an office next door to a bar kitchen and I know what bulk purchased cheese, tomato sauce and fries taste like. I'm spoiled, I guess, and I know the difference between in house dressing, tomato sauce and fries verse purchased. But again, this is a hookah "club" and so the food is not going to be anything amazing. 

Very honestly though, I'd go back. 

There aren't any spots in my hood that serve decent food, hookah and are clean as well. Most hookah places downtown are pretty dirty and dingy and I wouldn't really want to be sitting on the couch I'm forced to park myself on in order to smoke some hookah.. 

As much as I may be a food snob, when it comes to quality, sometimes I don't mind a standard spot that's going to give me everything I like all at once (hummous, hookah, music). 

FYI, the drinks were EXTREMELY watered down. 

We all left sober after 2-3 drinks a person. 

(I apologize for no food photos)

Hookah

For $40-$100 hookah, it's totally overrated. I make better hookah in my apartment that doesn't go harsh as quick as this one did. But hey, it was hookah and it hit the spot. Go for the fresh fruit flavor. It's the best bet. 

Ambiance

The lights are dimmed, the couches are clean, new and very unlike most of their hookah spot brethren. The scene is pretty random and it turns into a "club" that wants $500 for bottle service after 11pm on a weekend. Obviously, its more of a chilled spot to start out your night before 11, that plays nostalgic 90s disco/dance music. The photo below sort of over glamorizes the place  ad tad and there are no longer any curtains. 

Photo via GrubStreet 

Wait Time & Resos

There is no wait to be seated and reservations are NOT necessary. The service isn't great though. I asked for silverware three times. I needed to ask for water, and I have a feeling the waitress forgot to put in our margarita pizza order because I needed to remind her about it and it took quite some time to arrive.

Good For: Hookah, Chilled, Friends, Chilled Date 

Location 

Fifty Five

47 W. 55th St. 

(between 5th & 6th)

212-957-1899

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/01/hash_55.html