Cafe Tabu

Hookah was harsh and the waiters were rude. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Plenty of better alternatives for a hookah lounge in Brooklyn. Too bad they don’t care about customer service, really shameful.

Very strong drinks, a nice, quiet atmosphere. Gets popular on fri-​sat nights with larger crowds of Russians from the area. Sadly, quite a huge pity that poor service makes for a bad review.
A tip should be an optional reward for good service — if you are treated nicely and are served well, a tip should attest to that. However, my party was forced to pay a mandatory 15% tip on the bill because 4 people came into the restaurant. Two of the four people quickly left as they had just come in for a few minutes, and only two remained.
These two were forced to pay a gratuity for four people, and the management refused to have the tip removed from the bill. Simply uncomfortable and frankly not a nice way to run a business when you are forcing your customers to tip and refusing to understand that those two other individuals weren’t even served to begin with. On top of that, they wanted us to give a credit card and an ID since we didn’t have the cash to pay that added gratuity — we always tip, but this was simply discomforting and their nastiness and unwillingness to understand the situation made for a poor experience. They demand ID to pay with any card, they add a mandatory tip, and they are rude. Will not return.

Ambience is great… An assortment of hookahs to choose from. I ordered sushi and that was good but I came on a full belly so I never finished. I def will go back again

This place is a local neighborhood star. I walked in here with my wife and was amazing by the level of service by their bartender «tatyanna» and the sushi. Where did they find this sushi man, I’ve never had a roll or sashimi as amazing as this place. This is really the place to go to!

Oh Tabu, what can I say, we have been friends for a very long time :) I grew up in Bensonhurst, so Hookah lounges were at the top of our entertainment list for the weekend. Tabu offers a cozy vibe, dimmed lighting and sunken sofas. For many patrons it has become a prominent first date location. What puts Tabu above other hookah locations, is hands down their sushi. I would often pass on the actual sushi restaurant and come here to dine instead. Of course you will also find your standard hookah selection with a variety of flavor options and a solid cocktail list to go with it. Since I moved out of the neighborhood don’t go here as much anymore. However my recent visit was a very pleasant blast from the past. All in all if you are in the area definitely worth stopping by.

My friends and I went to tabu on the weekend for few drinks, we were seating by the bar.
I will highly recommend the SUSHI, very fresh and very good one of the the best Sushi and rolls In town.
The drinks and the hookah was also good. I think the drinks a little over priced (but they were good)
However the bartender TATYANA wasn’t as professional, (if you don’t have anything smart to say Don’t open your mouth)… Every thing was great till the end of the night, She said something really inappropriate to one my friend, and this runes the night. My friend should say something, but he just paid the bill and left :(.
Something to the Owner of Tabu :
The Bill, why won’t you use the computer to print the bill ?!, (the menu not cheap at all, you can afford to buy a computer.
Come on… It is 21^th century…
Why do I need to spend my time trying understand what I got charged for, and spend my time calculate the bill make sure the the bartender didn’t try to rip me… (a special if the bill over $ 300)
BTW they charge $ 2 for extra Cole for hookah…
(nowear on the menu mentioned about that). I never got charged any extra for the Cole, it a part of the service…
Unfortunately I had more bad experience then good, but it’s just me.

Service — bad. Need to ask for everything twice.
Too dark. You can barely read the menu.
When they bring you the check, you can’t see what you ordered, just the total price + with automatically added tip hidden inside (who knows how many percent?)
Paying with debit/​credit? Prepare to give them your ID with the card.
Never again…

I have went here several times with my friends, so I believe I have went often enough to write a comprehensive review. I write my reviews with regard to price and service relative to similar establishments, and having been to dozens of hookah bars in NYC, I can objectively review this place with regard to its ambiance, service, quality and overall feel.
My friend said he liked this place so I went with him and several others on three occasions, so my review is not based on one bad experience, but a consistent level of service (or disservice) on the restaurant’s part.
The Good: The ambiance in this place is very nice. The decorations are of an eclectic, near-​east style and the level of darkness is just right to make for a pleasing environment where one can relax and smoke hookah. The music is also pleasant as well. This is not a hookah bar that caters to adolescents where loud top-​40 hits are blasting over the speaker, but a place with a more adult demographic.
The Bad: Where should I start? The staff are very strict when it comes to bringing in outside food or beverages. Even a bottle of water is off limits. This would make sense, since the restaurant wants you to buy their own drinks, however their drinks are not only overpriced for this neighborhood and level of establishment, but also poor in quality. I tried two mixed drinks, a rum and coke and a margarita, both of which were extremely diluted. Needless to say, the bartender did not receive a tip for either.
The hookah is of average quality, both in taste and longevity, but the price is extremely high with regard to its competitors. A standard hookah is $ 20, a milk hookah is $ 35. In addition to the astronomical hookah prices for an average product, there is a $ 3 surcharge for each time the coals are replaced. $ 3 added to your bill for a service that is included in every single hookah bar I’ve been to. This is the equivalent of buying a milkshake and then having a $ 2 surcharge for a spoon or straw. You cannot get the full value of a hookah without changing the coals at least twice, so this is the equivalent of $ 26 for a regular hookah, and $ 41 for a milk one. There is nothing special about the hookah itself, in fact, it is rather small and not at all ornate.
The staff are very rude and entitled. Although I am fluent in Russian, my English does not carry an accent, so I never speak Russian in these establishments to get a better idea of who these staff really are, because coming from south Brooklyn, I have had my fair share of rude and entitled Russian waitstaff who barely work, but expect a lot. This place is no different. I had found that the staff were unusually slow at bringing me my order and of course the tip is included into the bill, which does nothing but enrage the customer, as this is generally a practice reserved for parties of six or more. The comments (in Russian) that the servers make to other servers regarding certain customers are also rather unprofessional, and would result in termination should one of the customers complain at any upstanding establishment that is.
Out of the three times I went to this place, I found that the bill was inconsistent with regard to the items ordered. It seems as though higher prices were being charged arbitrarily for the same items depending on which day you go, with the hookah costing anywhere from $ 24 in total to $ 28 in total, for the same number of coal replacements.
Overall: I will likely never be coming back here. The great décor and music do very little to ameliorate the poor service, high prices and ridiculous overcharging. Coming here has left a bad taste in my mouth, and knowing that this is not simply an isolated incident prompted me to publicize this information. People who consider this place excellent would do well to develop some perspective as far as other, truly reputable establishments are. There are much better hookah bars in this area of Brooklyn.
Note: I had not tried the food because I don’t typically order food in hookah bars, but my friend had their sushi and told me that it was disgusting. My friend has been to at least 40 sushi joints around the city so I am inclined to trust him on this one.

Nice hookah bar with really relaxing music and good service. Very romantic). Excellent place to go on a date

The decoration is great its a hidden spot. Super dark at night, perfect for a date or intimate atmosphere. I tried only the passion fruit martini and it was really good, tangy but its ok I hate sweet drinks. But here is the issue, the server a russian girl who barely spoke English was extremely rude. My friend took out a chocolate (which they dont sell obviously) and she told him he could not eat it there. Fine, he put it back inside the plastic bag. She came back again and said «remove it, you cant have it here». So where was he supposed to put the chocolate? Doesn’t she knows men dont usually carry purses? Then, we asked for a replacement charcoal for our hookah and she said it is $ 2.00. I have never ever seen a hookah bar that charges to replace the charcoal. She gave us a horrible attitude all night, and at the end the tip was included in our bill and it was like 20%. So undeserved. We were very angry with the service. Even though the place is cool, and their products are good, the service makes me never want to come back.

The waitress asked us for id before we paid for some reason. After we drank and are. That was weird. They charged us $ 3 for 1 oz of milk for our 1 cup of coffee. Just weird.

Wow… don’t go to this place with a large crowd… they will profile you… get the old staff back… newbies are killing this place that used to be good!!!

This is one of the best hidden gems in this area of Brooklyn. Whether it’s atmosphere you’re looking for or great food this place doesn’t disappoint. Order one of their many martinis or the Russian dream roll for a late night treat.

The place is ok. We got a melon hookah for around 30 bucks and apple Martini for 12 bucks, everything is ok. Very cozy and relax place, better to go with your girlfriend. I like their fireplace and aquarium

Very nice inside and the Tabu martini was the best drink I’ve ever had. The experience was extra good cause my date wanted to make out (!)

The place itself has a Very cozy atmosphere couches and a real fireplace. It is good for hookah drinks and coffee/​tea The food is okay.

Good service, fantastic chill music…,
Lived the aquarium, makes me super relaxed…

My experience was great! I came with three other friends, and we were able to get the little den room all the way in the back.
We had a really such a great time tucked away from everyone in our own little cove. I really don’t think I would have enjoyed sitting on the ottomans up on the main floor. The tables and little ottoman type seats they seemed so on top of each other and looked a little uncomfortable. I liked the fishtanks on the wall walking to the back. Our drinks were yummy and our waitress was pleasant. This was the first time I’ve ever tried hookah, and I actually liked it. The milk flavor was very smooth, and I think I even got a little buzzed from the hookah.

Love it on Thursday and Wednesday nights when the bosses son is there he is super nice and a better drink giver then one of the female bar tenders. But one has open up to me bc she sees I’ve been gong there fire ouvre 7yrs finally.. Anyway the owner knows me since me dating my Russian bf a few years back before he moved back to Russia so he always hands me a complimentary shot.. sexy black girl can hang with the rouskies;).
As for the food Omg! The food. .Amazing.. The food alone gets 5stars the service 5 stars the atmosphere 5 stars love this place

Fun place for hookah! It has great couches and padded ottomans to sit on while you smoke with about 3 dozen flavors of tobacco to choose from. You can also mix two flavors (we did coffee and vanilla mixed). They also have choices of what liquid to put in the bottom of the hookah (water, milk, wine or cognac). It’s about $ 25 for the water and additional $$ for the other options.
The cons — the place is almost pitch black! We had to use the light of our cell phones just to read the menu. The drink and food options are definitely on the pricey side and not worth it in my opinion. You only get one hose with the hookah, so if you have a few people in your party you can’t smoke at the same time — BOO.
On the pricey side for Sheepshead Bay but a good go-​to spot if you’re looking for something in the neighborhood.