Tobacco Haus in New Braunfels

Hello! Val here.  I hope everyone has had a good 4th of July.  I am sorry we haven't been posting lately but between me learning about raising teenagers while attending grad school and Thomas' work being crazy busy, we haven't had the time to post!  But we are back!

So it is no surprise to those who follow us here on our blog that we are a big fan of local businesses in general.

While we do have a cigar shop we tend to frequent, variety is the spice of life.  Since I drive to school in San Marcos, I decided to look up cigar shops in the area.  One came up, but closed for a while, and I am unsure if they are reopened.  Another that came up was Tobacco Haus in New Braunfels.  It is right off of I35, and easy to get to. Full of curiosity, I decided to visit them.  The feeling is very different from my usual lounge which is a cigar humidor that features a small lounge, this is a BAR with a decent sized walk in humidor.

I don't normally frequent bars.  They tend to be noisy, crowded and full of drunk people, which makes me a bit punchy.  Thomas kinda is the same way.  This... was not that.  It was the opposite of that.  It was dark and quiet and has a gorgeous copper covered bar that I want to put in my back pocket and take home with me except I can't because it is as big as my livingroom and won't fit in my pocket and stealing is wrong and bad.

This is the life - good cigar, coffee and kahlua, and an awesome copper bar. Seriously I want one...

Anyways...

There was a nice lady there that helped me, whose name I cannot remember (please don't hate me nice lady). She helped me pick out a couple cigars and told me about what they do at the Tobacco Haus.  They have BINGO (i like bingo...) and trivia and ...poker (whatever, I have no idea how this game works - people should play sensible games, like Cribbage). Happy with my purchase, I headed home with the intent to drag Thomas there one day. They are open to midnight many nights and in this Texas heat, a place I can smoke a cigar in air conditioning is made of awesome.

So when we went back, we met one of the owners, Mark, who is a really cool guy that hung out and talked with us about his business and cigars.  We like Mark.  His assistant manager is Amanda, who is also awesome (and not just because she makes me yummy coffee drinks) and we had a good time talking and drinking and smoking.  Thomas had to leave because Goggles was coming home, but I stayed to play bingo and won one of the games!

We have gone back several times since then, the staff is friendly and the customers pleasant.  The music is sometimes a little off, but it is a jukebox so it is only as good as the taste of the people feeding it. They have fun evening activities usually starting around 8pm, they are responsive to customer feedback and in general are a pretty righteous place to hang out.


 Thomas here finally. Work has been brutal, but that's Summer for you.

Val told me about the Tobacco Haus and I knew I had to try it out. A cigar bar with great ventilation, reasonably priced drinks, and free evening activities: What could be wrong?

We arrived as the one of the owners was getting his things together to leave and was more than willing to chat with us.

Mark has been in the cigar business for a long time and  The Tobacco Haus has been open in New Braunfels since 1996. It had previously been Downtown but moved to it's current location 5 years ago.

There is a 600 sq ft humidor with a varied selection of cigars and a big common room with plenty of high tables with a bar at the far end. Two electronic dart machines sit off to a corner and a jukebox with a wide variety of music sits opposite. Up on the walls are a variety of cigar paraphenalia (rare autographed boxes, cigar presses, autographed pics, etc.) and two big screen monitors that are usually on some kind of sports but with the volume turned off/down.

The bar is fully stocked with selections from "well" vodka all the way up to some nice scotch with an array of bottled beers from local Texas brews to imports.

The Tobacco Haus has chips and snacks, but no appetizer-ish foods. They will allow you to bring in your own, though. (There is a decent selection of carry-out in the area, a couple of which will even deliver to the Bar.)

For the card players they have Texas Hold'em Mon., Wed., and Sat.; Bingo players 6 games on Tues. and Thur.; with trivia on Fri.

Val and I have been here a couple times since and have grown to enjoy it. While it probably won't replace our regular shop, it is a great place to pop out to later in the evening to have a cigar and relax.

AND they have WiFi!


Overall:
Smoking is allowed
They have snacks, beer, wine, coffee, soda and mixed drinks
They do NOT have food, but you can bring in take out no problem.
You CAN bring your own cigars, there is no fee, but let's not abuse that privilege.


They are located in the Marketplace
651 N Business IH 35 #535
New Braunfels, TX 78130
830-620-7473
http://www.tobaccohaus.com/index.html (NOTE: website is somewhat outdated. Events are different than what is on the site)
I know that Thursdays they have Bingo, Wednesday was Poker, Friday was Trivia and that is all I remember.

Hours: M-F 10 AM - 12 AM
          Saturday 10 AM - 1 AM
          Sunday 12PM - 12AM

Naara Cafe

Greetings readers! Val here, hoping everyone is having a great Friday night. I am posting live from Naara Cafe. Thomas is not much for new-fangled data phones, so he will post his review later.

So here goes our first installment of "And that is what he/she said"

She said:
Tonight Thomas and I decided to go to Naara.  It is one of the places we go to relax.
I tend to enjoy Naara because it has the crucial combination of friendly wait staff, good food, and excellent beverages.

Naara is an excellent place to go when you want a light meal, to enjoy hookah, or just hang out with some of your friends.  They have board games, appetizers, pizza, sandwiches, meals, desserts, and a wide variety of drinks.

One of the things I find most interesting about Naara is that the atmosphere is always a little different. It is a great place to people watch, and has probably the most diverse clientele of any restaurant we go to. It is almost always busy, with people of all ages, walks of life, and ethnicity. Conversation can be heard in at least three different languages, and the crowd is always congenial. The only downide for me is that sometimes they are playing some great traditional or modern Middle Eastern music, and at other times they play pop/r&b like you can hear on almost any radio station. I prefer the Middle Eastern music by far. The patio is gorgeous, tastefully decorated in rich earth tones, with live plants and a merrily bubbling fountain. People gather, laughing and talking and playing games.

When we go to Naara, we are usually greeted by Sol Maz, the wife of the manager, Shayan.  They are usually omnipresent during weekend evenings, greeting guests enthusiastically and making sure every one has a great time.

Thomas sitting on the couch outside at Naara

Tonight we weren't very hungry, so we split a Combination Kabob Plate: four skewers of marinated lamb and chicken, served with Basmati rice, hummus, bread and house salad.

Thomas ordred black tea, I prefer sweetened Turkish coffee.  For shisha, we chose a mix of the house rose and raspberry.  This is one of my favorite blends, though next time we return we will choose something different.

In my opinion, the chicken was sublime.  It was very well seasoned, moist and tender.  Usually I prefer lamb, but tonight it was a bit tougher.  Still, it was well flavored and we enjoyed everything.

Akbar Mash-Dee (Persian Ice Cream) and Turkish Coffee

 The Turkish coffee tonight is incredible as ever, rich and sweet, without being cloying or bitter. The black tea is excellent too, full bodied and perfectly brewed.







Update:

Dessert tonight was wonderful.  We both shared Sweet Rolls, described as filo dough wrapped around cashews & walnuts and baked to golden brown.  They were delicious.  Crunchy without being messy to eat, lightly sweet, and richly flavored with just the right amount of honey.  We also shared Akbar Mash-Dee (Traditional Persian ice cream, with rose water, real cream, saffron, and ground pistachio.) This by and far is my absolute favorite dish at Naara.  There is not an easy way to describe this ice cream. It is floral due to the saffron and rose water, lightly sweet, with just a bit of earthiness from the pistachio.

 






He Said:
It was a long week at work. I was chained to a desk most of the week and really needed to blow off some steam. We decided to go to Naara. One of our favourite places to have dinner and hookah.

We were seated at one of the curved, padded benches that has a low table. There are regular tables inside and patio tables out side as well. This one affords some of the best people watching. We always sit on the patio. Everything is so relaxed and inviting out there. Stucco walls painted earth tones, black wrought iron ornaments, ceiling fans, and lights that blend to make the perfect ambiance for an evening relaxing. There is always a good cross section of people there. From the young soldiers trying to "out manly" each other (Been there and done that myself) all the way to multi-generational families (grandfather and grandson playing chess while everyone else eats and chats) they all blend in to make a rich tapestry of interactions.

Neither one of us was really hungry so we decided to split a combo kabob plate. It has very generous portions of marinated chicken and lamb char broiled to perfection with a fresh salad (lettuce and greens with a light vinaigrette. Garnished with crumbled white cheese and sliced green olives), Perfectly cooked basmati rice, tasty hummus, and fresh grilled pita.

She said the lamb wasn't up to par, I didn't see it. Tasty, moist, with perfect char marks and not over done. The chicken was the same. The hummus was fresh and full flavored without any one of the spices overpowering the earthiness of the chickpeas. Fresh. Grilled. Pita... 'nuff said there. What really stood out for me tonight was the perfect balance of flavours in the salad. I usually don't like olives, but decided to try them out with the salad. Whoa! They fit in and made an incredible balance to the greens. The whole meal was a balance of flavours that fit so well. If you usually eat your food one thing at a time, try mixing it up with this plate. You will taste new things with every combination.

I usually get the Turkish coffee, but on a lark decided to get the plain black tea.(they have a variety of flavoured teas available) It is served in a utilitarian stainless steel pot with a side bowl of rough sugar "cubes". (real lump sugar) The pot came with 2 attractive glass cups to serve into. I was hooked at the first sip. This was excellent tea. Last time I had tea this flavourful by itself was years ago at the Richmond Arms in Houston. Matter o' Fact: I even ordered a second pot. The glass cups are a great touch because of how beautiful of a color the tea is.

On to the hookah. All the hookahs at Naara are works of art. They even sell them up front. As well as coals and shisha. We got a blend that is a favourite of us both: rose and raspberry. The floral notes of the rose and the slight astringency of the raspberry ( it is real raspberry flavour, not at all "cool-aid-ie") makes a well balanced flavour that is enjoyable for the 3 or so hours we stay and hang out here. There is a separate menu for the varieties of shisha flavours they have. If you are unsure, ask the waitstaff. They are all very knowledgeable and can provide guidance. If you don't want to futz with your coals or just don't know what to do, they have guys walking back and forth every few minutes with baskets of hot coals to help or show you the process.

For dessert we got the Sweet rolls and Val got her usual Persian Ice Cream. The sweet rolls were great tonight, as usual. Each one a few hundred layers of tissue thin pastry with nuts and honey rolled inside. Each a little smaller around than my little finger and slightly crunchy. Val really likes the Persian Ice Cream, but I have to really be in the mood for it. It is very sweet and floral (being made with rose water and such) and can be a little overpowering. (But I don't like some Belgian ales for the extreme floral notes as well.) But their desserts are a great finisher for the meal because they are just the right size so you don't feel all "After dinner mint , sir?" finishing them.

All through the night the Manager Shayan and his Wife Sol Maz circle like a hawks (with smiles plastered on their faces). Their sharp eyes making sure that everything is perfect for their customers and ready to answer any questions or provide for your needs. The wait staff satellite from them so there is never a time you have to wait very long to get more of anything or have questions answered. You can tell that they derive great joy from making sure their customers have a good time.


As an aside:
We bought a hookah from there a couple months ago and are having some issues getting it to smoke right. Shayan overheard us asking one of the staff for pointers and he swooped over and said to bring it in with us next time and he will make sure all is right or fix whatever is wrong. Himself.



Great Food, Great Service, Great Place.
Naara Cafe and Hookah