An H Street oasis
Despite H Street's abundance of bars making it the opposite of the world's driest expanse, new hookah (nookah?) lounge Sahra is actually named after North Africa's giant desert. From either the Arabic or the typo for "Sahara", the smoke stop (from the owners of Souk, just down the street) looks like the interior of a Moroccan king's tent: hanging golden drapes, a red velvet banquette with mosaic tiled tables, fez hats all over the place, and a moaning harem of exotic beauties feeding each other seedless grapes, umm, girls from DC.Sink your butt into one of the plush ottomans and order up a 3ft "Al Fakher" hookah for $20, with available flavors including double apple, mango, and peach -- hit it, and you'll be on your way to a fuzzy night. In between rips from the narghile, indulge in one of their nine wines, or one of several beer varietals from Geary's (of the Maine Geary's, of course), including their Summer ale, pale ale, and Hampshire Special, aka what Squam Lake residents huddle together and tell themselves after hearing about Maine's bigger, awesomer lakes.And lest your tongue become overly jealous of your nose, they'll also soon serve a lineup of Middle Eastern tapas, though you may still have to head across the street to Dangerously Delicious for a giant dessert.