Our Shisha Lounge in QueensWay, London:

Our Shisha Menu

We offer a cozy getaway for anyone who loves a great Shisha with variety of flavours from Al fakher to Starbuzz combined with enticing menu. We invite you to experience all the traditional delights and hospitality of the Manoush restaurant in contemporary surrounding, fusing history and the present time.

 

Shisha history

The origin of the Shisha water-pipe is from the time of the Safavid dynasty in the Persian empire which extended into India to where it also spread during that time.

Shisha soon reached Egypt and the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan) during the Ottoman dynasty where it became very popular and where the mechanism was later perfected.

Old Persian painting – circa 1600

In the Middle East and Arab world, people smoke Shisha water-pipe as part of their culture and traditions. Social smoking is done with a single or double hose hookah, and sometimes even triple or quadruple hose hookahs in the forms of parties or small get-togethers are used.

The exact date of the first use of ḡalyān – قلیان  in Persia is not known. Although the Safavid Shah ʿAbbās I strongly condemned tobacco use, towards the end of his reign smoking ḡalyān and čopoq had become common on every level of the society, women included. In schools, both teachers and students had ḡalyāns – قلیان  while lessons continued.

Shah Safi of Persia (r. 1629-42) declared a complete ban on tobacco, but the income received from its use persuaded him to soon revoke the ban.

Persian king, Naser-e-din Shah smoking Shisha – 1880

The use of ḡalyāns-قلیان  became so widespread that a group of poor people became professional tinkers of crystal water pipes. During the time of Abbas II of Persia (r. 1642-1666), use of the Shisha water pipe had become a national addiction. The shah (king) had his own private ḡalyān-قلیان servants.

Evidently the position of Shisha water pipe tender (ḡalyāndār) dates from this time. Also at this time, reservoirs were made of glass, pottery, or a type of gourd. Because of the unsatisfactory quality of indigenous glass, glass reservoirs were sometimes imported from Venice

In the time of Suleiman I of Persia (r. 1694-1722), ḡalyāns became more elaborately embellished as their use increased. The wealthy owned gold and silver pipes. The masses spent more on ḡalyān.

An Iranian woman smoking Shisha (قلیان) – around 1900