About Pharaoh's Kitchen at Off the Hookah - West Palm Beach

Equal parts restaurant, raucous nightclub, and Levantine lounge, Off the Hookah sets the senses adrift in a sea of ornately decorated, semiprivate booths, all bathed in red and orange light. Silken pillows upholstered in arabesque designs cushion the plush couches and banquettes, which sprawl throughout a space sectioned by curtains and arched doorways. Congregating around tables dressed in red linens or ottomans encircled by tassels, revelers can order a hookah or peruse a menu that reads like a culinary Baedeker of internationally inspired foods. The flavors are predominantly Mediterranean and Japanese—hummus and baba ghanouj precede meals of beef carbonara or wasabi salmon sushi—but the entertainment is decidedly Mediterranean. A few nights a week, belly dancers add a sultry flair to meals, much like using placemats made of pages from anatomy textbooks.