Karmel Square and Karmel Suuqq

This review is specifically for the Henna body art available at the Somali mall. I’ve never been here for reasons outside of getting my hands and arms tatted up, however, it is always an adventure every time I get there and try to figure out which henna shop to hit up. If you’ve ever been to Hmong Village in St. Paul, you’ll notice that the layouts are very similar. It’s essentially rows and rows of stalls in a large building with small shops that specialize in makeup, fabrics, movies, and many other various things. A lot of the stalls do not have names on them so if you are looking for something specific, i.e. Henna artists, just ask around and someone is bound to show you where to go. There are various henna artists throughout the building and their price point range is from $ 5-​$ 15 for one or both hands. This is an extremely affordable rate for the amount of intricate henna work they are doing on your body. I got both my hands, wrists, and forearms henna’d up and it was $ 20 including tip. There is no small talk when you go get your henna done unless you can speak the language. You go in, show a picture of what you want, and the henna artist (most likely a friendly 50 year old somalian lady) will try her best to make it look like your picture. There are no frills when you go here… this is a no-​nonsense marketplace where people move fast and talk loud. Probably one of the most authentic Somalian shopping experiences you could have in Minnesota. It’s pretty exciting around Eid because there a lot of people going in and out of the building prepping for the celebrations. I do not suggest getting henna before Eid because you will wait forever… since literally everyone and their mom and their grandmas are there also getting henna.
There are a lot of coffee shops and restaurants that sell fresh sambusas so if there is a wait for henna, there are many options where you can grab a snack. There’s street parking available or else a ramp you can park in with affordable parking rates. I highly suggest this place if you are looking for a great henna artist or if you want to experience an ethnic shopping place.
One thing to note about the henna they use — they use black or red henna so if you’ve never had these colors on your skin before, ask them to test it out to see how your skin reacts/​looks with those henna colors/​mixes. The black henna lasted three weeks on my skin. It is very hard to remove if you are trying to remove it when it is fresh. If you are getting your hands/​arms done, make sure you wear a short sleeve.

Karmel Suuqq is one of the best ethnic markets I’ve run across anywhere in the US, not just in the Twin Cities. As someone who lived over 30 years in the Arabian Gulf and has traveled extensively throughout the region as well as south, southeast, and southwest asia as well as southern Africa, it «feels» right. It has the same tiny stalls or shops like the covered suqs of Oman or Kenya with sales items spilling out into the aisles. You’ll find odd collections of items in a shop like fabric or clothing alongside perfumes, Kleenex, and incense, which is exactly what you find half a world away. Since the Holy Month of Ramadan has not yet ended, the coffee, tea, and snack shops were closed at lunch time when I was there today, but as soon as everyone breaks their fast this evening at dusk, it will do doubt be a hive of activity with people out buying their kids and family new clothes, which, according to tradition, must be done for the ‘Eid (feast) celebrations that follow the end of the month. As for what they have for sale, it’s mostly things that the local Somali community of 80,000 will want: clothing, scarves, hijabs, abayas, incense, sweets, and spices. I found a spice shop, too, that had whole nutmegs and whole green cardamoms for sale, two items that are extremely difficult to find here. Lots of other spices and condiments you need for African and Middle Eastern food, too. The only thing that I did not see were baskets and wood carvings, which you would find abroad, but that’s really no bad thing since it pretty well proves that the place is authentic in the sense that they sell what their day-​to-​day clientele actually buy. Ergo, it is NOT a tourist trap. But what I really love about the place is that everything looks and even smells right. It will henceforth be high on my list of places to take visitors who come to town.

You might have heard of the «Somali Mall» on Pillsbury and Lake. The two buildings are officially called Karmel Square and Karmel Suuq, but I think most non-​Somalis in the neighborhood just know them as a source of traffic snarls. Karmel is definitely more than a traffic obstacle. From the moment you park (a dollar an hour) you’re in a different world.
It’s a dense little complex of shops and stalls overflowing with merchandise. Racks of clothing or grocery displays narrow the halls in places and turn them into a narrow intimate maze. Some of it feels like a market moved indoors and a lot of it has a slightly shabby hole-​in-​the-​wall feel.
Stalls sell rugs, curtains, tea sets, skirts, and scarves. One stall listed henna and I saw a woman with beautiful designs on her hands. There are cafes, a fabric store, a bookstore, a cell phone shop, a barber, an insurance agent, a prayer room, and what looked like a mini convenience store.
There was probably more stuff that I didn’t catch. I didn’t go into all the shops and some were closed. Plus I was just trying to figure it all out. There’s no map or directory and I got turned around a few times. Once we returned to the same stall we’d been at earlier and didn’t realize it until the owner commented that we were back! Some shops have signs with their names and the stalls have little numbered plaques over their doors (along with little painted symbols that I mostly couldn’t figure out).
People were helpful when we asked questions and most of the shopkeepers knew enough English to help out (or had a friend who did) but sometimes the language barrier made things a little confusing.
There are lots and lots of long skirts and beautiful scarves. I looked at skirts but 99% of them were too small for me. If you’re a small or medium you could get some great bargains. The sizing number systems aren’t what I’m used to (maybe European?). And things labeled M/​L/​XL are much smaller than American clothes with the same size label.
I didn’t see any dressing rooms but we tried on dresses in the back of a stall. The shop lady pushed the sale harder than I’m used to, don’t know if it’s part of the whole bargaining thing. She offered to «cut» a dress that was too long and I *think* she meant she’d hem it for free.
Nothing we looked at had prices on it. You get told a firm price but my friend told me that people bargain and she was right, because some of the prices did drop. (For her that is. I suck at that stuff and just meekly paid what I was told. I still got a bargain on a cool scarf.)
We ate at Karamel Café before heading home. It was an odd experience because we were the only women in the café. Nobody shooed us out or anything and everyone was friendly, but it felt awkward. I asked someone if there was another place the women ate at. (I figured I’d get it right next time and eat there.) But he just said the women don’t like to eat in public.
The food was good and cheap. The posted menu listed meats as separate items but my friend said «goat and rice with tea» and I followed her lead. I ended up with a meal and a half for just 8 dollars. The goat had bones in it but the meat fell away easily. The rice had some flavoring but it was too bland for me till I added the amazing green paste that was sitting on the table in a squeeze bottle. It made everything yummy, but it was HOT so a little went a long way. There was also a little smidge of salad with what looked like French dressing (that I didn’t try) and a banana on the side.
The tea was chai with milk. I always thought really sweet chai wasn’t authentic but I must be wrong since the chai here was sweet enough to drink for dessert. It was yummy though.
I went back to the mall myself a couple days later for some to-​go food. (I wasn’t comfortable sitting down to eat as a solo woman, though I’m sure everybody would’ve been nice about it.)
First I went to Ultimate Icecream & Smoothies. I got a big puffy thing that was so radiocative orange it could have been made of pulverized cheetos. It turned out to be stuffed with mashed potatoes that surrounded a hard boiled egg. I was amused by it’s Russian Doll styling, the neat way one thing nested in the next. The taste was pretty basic but I could see it being somebody’s comfort food. I also got a fish samosa. It didn’t taste like fish but did taste yummy in a medium spicy way. Then last and also least I tried a big pancakey– pastry-​dessert sort of thing that tasted a little like sweet sticky rice but that didn’t do all that much for me.
Then I stopped at Uruba Coffee. Communication was confusing but friendly. I think he was telling me the food wasn’t ready yet. I tried for chai but failed so I grabbed chai at another café who’s name I’ve forgotten.
I’ll probably be back to explore more of the food, and I definitely recommend Karmel mall to anyone wanting a scarf or a non-​plus-​sized long skirt.