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These days, English-style pubs are being
challenged by the chic bar-restaurant formula. In recent months,
a large number of such establishments have opened, offering
the city’s wealthier inhabitants a dazzling choice of
places in which to spend their money. Many of the best bars
are located in Colaba and along Marine Drive, in the posh
South Mumbai locality. The prevailing atmosphere is informal
– a jacket and tie is almost never required. But Mumbaikars
like to be well turned-out and the unspoken dress code of
some establishments is decidedly chic.
Many bars and clubs operate a couples-only policy, for members
and non-members alike, and charge an entrance fee.
One of the hottest clubs in town is Insomnia, located at the
Taj Mahal Hotel. It is a warren of bars and lounge areas with
a huge basement dance floor, but is more of a private members
club. Find someone to take you there. Of the other nightclubs
in hotels, the Library in the Taj President, boasts a lively
bar and live music with free entry. Not just Jazz by the Bay,
in the middle of the city, is a good place for live music
besides scrumptious food.
Indigo, voted among the top 60 restaurants of the world, at
Mandlik Road was the original Mumbai bar-restaurant. Despite
having spawned numerous imitators, its minimalist decor still
attracts the smartly turned-out set. Next door, Busaba is
a popular bar-cum-nightclub
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attached to a Southeast
Asian restaurant. Celebrities can be spotted at Athena, the
cigar lounge/restaurant, with low yellow sofas and opaque glass
counters. And the star-struck gal that I am, I religiously went
to Athena for three nights in a row and did plenty of stargazing.
The latest hip bar in Mumbai is Suzie Wong, located on a boat
in the middle of Back Bay. It is open until 4 a.m. and is reached
by motor dinghy from the jetty at the south end of Chowpatty
Beach. My host in Mumbai was going to attend a private party
there one evening and asked me to tag along.
Sitting propped up on cushions upon the deck and looking at
the city lights over the water was indeed an unforgettable experience.
For a fun alfresco experience not far from the Taj, wander up
a few floors to the trendy rooftop Koyla, a hookah bar and restaurant,
where white tents flap in the breeze amidst leafy vegetation
and lots of cozy low sofas and cushioned corners - a good mix
of music, mood and food.
The latest fad in town is restaurant-cum-lounge bars. The Olive
Bar and Kitchen, in the fashionable northern suburb of Bandra,
is a trendy bar and restaurant, which serves food until 2 a.m.
On any given day, you can rub shoulders with the who’s
who of the city. Not one to miss hobnobbing with the celebrities,
I pestered my host with a maddening intensity to make a reservation
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for dinner. A few days later our efforts were rewarded:
we finally got in and while there, ‘ran into’ a
lot of celebrities.
Zenzi Bar, also in Bandra, has a glass-panelled, wood-floored
lounge that serves French, Thai, Japanese and Indonesian cuisine.
Enigma at the JW Marriott is a must on the list for an audio
and visual feast, for this is a popular place with the Bollywood
stars. Aqeel, the resident DJ is world-renowned and has been
burning the airwaves all the way to UK. Rain, a popular restaurant-lounge
bar in Juhu, a posh suburb, also serves New World cuisine.
The new kid on the block though, is the Phoenix mills complex
in the Lower Parel area, where the defunct textile mills have
cleverly been converted into a nightlife haven. A cluster
of nightclubs, this is most conducive for bar hopping!
Well, so much to do and see, there were probably new clubs
opening up, even as I sat twiddling my thumb in the plane
on my way back home to Singapore.
No trip to Mumbai will be complete without getting a taste
of its buzzing nightlife. One cardinal injunction at these
places is early reservation. So if you intend to visit any
of these hip and happening places, make sure you have a prior
reservation or the wait can seem like ages. In worst cases,
people are just turned away. Besides an assured rollicking
good time, what better incentive than a chance to rub shoulders
with celebrities.
For more info:
www.timeout.com/travel/mumbai
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