With beefed up wallets at the start of a new month and a collectively rejuvenated spirit to drink the night away, the squad landed in the middle of a plush residential area in Bandra West on a Friday night. It was so residential, that the bar in question is named partly like a residential address. We rang the bell at ‘Door No. 1’, but not before being subjected to a signboard; more like a reinforcement that we were surrounded by residents all around, who, in all likeliness wanted their Friday evening to be peaceful, unlike us. The signboard politely asked us to quietly move inside because guess what, a whole new world awaited us at the other side of the door.
You enter this place and cannot help but think that it could pass off as a fancy ground floor apartment in Bandra Reclamation. Efficiently propped by a low hanging ceiling, big comfy couches, low stools and high chairs, wall frames, artistic lamps and books that look like they’ve been effortlessly placed at the right spots, this quickly begins to feel like one big house party that gives you the chance to mingle and make friends with strangers.
Once you’ve settled down, it doesn’t take you too long to notice a rather striking mezzanine space at one corner of this house, divided into an upper and lower deck. The lower deck looked like a mini library and with the Apple logo being flashed from the back of those familiar machines at almost every table, you know you’re looking at a deck that has been designed for you to bring your work and drink, or should we say, “co-work” and drink in today’s times. It looked neat!
However, the upper deck is what really got us excited. A gigantic LED screen mounted on the wall, and a pair of joysticks being handled by what seemed like a semi-drunk pair of guys gave us such video-game feels, because hello, it’s a mini video gaming room for crying out loud! While the primary intention was to drink, we imagined landing up in front of that screen at some point as the night proceeded; because we knew we weren’t moving our asses out of this house until being thrown out like unwanted guests (which is when the place shuts of course, at 1 am).
The music here screams ‘Retro’, and it screams loud. For a relatively cramped space, we found it a little too much to handle for our eardrums, making us feel borderline uncomfortable. The playlist though came together like the colours of a rainbow. It helps when you’ve employed a certain DJ Russel, one of the most prolific ‘retro-rock’ DJs in the country, as per our finding that night.
Right then, it was time for business (literally for them and figuratively for us). The menu card was a no-nonsense booklet really, and it threw up a bunch of Signature Cocktails together with the pedestrian ones. A kind recommendation led us to call for Label 5, a Scotch Whisky we don’t come across too often in menu cards at other bars in this city. INR 270 for a 30-ml shot may seem a little overpriced on the surface, but hey, it was the start of the month, remember? To be fair, this citrusy liquid was unique and provided just the kind of zing we wanted. It sure was worth the shot. And ‘shots’ we did have!
A limited period menu card called out to us just when we were beginning to feel confused about which cocktail to go for. It listed a bunch of Bacardi based mojitos, and we settled for a Bacardi-Green Apple concoction priced at INR 321. It was a little too sweet for our liking. But the green apple felt like the perfect companion for the white rum, so we rolled with it anyway. The Chicken Sholay Kebab (INR 381) was as bad-ass as Gabbar, and the Thai Chicken Tikka (INR 391) played the perfect sidekick to the former. In our heads, we’d already named this dish after Samba.
At one point, the guys at Door No. 1 seemed to be catering to too many guests which resulted in the service slowing down, because the place became choc-a-bloc just when the clock was about to strike 11 pm. But post 11 pm, this house party turned on its head, and we mean it in a good way. The disco lights came on, while the disco balls began revolving and reflecting lights like it had just woken up after the best sleep in the world. The decibel levels hit a new high, and our blue haired DJ couldn’t put a foot wrong that night. And so, we danced and danced, and drank, and danced again in the limited space the floor offered.
After a good two hours of engaging an audience whose dance steps turned as innovative as some of the in-house cocktails on the menu, the DJ announced that it was time for the last song of the night. The collective heave that followed (in which we chipped in too) clearly suggested that this party did not want to end, even though the ‘grand total’ on that check kept rising with the decibels that night.
The waiters going around with POS machines and making their way through the dance floor to extract the collections for the night before closing was a funny sight. The tension on their faces was palpable, even as some of them showed us their own flexible moves in the process.
When we somehow got ourselves to step out, the bouncers were quick to remind us that while we’d just come out of a maniacal retro party, there were people around us who had long called it a night, and were readying to embrace the Saturday morning. The least you can do at this point is respectfully walk away, even if you’re drunk out of your fucking mind.
Where? Shop 1 & 2, Ankleshwar, ONGC Colony, Reclamation, Bandra West
Cuisine: Indian, European and Finger Food
Food you must try: Chicken Sholay Kebab, Chicken Bruschettas, Thai Chicken Tikka
Alcohol you must try: If you haven’t tried Label 5 yet, we strongly recommend you do
Music: English Retro
Dance Floor: Yes
Price: Rs 1200 per head
PS: We will be back here someday for the video games.
Header Image Credit: Zomato
