The name ‘Fuel Pump’ rings a very obvious connection when it comes to titling a bar, and while it’s a smart name to have, it gives you a great opportunity to theme your bar around the very name, apart from just playing with your nameboard. The possibilities are endless, really. But when you end up looking like any other bar in the suburbs, the experience turns out to be a damp squib. Speaking of damp, we have a story to tell here, and we’ll get to the crux of it at the end of this piece.
This is the kind of place that can catch your attention if you’re traveling by, because of its enormously lit up display board and an image of a pump overflowing with liquor, as part of its logo. It’s funny what the power of visuals can do. A spontaneous decision propelled by an appealing nameboard saw us do a quick stopover at Fuel Pump, while we were on our way to another bar. We didn’t end up going to the other bar, and you will soon figure why.
The first thing that hit us when we entered was a conundrum that forced us to think twice before settling down. The floor area is compartmentalized in a confusing manner and with blasting music playing in the background, it just added to the dilemma. We ended up doing a survey of the whole bar before reluctantly deciding to sit down, and it was majorly because our patience was beginning to run thin. Why so much confusion, one would think? How hard is it to just sit down and start drinking? Well, Fuel Pump does its best to make it hard for you.
We finally chose the darkest and most secluded corner of the bar, a bar that’s overwhelmingly red all over. The only thing that could ‘fuel’ this experience now was the food and drinks.
Quite unusual for us to go down this route, but we began with a ‘Half Fry’ (INR 110). Fuel Pump makes a comeback with a deliciously looking partly fried egg, that was as tasty as it looked, maybe more. It motivated us to go a step further, and we asked for a plate of Chicken BBQ Tikka (INR 250). Guess what, Fuel Pump scored a brace with this delicious chicken dish. It felt like a remarkable turnaround by a football side that was battered in the first half, but came back strong in the second.
This match was anything but over. Their Island Affair Cocktail (Bacardi, Old Monk, Blue Curacao) priced INR 350 was so green, that it looked like liquid ‘paan’. It seemed a little overboard in terms of cost, and despite being thrown off guard by the look, we really had no complaints with the taste. Fuel Pump took a slender lead in this game, but we wanted to play it safe from here on. We rounded the order with a large Old Monk (INR 270).
This outlet has live sports screenings. Unfortunately for them, we weren’t interested to turn our heads towards a Champions Trophy match that did not feature India. But we could sense that this place can create quite the atmosphere on an India match day.
The dying moments of the night had arrived. It was at this very point that we felt little droplets of water fall on our heads. It’s the overhead Air Conditioner, we asserted, before calling our waiter to fix the issue.
But why did this feel like it’s not the AC, but something more? “The AC is a fair distance away from our seats, but why is the centre of our table getting wet?”, we wondered. This quickly turned ugly and no matter how tipsy you were, your mind was still capable of concluding that this was no AC, but this was fucking rain!
It was early June, and Mumbaikars usually brace themselves for the Monsoon by this time, every year. It came down in full force on Fuel Pump’s roof, and managed to seep in to dampen our experience in more ways than one. This was a self-goal of epic proportions, and while their food and drinks made a rousing comeback in this match, the commotion that ensued after everybody realized that it was literally raining inside the bar, made Fuel Pump snatch a draw from the jaws of victory.
This was no clean sheet by any stretch of imagination, but this could’ve been a win nonetheless on any other day. Check this place out on a non-rainy day, and let us know how it went. We figured that they have another outlet in Malad as well. So, you could try your luck there too.
Now you know why we couldn’t make this a bar hopping night. We were drunk and wet at the end of it all.
P.S: We wanted to click a picture of the entrance to give you an idea as to why we decided to stop over in the first place. But we didn’t think it was worth risking our cameras in the Mumbai rain.
Where? Midas Comfort, Guru Hargovindji Road, Andheri East, Chakala
Cuisine: North Indian, Chinese, Continental
Food You Must Try: Chicken BBQ Tikka, Chicken Roasted Kebab
Alcohol You Must Try: They have ongoing deals on Whiskey, Vodka, Rum, Beer and Wine. Avoid the cocktails and make use of their deals
Dance Floor: No
Avg Price Per Head: Rs 1000
Header Image Credit: Zomato
