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Can You Still Go Bar Hopping in Bandra?

MissMalini

MissMalini and the pub crawl crew at Bonobo

cnngoV2_logo So that’s the question I set out to answer on Saturday night when Sita Wadhwani from CNNGo.com asked me to write a feature on it (I like them, they put me on their Mumbai 20 hotlist remember :) Did I succeed? I guess you could say so. Although it’s clear that your best bet is to pick a place early and stick to it (unless you’re willing to travel to China House or Aurus post the 1:30am deadline Bandra is forced to adhere to.) So here’s a quick look at Bandra nightlife, as it is now… and then I’ll show you the results of my Twitter survey to see which clubs caught our fancy the most (even if now, they’re long gone.)

Toto’s [status: open]
7/8 Lourdes Haven, Pali Naka, Bandra (W), tel. +91 (0) 22 26006429
This was our first stop because Toto’s is such a Bombay institution (in fact it was even around when we were still allowed to call it Bombay.) Now the crowd is a little dodge but the music’s still rocking. The owner was SO not happy about me filming though, I wonder why?

Hawiian Shack DJ Booth

Hawaiian Shack: [status: open]
No. 339, 16th Road, off Linking Road, Bandra (W), tel. +91 (0) 22 2605 8753
Four floors of retro insanity! Plus the DJ booth actually moves :)

Soul Fry [status: open]
Silver Croft, Pali Market, Bandra (W), tel. +91 (0) 22 26046892
Bandra’s favorite Monday-night karaoke bar. (Plus who could say no to a place where the menus dangle from the ceiling?)

Nicolo and Dino Morea

Elbo Room [status: open]
St Theresas Rd, Khar West +91 (0) 22 26483316
Like I said, I’ve done so much celebrity spotting there lately, it’s clearly a hit! Plus the DJ/Accountant has a certain (albeit eccentric) flair for music!

Mumbai Times Cafe [status: open]
33rd Road, Khar (W), tel. +91 (0) 22 66711587
Again one of the few places you can enjoy a nice apple flavored hookah (for some reason Mocha Mojo doesn’t do them anymore.) The rooftop lounge area is my fave and a great place to spend a chill evening. Unfortunately they’re pretty militant about their last order on the hookah (even though you can still get drinks!)

Surelee Joseph and MissMalini

Olive [status: open]
14, Union Park, Khar (W), tel. +91 (0) 22 2605 8228
Apart from their Thursday night “theme” nights Olive is a great place for a chilled out drink if you sit outside or a weekend rager with the DJ pumping house inside. A.D. Singh always gets it right.

Banana Bar [status: open]
The Banana Bar, Hotel New Castle, 1st Floor, Above Only Parathas, Khar (W), tel. +91 (0) 22 26480483
One of the few places in Bandra with a pool table so it gets my vote (I’m having Ghetto withdrawal). In fact that’s where I ended up randomly on Tuesday night! (Apparently they also do Karaoke on Thursdays.)

MissMalini and Abhay Deol

Zenzi [status: closed]
183, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W), tel. +91 (0) 22-56 430 670
This is really heartbreaking. Particularly because I JUST moved to Bandra and I remember trekking all the way over from town for that delicious China Box! I’ll never forget the day I discovered that Matan Schabracq has an identical twin brother. Who knew? Oooh and I have fond memories of a very sweet and dimpled Abhay Deol agreeing to pose with me too :)

Nikhil D'Souza

Bonobo [status: open]
Kenilworth, 2nd floor, off Linking Road, Behind KFC, Bandra, tel. +91 (0) 22 26055050
I’m so glad they opened up again after being closes for three months! In fact they’ve got a bunch of new stuff on their menu now and hopefully the live music scene will return to normal in a few months. Remember Nikhil D’Souza’s jam back in May 2009? Epic.

Fashion Victim (far right)

Escobar [status: closed]
4th Floor, VN Sphere, Junction of Turner and Linking Road Bandra (W) tel. +91 (0) 42760000
I feel like I should never pass up an opportunity to make fun of this outfit, seriously Mr. Morani who dresses like that?! but in all honesty Escobar is sorely missed. And it was barely open for six months. Great indoor/outdoor space, a terrace for the smokers and that 77ft bar. I hope they get their license sorted soon (and somebody destroys that shirt.)

Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty and Shamita Shetty (photo courtesy: filmicafe.com)

Royalty [status: closed]
001/b, Krystal, 206 Patkar Marg, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W), tel. +91 (0) 40487000
When they launched this place I was pretty impressed (despite the crazy smoke parade) and I thought between Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra it would be packed full of glitterati every weekend. I don’t know what happened exactly but they never actually managed to open after the launch party… doh!

Psst! If you totally missed what happened: Several clubs in Bandra took a hit and shut down when the order was passed by Home Minister R.R. Patil after a group of housing society residents complained against the increasing noise and traffic, making allegations that these clubs were flouting certain licensing rules. Oh pooh.

At Poison with DJ Aqeel

Anyway as per Twitter the old favorites continue to be Poison (DJ Aqeel bring it back), Zenzi Bandra, and Seijo and the Soul Dish (gosh remember those egg shaped bathrooms?)

P.S. I’m happy to report there are a few new restaurants/bars opening up, California Pizza Kitchen (with killer margaritas I’m told), Barcode 053 (Dino & Nicolo Morea’s new spot in Andheri next to Infinity Mall, I’ll go take a looksie soon) and The Sea Princess in Juhu is getting it’s own version of Delhi’s Elevate. Yippee!)

And finally I just did a little click through memory lane on my blog and realized just how much I’ve partied over the last 2 years (ok make that 5.) If in case you missed it and want to know what any of these clubs look/ed like, click away and enjoy my fashionable flashback of Mumbai nightlife and celebrity spotting and launch parties!