India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (77 page)

South Mumbai

Wink
(
022/6665-0808
) is the classy, ravishingly handsome watering hole at the Taj President in Nariman Point. What was once the more staid and serious (and single-mindedly business-oriented) Library Bar, Wink has become known as a seriously spunky gathering point for playful socializing, complete with cool beats from a former club land DJ, and a special range of drinks—the “winktinis” are reason enough to spend a couple of hours here. If the high-energy excitement around the main bar gets too much, you can sink into plush sofas in the lower-octane adjoining lounge where state-of-the-art sound cushioning means you don’t have to leave the premises to engage in normal conversation. They even do a selection of detox cocktails, such as the unique and yummy “ancient cure.”

Also gorgeously designed and aiming to attract a similar crowd, is
Valhalla
(
022/6735-3535;
www.valhalla.co.in
), a sexy new all-day business lounge and nighttime tapas bar in the Eros Theatre Building in Churchgate. The subtly-marked entrance is around the left hand side of the Eros front entrance; head upstairs and the hostess will lead you into a vast room presided over by a hand-carved throne upholstered in pink—try one of their yaquitinis (a fresh grape martini) and sample the
albondigas
(meatballs) as you tap your toes to chilled DJ-spun electronic tracks. If your holy grail is a chic, exclusive lounge bar, nothing beats
Opium Den
at the Trident Nariman Point (
022/6632-6320
), which attracts well-heeled 30-something locals, expats, and hotel guests. Not far away,
Geoffrey’s
(
022/2285-1212
) is the cozy bar (with overdone English-pub decor) at the Hotel Marine Plaza; it’s often packed with an after-office crowd.

But for an unabashed übertrendy night out, there’s nothing to touch
Indigo
(4 Mandlik Rd.;
022/6636-8999
or -8983; see “Where to Dine,” earlier in this chapter), still considered Colaba’s hippest joint, and
the
place to see and be seen; low tables with flickering candles light up the who’s who of Mumbai as they sip expensive wines and decadent cocktails against a ravishingly sexy backdrop of glamour and social voyeurism. At Indigo, you’ll need to dress the part or end up feeling like the punch line in a cruel joke. However, there’s a lot less air-kissing and pretense at next door
Busaba
(
022/2204-3779
), where by all accounts you’ll be served better-mixed cocktails (superb fig mojitos, by the way) at prices less likely to attract a second mortgage.

Also geared for a trendy night out, but this time packaged together with one of the finest views in the city—on the top floor of the InterContinental Marine Drive—is
Dome
(
022/3987-9999
), an open-air, candlelit venue that’s conceived to take full advantage of both the night sky and the glittering Queen’s Necklace. With the dark blue horizon just beyond the terrace’s glass railing and a star-studded sky above, Dome commands perhaps the best vista in the city. Sink into the inviting off-white sofas and overstuffed armchairs that surround scented candles and order a Caipiroska or a Mojito, or even a Long Island Iced Tea. You need to get here before sunset (it’s open from 5:30pm), though, to best experience one of the city’s defining moments. The Japanese food is unexceptional (and pricey), but there are few more appropriate places from which to watch the sun dip behind the horizon. Once you’re done with views, or the weather’s bad, you could try
Czar
, also at the InterContinental, which is the city’s only vodka bar. Sporting baroque chandeliers and a chic neo-Society feel, it’s a sophisticated (overtly bling) place to lose a few hours—there’s a DJ on Saturdays, when you pay Rs 1,000 (per person or per couple) to get in, and occasionally even a bit of impromptu dancing.