The best new pubs

It’s Saturday night... Time to chill out. Head to the most talked-about new pubs in town.

Bootleggers

Where: 4th Pasta Lane, near Camy Wafers, Colaba, Mumbai
Contact: (022) 22020455
Open: Monday-Friday; 7.30 p.m.-1.30 a.m.
Meal for two: Rs 2,000 (approx.)
Must try: Supari Martini. Order a plate of chicken barbeque wings, or Charmola prawns with it

The Chill Factor

Nothing remains of the congested Hawaiian Shack in its Colaba avatar. Bootleggers, which has come up in its place, offers just the experience you would look for in a pub: fantastic music, ranging from classic rock to current favourites like Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and David Guetta, daily jazz, karaoke nights and some great cocktails.

The pub is split into two levels—the upstairs being more secluded. The music isn’t fighting for ear-drum space, which also makes it the ideal place for conversations. The pub’s décor is informal—scattered barrels, black-and-white pictures and posters of ads on the walls, a gramophone and a huge clock on the rough brick walls. The menu, hung on the walls, features a variety of starters, from corn and potatoes sautéed in cheese to chicken drowned in wine and pepper and fish and shrimp for seafood lovers.Deepti Khanna Bose

All Sports Bar

Where:  13 Regal Building, Connaught Place, New Delhi
Contact:  (011) 43581414
Meal for two: Rs 1,000
Open:  12:30 p.m.-1 a.m.
Must try: Cappuccino Martini and Passion Fruit Martini along with Arabic grilled chicken

The Chill Factor

The concept of sports bars is yet to fully take off in Delhi, and All Sports Bar in Connaught Place hopes to be the early bird. This cool new pub is sporty and has pictures of Zinedine Zidane’s (in)famous head butt, Tyson’s chilling ear biting moment and the Munich massacre. The seating arrangements, with giant plasma screens, add to the effect and there are pool and foosball tables if you’re in the mood to not watch but play. With 20 plasma screens, you can literally watch what you like, be it Formula 1, tennis or cricket. The menu comes in the form of a sports tabloid, and highlights not just the dishes but also gives you the latest updates from the world of sports. Now, that’s food for thought! Do sample its cocktails like the Pomegranate Passion Fruit Martini and the Cappuccino Martini while rooting for your favourite Euro teams.

—Anumeha Chaturvedi

Afraa

Where: City Centre, Block G, Salt Lake, Sector-1, Kolkata
Contact: (033) 23581111
Meal for two: Rs 2,200 (approx.)
Open: 5 p.m.-midnight
Must try: The best of new world wines, especially the Argentine selection. For food, order Gambas Pil Pil (Spanishstyle king prawns pan seared with olive oil, herbs, chili & garlic) or Thai Fish Cakes


The Chill Factor

An ambience created by famous architect Kapil Bhalla, an exclusivelydesigned lounge menu card, with international-flavoured finger food crafted by celebrated nutritionist Karen Anand, live music on all days, a wine library—Afraa, the city’s newest high-end pub is the talk of the town. An Ambuja Realty initiative, Afraa is barely two months old and already positioned as Kolkata’s au courant venue for those who value style and class. On offer from the Wine Library are Malambo Chardonnay, Malambo Shiraz Marbee (Argentine Red Wine), Cape Mentelle Shiraz (Australian Red Wine), Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay and many more. The food is great, too.

—Ritwik Mukherjee

Zara; The Tapas Bar

Where: Inside the International Airport (above the Sangeetha Food Court) at Meenambakkam, Chennai
Contact:  (044) 22560779
Meal for two:  Rs 800 + taxes
Open:  12 noon-midnight
Must try: Sip a glass of Sangria with Fried Squid Rings

The Chill Factor

Located in a corner of the first floor international terminal of the Chennai Airport, this is the second standalone Spanish pub in Chennai from Oriental Cuisines. Though strategically placed to attract transit passengers from international flights, it is open to all and draws a lot of Chenniites, who don’t mind travelling all the way for the great cocktails, and it does not require tickets for entry. This pub, which opened in May, attracts over 200 visitors every day. Says Sean Saldanha, a young businessman who visits the pub once a week with his friends: “It is open till very late which is a big advantage.” The cocktails are a hot favourite with the crowd, and so are the seafood accompaniments.

—Nitya Varadarajan

Couch

Where:  114/1 Sai Complex, M.G. Road, Bangalore
Contact:  (080) 41512898
Meal for two: Rs 1,000 (beer and food)
Open:  4-11.30 p.m.
Must try: Satay Paneer, Lemon Fish and Oreo Cheesecake. There’s also great variety of Indian and foreign beer, starting at Rs 80 a pint

The Chill Factor

Two decades after helping transform Bangalore from a sleepy pensioner’s paradise into India’s pub capital, Ashok Sadhwani has now moved on to open Couch, a new lounge bar on Bangalore’s M.G. Road. The elegantly-designed Couch does away with some of the discomfort of sitting in a pub (few bar stools, no hard wooden chairs) and instead, as the name suggests, provides more relaxed seating options to its guests. The added bonus is the food from the Italian restaurant Spiga, which has ensured a steady stream of loyal customers. But while the food is good, the cocktails are a tad disappointing, with nothing outstanding to attract new loyalists. What does draw the crowd, though, is the beer (what else is a pub for, anyway?) which at Rs 80 a pint, is a steal for an upmarket place.

—Rahul Sachitanand