Lounge Review | Cerveza, Mumbai
Lounge Review | Cerveza, Mumbai
A new beer bar in south Mumbai attempts to bridge several gaps—a watering hole for the young, a nightclub to some, a place to just loll and one to be seen at. Cerveza wants to do all this but executes a good idea poorly.
The good
Situated in Kala Ghoda amid a cluster of restaurants and the music store Rhythm House, Cerveza is hip in its outlook with bright walls, low lighting and intense music. The decor is simplistic though as the term “beer bar" would suggest; this is a place to stand and converse, or holler, not necessarily sit down and dine.
There are 16 kinds of lager, two wheat beers (Hoegaarden and Schneider), ales, stouts (Guinness, ₹ 600 for a pint and Murphy’s Irish, ₹ 550 for a pint) and fruit beer (Liefmans).
There are also potent-sounding beer cocktails—one called Snake Bite is a mix of tequila, vodka, rum, gin, triple sec with draught beer (Rs 550) and another, appropriately named Raging Bull, which combines Red Bull, creme de cassis with draught beer (Rs 400).
Extremely busy waiters wear T-shirts that say: “Never cry over spilt milk, it could have been whisky", and “Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy but the Bible says love thy enemy".
The not-so-good
Cerveza is tiny, really tiny—two NBA players could fill the place up. The music bounces off the walls so conversation is—ironically for a beer bar—ruled out. If you expect a British pub, with oak tables and the possibility of a brawl, this may not be the place. It’s not big enough for a night club, so dancing has to be restricted to hip shakes.
The prices take the place—again ironically—out of the student’s league. A pint of Hoegaarden is ₹ 380, while the boutique hotel Marine Plaza’s Geoffrey’s serves it at ₹ 310, in comparison.
The food, clearly not the focus, is testing with greasy chicken wings (Rs 200) and tough, sticky nachos, among other snacks.
Teething troubles still prevail as the service struggles in the low lighting but makes up for efficiency with enthusiasm.
Talk plastic
Beer cocktails cost between ₹ 400-500, a mug of draught is ₹ 150, while a pitcher is ₹ 600, and the fruit beer Liefmans comes at ₹ 550. Snacks come in the range of ₹ 100-200.
Cerveza, First floor, above Silk Route, 38, K Dubash Marg, near Rhythm House, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. For details, call 22818572.
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