Lounge
A new bar honours the age-old drinking culture of India
Summary
The menu of the month-old bar Bombay Daak draws inspiration from local drinking spots, regional classics and family parties where the whisky is free flowing
The month-old bar Bombay Daak in Mumbai champions the spectacular diversity of India’s drinking culture. Its menu is inspired by local dive bars, gymkhanas as well as drinking traditions in families across communities. “A friend of mine is from the Sindhi community. In her family, Sundays were all about enjoying whisky and her mother would make dal pakwan flavoured with a chilli. On our menu, we have a dish with hot gram inspired by it. We have mixed in the quintessential drinking snack daal mooth too," shares chef and co-founder Niyati Rao. Each drink and food item reflects multiple inspirations with the chef’s signature creative twist.
Indian food was reimagined for the modern diner with the opening of Indian Accent in New Delhi in 2009. It spawned a generation of chefs and restaurateurs who revisited their roots and brought regional diversity in contemporary menus. Now, the focus is on India’s drinking culture. While regional ingredients—from gondhoraj lemon to alphonso mangoes—have entered cocktails, there are just a handful of bars that champion the multi-faceted traditional Indian drinking traditions including foods associated with it. Last year, the bar Slow Tide opened in Goa and drew inspiration from the many communities who live there. In December, the bar Shad Skye opened in Shillong with a menu dedicated to the North-East. Bombay Daak positioned as an ‘elevated daaru chakna bar’ is the newest entrant. It has the vibe of a cosy neighbourhood bar with 34 seats. It is the brainchild of the chefs and husband-wife duo Niyati Rao and Sagar Neve. They also run the experimental, ingredient-driven restaurant Ekaa at Fort in Mumbai.
In an interview with Lounge, Rao and head mixologist Yathish Bangera talk about their research process, crafting recipes and pairing desserts with drinks. Edited excerpts:
How did you stumble upon the idea of a daaru chakna bar?
Rao: I have been thinking about it since my college days at the Institute of Hotel Management in Dadar, Mumbai. It was about a decade ago. We would visit these dive bars close to college. In 2017, I was working in the hotel A Reverie in Goa, and we would hang out in shacks. I would wonder why food and drinks from dive bars and shacks weren’t served in restaurants in an elevated manner. Also, I have noticed every Indian family has drinking rituals, and some foods that are served only when the whisky comes out. For instance, my grandmother told me that her friend made mini patti samosas with moong methi filling when the family got together to drink. I love Japan and izakayas are casual drinking spots there. So, this idea of opening a cozy, fun, izakaya-style bar that served India-inspired food and drinks has been cooking for years. We gave it shape, form and started working on it in March last year.
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Can you share an example of a dish that you borrowed from a community and gave it your own twist?
Rao: This approach is common to all items on the food menu. We have a dish named Bhuna which has tongue roast, brown onion emulsion and dill. Our team member Brinston, the general manager at Ekaa, is from Goa. He told me that his grand aunt’s roast tongue was a must-have during drinking parties. We spoke to writer Barry Rodgers who is from the Anglo Indian community of Kolkata. They make a gravy-style tongue preparation. We combined these two to make a dish unique to our bar.
What was the research process for the drinks?
Bangera: We interviewed about 114 people. We were looking for menus from dive bars across India as well as drinks and chakna rituals in families which haven’t been documented in detail. Once we gathered the names and basic ingredients, we gave them our own twist. The drinks have unique flavours combinations which make them unique. There’s a vodka-based cocktail named Barma Barma with the sharp tasting Burma coriander, the minty-peppery Piper Chaba balanced with a bit of caramel jaggery and ginger juice. The inspiration is from local bars in Kolkata where people have drinks with a bit of ginger and fat-laden mutton curry. To cut the oil in the mutton dish, they chew on the stem of Piper Chaba.
What about your zero alcohol drinks?
Bangera: Those are based on classic cocktails. We have sourced zero abv spirits from the homegrown brand Sober to create buzz-free Gin & Tonic, Cuba Libre, Cosmopolitan, among others. We can craft a drink based on your preferences too.
You have an interesting selection of desserts. How do you plan a dessert menu for bars?
Rao: Although drinks pair best with savoury foods, they go quite well with desserts too. Someone I interviewed talked about munching on sugar and salt coated cashew while drinking feni. It was the inspiration for the dessert Kaju Feni in Forms. It has a roasted cashew softie with feni and jell-o. We interpreted the classic bar snack cherry-cheese-pineapple in a skewer as a dessert with pineapple softie and cheese biscuit topped with luxardo cherry. A Punjabi friend shared his family prepared a sweet dish by cooking rice with sugarcane and served it with drinks. It led to the dessert Ganne Wale Chawal with sticky rice and almond.
