Raising the bar

BENGALURU: What does a paan shop have to do with the city’s best kept secret bar? Welcome to ‘10’, a trendy speakeasy modeled after the iconic watering holes of the Prohibition era in 1920s America. The sound of jazz and clinking glasses welcome you to this magnificent new establishment adorned with ornate chandeliers, tungsten lighting and statement furnishing as you walk past the premium paan shop and an inconspicuous entrance door. Yangdup Lama, India’s award-winning bartender and mixologist, is the creator of the unusual cocktail list at ‘10’, and the tapas-style world food selection perfectly matches 
the experience.

Namma Bengaluru is witnessing a surge in concept bars that are pushing the boundaries with unique experiences centred on the outlet design, tailored drinks, and a gourmet food menu — all coupled with that X-factor. 

Take, for example, the newly-opened Record Room, the city’s first craft beer and vinyl bar, which evokes nostalgic memories of a simpler era. With over 200 vinyl LP albums adorning the walls of this unique space, Record Room brings back our love for analogue music in this digital age.

While you savour locally-brewed Geist and Toit artisan beers, gin-focused specialty cocktails, and a menu of international bar food, a DJ spins the turntable stylus with hits from pop to rock, funk, jazz, and blues. Record Room aims to develop a community of record lovers with interactive music sessions and a vinyl exchange programme for connoisseurs and the first-time vinyl listener. The bar features a limited-edition white turntable devoted to the Beatles’ White Album, one of just 500 in the world!

Misosexy, a pan-Asian cocktail bar with funky oriental undertones and uber-cool vibes, is a beautiful newcomer on the bar scene. The beverages menu is separated into four sections: sweet, sour, savoury and umami, with signature cocktails and a variety of beers, wines, and straight drinks topping the list. The menu includes a variety of South-East Asian delicacies with a concentration on Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia. Every area in the restaurant is Instagram-worthy with soft lighting and chic interiors which ooze that extra oomph.

Botecos, or neighbourhood bars on street corners in Brazil, translate to ‘a place for wonderful drinks and easy conversation’ in Portuguese. With the recently-opened Boteco-Restaurante Brasileiro, we now have our own version in the Garden City with a menu of original and reinterpreted Brazilian dishes, as well as a focus on community-style cocktails.

At Boteco, cachaça, Brazil’s national spirit, takes centre stage, leading the charge with the caipirinha, the country’s most famous cocktail, created with cachaça, lime and sugar. Cha-Preto, a cachaça-based community drink, and Summer Punch with cachaça, sugarcane juice, lime, pickle brine, and butterfly pea tea come highly recommended by the bar manager in addition to fruity house sangrias, chilled beers, and wine.

In a nutshell 

• ‘10’, Wood Street, Ashok Nagar, 2 pm to 1 am, Reservations 96060 69006
• Record Room, Ram Kunj, Magrath Rd, 12 noon to 1 am, Reservations 87921 07222
• Misosexy, 12th Main, Indiranagar, 12 noon to 1 am, Reservations 96637 77858
• Boteco - Restaurante Brasileiro, Magrath Rd, 12 noon to 1 am, Reservations 87920 45444