Bombay Daak: We found retro playlists and unexpected regional recipes at this intimate new bar in Mumbai

 An intoxicated tiger with bombil fish in its teeth’s grips? This is a fantastical emblem that defines the soul of Bombay Daak the new bar in Mumbai dubbed as an exciting, revolutionary take on India’s desi watering holes.

In Bengali households, a folk story often heard is that of a cat with fish in its mouth. “The sight of this is a bad omen. A metaphor for sin. Debauchery. Indulgence. Pleasure. All things we entertain at Bombay Daak!” Says chef Niyati Rao @chefniyatirao who coined this conceptual outpost with Sagar Neve. ELLE DECOR India’s visit here in a bylane of Bandra, reveals a 30-seater intimate bar and a busy open kitchen with Bappi Lahiri and R.D. Burman’s retro playlist roaring joyously in the background. It is a playlist party for the kitchen crew after 9 pm, confirms Niyati. A meal and rounds of drinks at Bombay Daak could easily be a cinematic scene from an old, vintage Bombay bar!

From hyperlocal cocktails and swadeshi drinks to chakna-style regional recipes: the bar is no less than a book of stories and flavour cultures sourced from around vast stretches of Indian states. All of it concocted into a lip-smacking menu. Indulgence, pleasure…we warned you!

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