# Check out Mumbai's pubs of the 'poor'

'Wine is bottled poetry', the Scottish poet and novelist, Robert Louis Stevenson once famously remarked. Even way down here in Mumbai, a far cry from Scotland, there is more than one who echoes the same thought.

Janta Bar: the crowd puller

To know how a city sleeps, one needs to see how it drinks. When they say Mumbai never sleeps, the actual reference is to how much Mumbai parties and drinks.

True, not everyone is pub-hopper or a 'friend of the frog' (what they call members of Blue Frog). But in this twilight city which smiles at the elite and the low in an equally benign manner, this fact is just for the record books.

Beating places like Hawaiian Shack and Blue Frog hands down are scores of little unsung watering holes in Mumbai which can knock the living daylights out of any pub merely in terms of numbers. Dotting its landscape all the way from the uber-cool South to the lesser privileged North.

Janta Bar: bug stop here for a cheap drink

'Janta Bar' in Bandra needs absolutely no introduction to anyone who has taken more than just a swig in this island city. Nestled just off the extremely crowded Pali Naka, this one is a byword for nocturnal beings in search of a cheap drink. Leagues ahead in terms of both heritage as well as numbers, 'Janta Bar' has played host to people from all walks of life, literally, and still does.

Its initial claim to fame was its hours of operation. It used to be the only place in and around the area that served food and drinks till the wee hours of the morning. Though those golden days are long since gone in the wake of SC judgments and bizarre moral policing, Janta still keeps its shutters open till almost 2 am each day.

The ambience is just as any regular bar and restaurant, with four-seater tables lined up close to each other. The waiters are not really the extremely courteous types, but then, courtesy is definitely not one of the selling points for this joint. Value for money is more like it. The food is a decent fare too, with the Mughlai and Chinese coming in for special praise.

Navik Restaurant and Bar: haven for guzzlers

Chakala in Andheri is another busy junction in the wee hours. Right off the Western Express Highway, is a collection of four to five bars that collectively house over thousands of guzzlers. The oldest among them is 'Navik Restaurant and Bar'.

The place has undergone cosmetic changes in the recent past, owing to its tremendous commercial success, and the place still witnesses old time regulars from the time the place was yet to see stained glasses and cushioned seats.

Till almost three years back this joint would remain open the whole night, all the way up to 7 am each day, only to reopen again at 4 pm. Shockingly enough, there would be a more than fair crowd at each hour. Though now it shuts at 2 am, the numbers have hardly dwindled.

The quality of food served at Navik bar is a byword for the regulars at this joint. The chef comes in for special praise for his version of 'tandooris' and 'biriyanis'.

The execs working in the IT companies nearby swear by the fare. The pricing is decent too, and a night out should not set you back by more than Rs 500, depending of course on how much you drink.

Sagar and Sarang: weekend hubs for drinkers

Drive farther north and you come to the fag end of Mumbai, Dahisar Check Naka. This neighbourhood is dotted with watering holes aplenty, and making a choice can be quite difficult.

The joints here are so like the other, both in terms of ambience and service. What takes the cake, however, is that these joints still remain open through the night (despite the cops being just a stone's throw away). 'Sagar' and 'Sarang' are the biggest among the lot and witness a huge crowd especially on weekends.

The food is strictly decent (though comparatively cheap); the place is more of just a watering hole-with the liquor flowing freely till the Sun comes up with its unhappy tidings.

Mumbaiites don't really nurse their drink, its more of a "Gulp, Call for more...", and surely a Blue Frog with its Rs 200 a pint rates doesn't help things in times of recession.

Head then to these pubs of the poor.

Check details on: http://www.buzzintown.com/articles/pubs-drink-mumbai

Submitted by: Mahatru Goyal

mahatrugoyal@gmail.com