Nightlife in Mumbai - taking friends around

- by Deepa Krishnan

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Suba and Lankesh, our Srilankan friends, were here for a couple of days. Lankesh is an easy-going guy, and his wife Suba is a very interesting woman who speaks her mind. We've always gotten along famously. Since the two of them wanted to party, we decided to show them the city's nightlife.

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"I've heard so much about Enigma", said Lankesh on Day One. "Why don't we start with that?"

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"Yes", said my equally easy-going husband. "Let's go to Enigma".

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I was running a temperature after the day's shopping (Suba and I spent a small fortune on shoes, belts and bags at Linking Road). So I dropped out of the Enigma trip, and the three of them went.

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Suba being Suba, was dressed to her eyebrows. Lankesh is a pretty natty dresser as well, so I coaxed my husband into looking presentable. After the three of them left, I went to bed with an aspirin. I didn't regret it one bit. I'm a thorough Enigma-hater, so in any case, I would have spoilt it for them. At breakfast next morning, Suba was scathing. "No class", she pronounced. "What weird creeps we met! And the music! Terrible!"

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It was time to salvage the city's reputation. "Let me show you some different places tonight", I said. "Maybe we can go bar-hopping". So at nine p.m. on Day Two, we went to Shiro for drinks. The minute we stepped in, Suba said "This is more like it!". And I knew the evening was off to a good start. The bartender was attentive, the service brilliant. The starters were excellent. From Shiro, we went to the Dome at the Intercontinental, because I wanted to show them Marine Drive at night. No disappointments there either. The red bar had a nice little buzz to it, the views were outstanding, and the outdoor seating fabulous.

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And then we took them to see Mumbai at night - the Gateway of India, the heritage district...and ended up at Indigo for dinner. We got ourselves a table at Indigo, but the menu didn't work for us that night. After all the drinking, everyone wanted something spicy! So we bid goodbye to the still smiling waiter at Indigo, and went off to find Bade Miya.

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"You mean we can go walking?", asked Suba, when we left the car behind. "It's quite late, you know."

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"It's just the next street from here", I said, "Besides, there will be a lot of people there even at this time."

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So we went there on foot, and of course, Bade Miya was a hive of activity even at midnight. See for yourself.

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Crowd outside, eating off car bonnet at midnight. One family had a 3 year old sitting on top the car.

The "Miya" of Bade Miya, counting cash. He gave me a dirty look when he saw the camera, but didn't say anything.

A closer look at the kebabs

The roomali rotis that the kebabs are folded into

My dashing husband, with Suba. Bade Miya has now expanded into the building across the street. So while you can eat standing outside, you can also have a sit down meal. We didn't want to stand, not on high heels!

Lankesh and me

Waiter Number 5, our Man at Bademiya. This little card, by the way, is ALSO the menu.

Ta-da! Flip the card around, and this is what Bademiya offers! No prices listed. None needed.

Service is quick, and the chutneys that the roomali comes with are just heavenly.

On the way home, we rounded things off nicely with the legendary strawberries-and-cream at Haji Ali. Suba was all praise for it.

We got back home at 2:00 in the morning, happy and full. I realised that seeing Mumbai through the eyes of a close friend, a first time visitor, is real fun.