Highs and Lows

The opening of Bootlegger in haughty Hauz Khas Village suffuses a welcome sense of budget

If the night belongs to the poets and the madmen,as Benjamin Bratt so gorgeously declaimed in Modern Family,then surely so do the dive bars; apart from being for the impecunious and the students,of course. Wilde had his opium den,Hemingway his Paris salon and Bukowski,the world at large,seediness being their binding factor. And in Hauz Khas Village,where a culturally commercial air wafts through,seediness is the last thing youd expect to find. Yet with the opening of the unapologetically low-brow Bootlegger,the village gets just that vibe. And a very good thing,too.

Located next to 39,Bootlegger is accessed through a long decrepit stairwell,the walls bare with brick and mortar. Around the third floor,the staircase looks more finished,albeit in black and white graffiti. A heavy wooden door leads into what looks like one of Hugh Hefners lairs. Suffused in pink mood lighting bouncing off white stucco walls,the first thing one notices is the cacophonic party music. As this initial sensory assault recedes,one takes in finer details such as the obliging service staff,the plush leather and satin seating,and floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

The bar menu is beguilingly simple and all encompassing. Like a Benetton advertisement,it makes no distinction between colour,spiritual creed or distillation,and comprises a litany of liquor,the standard pour starting at a Patiala peg (90 ml). The basic cocktail menu has two serving sized: the regular (500 ml) and the Rajnikanth (one litre). Clearly,the bar takes its tagline of for professional drinkers only rather seriously. The cocktails boozy concoctions floating amid a blizzard of ice cubes are priced between Rs 350 to Rs 425 per 500 ml. Sure out Tom Collins is sweet enough to be re-christened Tom Selleck,but this is a small price to pay.

The food menu is a collection of bar foods around the world,sections divided into finger,spoon,fork and knife ,with one side concentrating on Western food,the other on Asian. We order a Stir Fried Lamb in Black Bean Sauce,Onion Rings and Tossed Chicken Wings,not expecting much as most bars have indifferent food. Again were pleasantly surprised,with the food being well-cooked. Though the wings are slightly saccharine,the lamb is stellar. The dishes are priced around Rs 250,a change from the regular fare,where the average cost of a meal for two is Rs 2,000 sans alcohol,in this part of town.

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