This new stylish homage to risqué, retro India and the old smuggling dens has opened in Fitzrovia, with a late license that'll have ya sipping on clever, Indian inspired cocktails 'til the early hours... oh, and you'll find it hidden behind a staircase. You know we love a secret entrance.
Bandra Bhai is a glittering gem of a bar for those in the know. Slip to the back of the newly launched Pali Hill restaurant and descend down the aforementioned secret staircase to find yourself in an opulent, jewel-toned room which kicks back to a gilded and glamorous 1970s India. Keep hunger at bay with the selection of East Asian bar snacks. If you can resist a second order of their spiced fafda chickpea crisps, your willpower is far better than ours.
Shaking up the cocktails at the copper-topped bar which glints invitingly under the low lighting is Head Barman, Dav Eames. He's given his menu of classic cocktails some sexy touchpoints of India. The Rajdoot took our fancy as a twist on the timeless Vesper Martini, combining the quintessential Britishness of Bond with a touch of Indian spice; vodka infused with cassia bark, samphire and sage with a hint of elderflower. And the name? A Rajdoot is the Indian equivalent of a vesper scooter. See what they did there? Genius.