The Daily, Bandra West, Mumbai : A Cocktail Paradise

The beverage culture in the Indian gastronomy scene was quite limited till the last decade. With evolving tastes, the drink offerings have also expanded and more and more restaurants are experimenting with their beverage line up – in some cases, even daring to create a menu that fits around an entire beverage menu.

One of the latest entrants in the latter genre is the one year old Bandra eatery called The Daily. Focusing on a cocktail based menu, the food has been smartly paired with the cocktails menu curated by the master mixologist. We were recently invited to taste and rate twelve of his new signature creations. These were to be rated on the basis of Appearance, Taste, Balance (sweet, sour, bitterness), Quantity and Value for Money.

The Daily is located right behind Shoppers Stop in Bandra West; the large glass façade of the inner bar area and the al fresco dining area with low candle lights gives the place a very chic European feel. The indoor bar area has newspaper clippings hanging from the ceiling and looks quite nice.

Our cocktail tasting session started with vodka based cocktails of which the Midori and Aloe Vera based Absent Minded rated low on both taste and visual appeal but the very Indian, very interesting and very refreshing Paan liqeur and cardamom based Cloud Burst, though average in its visual appeal, was an explosion of flavours in the mouth and got high ratings from us in terms of balance as well as taste.

Hereon we tasted several rum, gin, whiskey and tequila based cocktails of which there were some hits and some misses. The ones that floored us completely were the Secret Crush (Teachers Whisky, cinnamon, cranberry infused Assam tea, sweet and sour and orange zest) and Howdy Partner (Jim Beam Bourbon, Drambuie, Campari, Bianco and orange bitters). The one that didn’t work at all for us was the Rain Man (Dark rum, watermelon, mint, coriander, cucumber and chat masala-weird flavours indeed)!

During the tasting, as the focus was not on food, we were only served Hummus with crisp pita breads. If a particular snack is to be considered as the yardstick for measuring the standard of the other food items served at a restaurant, then I am happy to say that the restaurant serves decent stuff along with some fabulous drinks.

All these cocktails are priced moderately at Rs. 250 plus tax which I believe is quite a value proposition in an area such as Bandra. With such a fun line up of drinks, I would certainly recommend that The Daily be paid a visit, if not for anything else, then surely for the Cloud Burst, the Secret Crush and most definitely Howdy Partner!

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: N/A Drinks: 4.5 | Ambience: 4 | Service: 4 | Overall: 4 (Only for drinks as didn’t try the food)

Meal (Brunch) for two: Rs.1000| Alcohol: Yes | CreditCard: Yes | Timings: 7.00 pm till 1.30 am

Wheelchair Access :Yes

Address: Ground Floor, Behind Shoppers Stop, SV Road, BandraTalao, Bandra West, Mumbai

Tel:+91 9920446633

This review was done on an invitation from the restaurant. Due judgment and care has been applied by the author to remain objective and unbiased in the review, but readers need to consider this review keeping this fact in mind.