This new cocktail menu is a tribute to Mumbai with innovative twists to familiar flavours

A bartender at the 40-seater speakeasy pours Horn Ok please. Pics/Shadab Khan

When you step into Maikada, the chic and cosy 40-seater bar on the ground floor of Shalimar Hotel, you'll be handed a small envelope. It holds a pack of six cards. One side of every card has a creative rendition of a landmark - Juhu Beach, Dadar Flower Market, Chor Bazaar, Kala Ghoda, Bandra-Worli Sea Link and finally, Maikada, the bar. Each setting connects to an emotion: Comfort, Chaos, Nostalgia, Inspiration, Impulse, and Pride. Flip them, and you'll get the hint of flavour profiles: toasty, citrusy, nutty, floral, and spiced notes.

Vada pav sliders and Beetroot tostada

At the bar, these cards turn into an experiential cocktail menu - City on the Rocks - a spirited homage. For patrons in a playful mood, they are encouraged to go in blind, letting the spirit and ingredients throw a surprise. We signed up for a tasting on a Monday afternoon and gave all of them a try. We begin at chaos in the heart of Dadar market. Horn Ok please (Rs 645) is unapologetically strong, made with vodka, ghati masala-honey cordial and a dash of lime. Bar manager Clyde Periera graciously serves us the cordial, explaining how the mix of masala and honey are worked together at a temperature, making it burst with flavours. We sip it as is, and in the cocktail, it unfurls with the spirit. This is one balanced piece of art.

Cutting chai with khari, Horn Ok please is served with a mini vada pav and Aam-chi 36

Aam-chi 36 (R825) packs in a nuanced spice saga of tequila, mango and agave. We alternate our sips between half rim of Mexican tajin and without it. Both cut a balanced piquant punch. Ek cutting rum (Rs 645) offers the comfort of the beach front in the company of our old friend, clarified Old Monk, with flavours of lime, sugar and cardamom. After the two spicy cocktails, this one is a sweet relief. We turn to Lost and found (Rs 695), the most fun cocktail if you'll savour a sweeter cocktail made with orange-pomegranate shrub, served with a spoonful of pop rocks. Nostalgia served in a tingle right there. The gallop (Rs 825) is made with technique that makes whisky the star amid the flamboyant presence of cacao and hazelnut. Purists, steer clear.

Lost and found (right) The gallop

After opening a modern-day European roof-top restaurant Café Calma in 2022, third-generation owner Yash Advani reimagined the bar to match modern-day drinking culture two years ago. "In its earlier avatar, Maikada focused on music, but now we have turned it into an intimate 40-seater speakeasy that caters to the audience that chases the next best experience. We wanted to create something truly rooted in Bombay - where the setting, story, and sip come together to evoke a feeling, not just a flavour," says Advani.

The pleasant surprise comes when chef Nitin Kulkarni joins our conversation. One of Mumbai's seasoned F&B hands, Kulkarni's contribution to the city's dining out landscape dates back to his previous roles at Rahul Akerkar's Indigo, Tote on the Turf, and later at Rishad Nathani's The Clearing House.

Nitin Kulkari and Yash Advani

At Maikada, his menu serves us Chicken tikka (Rs 475) with a twist of mango and mustard paste that gives the charcoal grilled meat a sweet and pungent taste after finishing. The beetroot tostada (Rs 425) is like a serve purve, slathered with cream cheese, beetroot and candied orange rinds. The mini vada pav sliders (R395) have the rustic taste of a roadside serve with the pudina chutney and vada. Corn vol au vent (Rs 425) comes on a crunchy savoury puff pastry, and is a bite-sized French appetiser with a cheesy finish.

With the cocktail game levelling up in the city, these cocktails depict a mood board of Mumbai, making it an interactive play of heady nostalgia in a glass. Standalone bars have attempted this in the past, turning to the city for inspiration, but there should be no ending to turning the city into a muse, isn't it?

At Maikada, The Shalimar Hotel, Kemps Corner.
Time 5 pm to 1.30 am
Call 9930141194