The category
70 bars across 8 categories and 6 districts. Reviewed by our local correspondents.
Colaba and Fort have the heritage end: Leopold Cafe, the Sea Lounge at the Taj, the bar at the Bombay Yacht Club. Bandra Kurla and Lower Parel hold the new mixology rooms, often run by people trained in London or Singapore. Bandra West is the residential bar quarter, with gastropubs and a few rooftops looking out at the Arabian Sea. South Mumbai still rewards taking the long way: Marine Drive, a single-malt at Ellipsis, dinner at Trishna.
Most bars run 7pm to 1.30am — last call is earlier than the city size suggests. A serious cocktail runs 40-60% of London prices. Our local correspondents work out of Bandra and walk these rooms most weeks. The 70 best are below.
Every bar in this guide was visited in person by a barsforKings editor. No bar is listed without a visit within the past 18 months, and every ranked bar is visited at least twice, on different nights, before it earns a place. This city is re-reviewed every 90 days, and each entry is approved by a named editor — never an algorithm and never a paid placement. Read our full methodology and editorial standards, or meet the editors behind the reviews.
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