Jimmi`s

Pecos, Mojos,Le Rock (Downtown), Stones (Indiranagar), B11 (Jayanagar), Legends of Rock,PurpleHaze (Koramangala, Downtown, Marathahalli) , R&B (New BEL Road). Small little neighbourhood rock pubs are everywhere in Bangalore and fast becoming the hallmark of the young beer guzzlers destinations of the city. One more addition to this genre of pubs is Jimmi`s Beer Cafe, bang on 80 feet Road, Koramangala.

Three of us chose this place to start our belting session for last evening, occasion : to bid farewell to a dear friend leaving for Portugal on an assignment. Drinkers at Jimmi`s looked mostly like locals from around and as in case of most of these places - quite some student crowd as well. Plain interiors with occasional Frank Zappa & Pink Floyd posters sprinkled around, the music played is predictably rock & really loud. Again a common feature in most of these places - low bench seating gives a very casual and informal ambience. Spangling over two floors, Jimmi`s has a smoking section to hold your fag and drink as well. All tables taken here!! Oh yes, they do serve seesha`s too.

Originally, a coffee shop - Qwiky`s, now a major part of it converted into a beer station, Jimmi`s serves only draught beers of Kingfisher and Fosters. They have a very short list of beer cocktails. Since they have license only for draught beer , they can add only non alcoholic ingredients to beer and make their drinks. Red Bird is first on the list - Beer with Tomato Juice. This is a torn down version of a very popular international beer mix - Red Eye - Beer, Vodka, Tomato juice and raw egg . Couple of other interesting mixes are Beer & Ice tea, Beer with Straberry ice cream.

We ordered couple of pitchers and ordered a veg cesar salad and some devlish chicken hariyali kebabs to hog. It took quite some time for the food to come. I would expect it to be a bit more faster. The chicken tasted very well but I would not rate it as lip-smacking. The salad was not cold as you would expect generally. Staff are friendly, laid back and pretty attentive. Owner - Rajiv Ramane was very nice and kind to speak to us about the place

Wallet rating - value for money. Pitcher - Rs 250, pint - Rs 100, beer cocktails - Rs 100 - Rs 150. Could very well be extention of your living room if you are living near by!!

Nocturnal Sunshine

At last, a party that stays loyal to the name on the sign. Last Thursday, I was mixing drinks at this bday party of a friend & got people drinking till little before sunshine. Very cooly the event was called Nocturnal Sunshine. Turning old might not have been more fun. Against the uber neat backdrop of a pent house overlooking the lights of Bangalore, revelars whipped some dust off their partying hats and kicked great legs to DJ Su-G`s minimal and occasional hip-hop.

I on my part made sure alcohol flows for so long as there is some in the bottle left. Nicely set bar counter and creativly designed drinks menu for the night kept people asking for more. Classic Whiskey Sours to modern Shiro inspired Fig Mojitos,bottle shots & Flaming Lamborghinis that drove a few to hell and back. Pick of the evening seemd to be Long Islands and quite a few were taken. Well worth the efforts of a few people to get special glasses for em!!

I know quite a few came to the party to greet the party host and leave but could not escape the gravitational pull of the bar and the hot party. Find below the hep bar menu!!


Did you cross the town and drop by at the party. Did you like the mixes. Feel free to comment. Hope guys had fun!!!!




SHIRO

Japanese, Chinese, Balinese these are the flavours in Bangalore` new talk of the town bar – SHIRO. It’s rare to find a bar as high ceilinged, gilded, spacious and gracious as the venerable SHIRO, a fixture on the Bangalore gastro bar scene. I tried SHIRO by chance last Wednesday while waiting for a table at a Rajasthani Restaurant in the UB city`s food court. My report – Excellent.

Shiro is the extension of Shiro Mumbai`s foot print into Bangalore. After Hard Rock Café, this is the newest welcome sign for Bangalore brought by JSM Corporation Pvt Ltd. If your expat friends came to visit and wanted to go to a nice bar, this would be where to take them.

Shiro welcomes you into their lounge cum restaurant with a giant statue of Buddha. Divided into several zones and rooms, the main attraction is the outdoor bar big enough to justify smoking seating. There is great feeling of luxury and opulence with eclectic objects, low seating, high quality furniture, a great mix of mature and young colours with magenta and purple overtones here. The vibe of the crowd if very different than your regular page 3 bars, though I am afraid it might turn into one soon. Just 4 months old after all.

For a Wednesday evening the place was totaly taken. There were two seats available though for un-announced guests like me and at a place I like the best – the bar stool. The bar has a few 100 small magenta smooth lights above it, giving a very bling look. The look and feel is a bit like as at HRC – long bar with only a few bottles placed at regular distances. This is what I do not like about a lot of bars. Hoards and hoards of bottles at the bar is what I like. That`s what makes it an embracing tap zone. Thankfully the stools are tall enough for me to grape for the floor.

Alcohol specialities here are named SHIRO Specials and the mixtures are named very Asian. Velvet Kimono ( more like Melon Martini), Balinese Beach (3 Rums with Guvava & Lychee juice), Oriental Spicy (Vodka with Guvava). Try the Fig Mojito – an Old Monk based Mojito with Figs crushed with mint. No soda, no sprite. Garnished with a sugarcane stick. Barman Siddesh was very nice mixing a Long Island for me. When I said , it was very cokish – he did not flinch to add a generous vodka shot.

Shooters section is also very delightful – Nan Ban & Spice (Iced vodka shot), Flame of Raymond (Vodka topped with Old Monk), Spicy Kamakaze etc.

Tried a sushi dish for starters, liked it very well. Unfortunately can`t comment about food as that is not my forte, yet. The staff was extremely polite, well mannered. Siddesh was very insightful about Shiro. Apparently it has already won the Lounge of the year award for Bangalore. Most of its crowd happens to be the Blue Bar crowd.

Prices – like most decent places. Beer – Rs.250 (650 ml), cocktails (Rs.275,325, 475). Straight drinks Rs.175 upwards for 30 ml. Music – Soft & Popular music, no DJ, no dance floor.

About Shank

Shank is a cocktail enthusiast & a self-proclaimed mixologist. He likes to experiment with spirits. He has traveled around a bit visiting hundreds of bars and tasting the buzziest of alcohols, cocktails and shooters.



Shank spent early years of his dizziness in Mumbai. He has lived in Hyderabad for long and for the past few years is chilling his glass in Bangalore.



He is currently busy spreading his love for spirits through this blog - Cocktail Nirvana.



This blog is part of his ongoing quest for fine spirits, creative cocktails and classic mixology. These online journals will capture his cocktail inventions, adventures with alcohol, trips to bars, meeting with ace mixologists, lessons in the art of drinking and much more.

This apart, ignoring good judgment, the fine folks at www.mybangalore.com also allow him to take up valuable space on their portal with his words & pictures.

Away from Nirvana