The Miracles of Gin

Bar - Akshay Bar

Location – Parel East. Behind the ITC Hotel and next to the Pet hospital.

Size – Medium sized joint.

Place – You’ll get a place most of the time but Saturday’s are a bit of a wait.

Ambience – Air conditioned and bright with comfortable sofas and great service.

Unique Plus Point – FREE CHEEZLINGS (I cannot emphasize how amazing this is in a world with no free chakna anywhere)

Rating – 4 out of 5 Beers

Yes my drink is Gin. I mix it with soda, squeeze some lime in it and enjoy it for the mildly alcoholic, zero hangover in the morning version of fresh lime soda that it is. You can make fun of me all you want for this over a drinking session, but come the next day you’ll be barfing and holding your head whilst I will hop over for a morning stroll and maybe grab a donut.

Gin is also inexplicably cheap, so cheap in fact that it’s almost always the cheapest drink on the menu and this is always a fantastic thing. You can get a Gin quarter for, at times, 50 bucks cheaper than a Royal Stag and gin tastes a boat load better than any of the cheaper whiskeys. Also you can drink a boat load of it before your tongue starts to taste like fart. Now one of the premier places to have Gin is Akshay Bar, a cozy little spot I discovered thanks to Varun J.

It’s premier because it really looks like a spot that should be way more expensive than it actually is and has service and comfortable sofas the likes of which I’m not even accustomed to at home. And it’s the gin hub because a quarter costs Rs.150. Yes, a quarter of gin in an air conditioned place with free chakna and great service and an LCD costs 40 bucks more than it would cost you in a wine shop.

When I first heard this I did a backflip. I didn’t even know I could do a backflip and as such I credit Akshay as a place that also gives you superpowers that you were previously unaware of. Upon arrival I was greeted by a most friendly German Shepard (a dog, not an actual German sheep herder of some sort) and the sort of service usually associated with four figure bills.

This place however, is ridiculously light on the pocket for the sort of spot that it is. For example, a beer will set you back 170 and a Royal Stag will cut about 210 out of your wallet. And the crowd is pretty decent as well, I mean once in a while you’ll find a group of advertisers in there, but that’s about as bad as the situation gets. Not too sure about bringing a girl in though but I’ve seen more than a few agency chicks spending their Friday night at this fine establishment.

All in all a hell of a place and a great spot to knock down some cheap booze.