Mumbai Food: This resto-pub will transport you to the 1920's American era

You stand outside a monstrous black door with many peep holes. Ring the bell and wait. One of the peep window creeks open and you ask for a table, or announce the name you made the reservation in. The heavy monster steps aside and you find yourself transported to America of the 1920s, down to its Prohibition Era and a steam punk vibe with brown leather furnishing and bare brick walls to represent an alley and wooden chandeliers with crazy tungsten yellow bulbs.

Paneer Tikka Tacos

The concept is just to add some drama, confesses owner of The Little Easy, Vishesh Shah, who came across speakeasy bars when he spent seven months in Fredrickberg, Virginia, to launch a diner in 2015. "We are in 2017, and alcohol is legal," he quips about the period between 1920 and 1933 when liquor was made illegal due to the belief that alcohol was the evil that caused personal and social problems. We spot a painting that depicts a wood panel artwork with officials dumping alcohol in the sewage. The servers will be dressed in black and white, accented with suspenders and waistcoats like the prohibition gentlemen of the 90s.

While restaurateurs usually come up with concepts and find a suitable space, Shah already had the 2,300 sq ft space where the family ran Dhanraj, a multi cuisine vegetarian restaurant for 50 years at Linking Road. "It is in a narrow lane, and I knew it had the potential for a pub like this." The spot was perfect for a resto-pub and Shah took the decision to move with the times. So, he combined the restaurant and the adjoining bar called 20-20 for Little Easy, that opens to the public on November 8.

Eggs Benedict

The space also has a line of lockers in a corner for regular guests to dump their belongings when they let their hair down to party. And yes, they hope you will walk in to work there in the day with WiFi and daily offers to keep you filled. The taps have three beers from Pune-based brewery Nincasa and Andheri's Brewbot. Speakeasy bars like to be hidden spaces. In cities like New York, London, etc. it's easy to miss one, what with entrances being made out of repurposed public toilets with only dingy lights to mark them on streets - nope, not even signages. Once inside however, there's no mistaking where the bar is. And here is where you hang out while making do with appetisers. But the menu here is for the Mumbai partygoer, minus the frills.

All talk and no drink make us dull, and we get started with Angel's Share (R375), a whiskey sour spiked with maple syrup and fresh cinnamon muddled with ginger. A well-made sour is when the egg white doesn't take over your nostrils, and we enjoy the hint of the sweet and spicy maple-cinnamon pairing. Christmas came early, we guess. The gin-based Moonshiner (R375) with orange juice has a hibiscus syrup that bartender Mukesh Khatri has prepared from dried flowers sourced from Egypt. But, the drink we have been waiting for, and would love to go back to again, is the New Orleans original Sazarac, a still whiskey poured on an ice round with star anise and bitters. Now, we are talking Prohibition.

The Moonshiner

Khatri shares an interesting story: When a disease destroyed a crop of grapes and hit cognac production, whiskey was found to be the closest ally with people preferring it to rum. It's noon and we've been drinking already and the kitchen sends us a Green Eggs Benedict Cumberbatch (R325) with toasted brioche, a hollandaise drizzle and grilled ham. Buttery to cut the acidity in our stomach, but it shadows the green sauce of basil and parsley.

When you step in, you find yourself transported to America of the 1920s with bare brick walls to represent an alley

The Watermelon & Feta Beta Edition (R355) comes in four shot glasses to resemble golas drizzled with melted feta-honey drizzle, balsamic reduction and rocket leaves. The We Want More-cini Porcini (R295) is in dire need of some seasoning, and we allow the desi Taco Tikka (R355) which has a delicious curry oil infused cheese-mayo mix to woo us. Dessert serving is a stale Philadelphia Cheese Cake and we are transported back to 2017, where you could be banned for messing with our sweet tooth.

The nondescript entrance to the bar. Pics/Falguni Agrawal

Owner Vishesh Shah