30BestBarsIndia announces its list: Sidecar wins the title for the best bar in the country

On the night before 30BestBarsIndia announced its list, nominees partied hard in Delhi, in a joyful chaos of cocktails and reunions. 

At Side Car, the team from Pune’s Cobbler & Crew poured drinks beside Hong Kong-based author Holly Graham and Shatbhi Basu, one of India’s first women bartenders. Lair, which was also heaving with industry insiders, hosted a bar takeover, by Mumbai’s Bombay Canteen and Goa’s Hideaway.  Both spaces were representative of how India’s cocktail culture has surged forward over the past few years especially, thanks to the industry being both highly competitive as well as generously collaborative, despite the ravages of the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. At the award show, held at Gurgaon’s Le Meridien, South Delhi’s popular Sidecar was declared the country’s best bar in the 2022 ranking of 30BestBarsIndia, prompting loud cheers and whistles. At number two was another familiar name, Copitas from Bengaluru’s Four Seasons Hotel, followed by Delhi’s HOME, Lair, and Mumbai’s Bombay Canteen. 

While the fiercely contested top 10 positions did not throw up any major surprises, the list did indicate some interesting new trends, including high quality cocktail programmes beyond Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Pune swept up a significant number of awards, including the People’s Choice Award, which was given to Elephant and Co. The newly introduced award for Best Work in Sustainability was also won jointly by two Pune bars, Malaka Spice and Cobbler & Crew.

30BestBarsIndia’s 2022 ranking is based on a jury poll of about 250 people who judge the bars on service, design, ambience and menus. Co-founded in 2019 by Vikram Achanta and Radhakrishnan Nair, it aims to raise awareness on India’s rapidly growing bar scene on both national and international platforms. 

Explaining how the list was built from about 500 nominations, Radhakrishnan says they have worked on getting a better geographic representation every year, with creative new spaces launching in places like Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati. Terra Mayaa, in Guwahati, for instance, came in at number 40 on the list.  Discussing how well-travelled Indian consumers are now creating a demand for high quality bars with modern, balanced cocktails — which are a world away from the syrupy concoctions that still dominate the market — Vikram says he expects to see more progressive restaurateurs launch thoughtfully designed spaces this year.  With Indian bars now offering locally rooted beverage menus, the scene is also becoming more creative and individual. “We notice people using more seasonal and local ingredients, especially the bars in smaller cities,” says Vikram. He adds that bar takeovers and guest shifts, which became particularly popular over the last year, have also upped the game. 

However, in a highly stressful, ambitiously driven industry, known for brutally long hours, perhaps the best aspect these awards highlighted was the camaraderie between the industrys’ best and brightest, with crowds roaring loudly for favourites, right from old school Joseph in Goa to Delhi’s iconic speakeasy, PCO, which really set a lot of today’s cocktail trends, and Mumbai’s three-decade-old Toto’s Garage, which took home the Timeless Bar Award.

30BestBarsIndia’s award night took place on January 17 at Le Meridien, Gurgaon.