Delhi, breathe (oh wait…) Someone finally opened a bar for grown-ups. Not the kind where playlists mistake volume for vibe. But one where you can hear your date and Alyse Pascoe, the resident jazz singer whose honey-coated voice floats across the room like a low, warm current.
Welcome to Upstairs, the new bar perched on the top level of the award-winning Indian Accent, where for the first time, the group leads with cocktails. All other components follow like confident understudies.
Rohit Khattar, founder-chairman of EHV International, has slipped into something moodier to build a space for conversation over cocktails, where cocktails have a point of view, and hospitality that knows when to check in and when to discretely check out. That bar now lives, quite literally, above the city’s dining darling and is open to restaurant regulars. There are chats about turning it into a members-only, after-hours 4am iykyk spot.
For years, Varun Sharma had quietly nursed a desire to build a bar but ended up crafting award-winning cocktail programmes for dining rooms like Comorin and Hosa. Brainstorms about the future of the private-dining floor gave birth to an opportunity he slowly moulded into a new order of martinis and jazz. His motto has never been to chase hospitality trends, but to be intentional and true to the core value proposition of the group at-large.
First, the martinis. Oh boy, these are spirit-forward, ingredient-leaning performance skits. The Desi Dirty Martini teases with the in-house nimbu achaar brine. The Kokum French Martini topped with a tart gooseberry foam guarantees an encore. The Clear Espresso Martini with white butter rum, coffee-infused vermouth, and nannari will find a niche cult.
After a heady martini, the Mysore Mai Tai with jaggery and sandalwood cordial and Mango-Ginger Penicillin feel on the sweeter side. The Chai Manhattan, with a boozy trilogy of rum, wine, and oolong tea infused gin is deliciously layered and winter appropriate. This gang is in a committed relationship with Indian ingredients, and that flirtation is omnipresent in Sharma’s cocktail philosophy.
What Robin is to Batman, is what food is to the drink here. Designed around the cocktails, the menu acts like an able and well- informed companion.
We met Chef Hitesh Lohat for the first time, even though we know of his cooking chops courtesy the restaurant below. The menu is his take on Delhi’s iconic markets; the ones that form the culinary zeitgeist of the capital. Whilst we buy flowers from Ghazipur’s flower market, he plates a Flower and Leaf chaat as a bar snack. The Crusted Bharwan Mirch inspired by the cut-mirchi from Sarojini Market, the Old Delhi Fried Chicken as his love letter to Jama Masjid Market, the Humayunpur-inspired Braised Pork Belly using dalle chilli native to his partner’s home city, and the Karol-Bagh coded Kabab Sando Shokupan are the real heavy hitters. He also dishes up Jhol Momos as an ode to Dolma Aunty from Lajpat Nagar, and a twist to Kulfi Falooda from Chandni Chowk, is now a playful Japanese shaved-ice kakigori. The White Truffle Kheer, beautifully titled The Ruins of Mehrauli is surprisingly delightful. We could have enjoyed a second bowl, skipping the unnecessary scoop of ice cream nestled in the middle. They also have a selection of 5 home-made liqueur ice creams.
Our recommendation to the guest is to skip the table, and get front row seats at the bar. Our other recommendation to the team is a re-think on the bar chairs. This is a place we would head back and linger on, and whilst the food & tipple supports that plan….the tushie-supporters do not.
This place isn’t for everyone, and doesn’t scream for attention. But if you’re looking for a place that’s restrained, has a subtle tickle of an ambience, head Upstairs.
Head To: Upstairs at Indian Accent
Address: The Lodhi, New Delhi
Timings: 7pm – 1am
Reservations: +91 9205747968 / members.upstairs@ehvinternational.com
