We are of the belief: Home is where the party is. Order the booze, whip up the dips and put your best pyjamas forward. Sixteen33, Bandra’s newest neighbourhood cocktail bar, is reason enough even for homebodies like us to dress up and show up for a night out.
Named after its location at the intersection of 16th and 33rd Road, the 64-seater is spread across 1,100 square feet, and serves as an all-day dining (and drinking) space that transforms into a sleek cocktail lounge by night. This vibe spills onto a top floor — a private and cosier box dressed in black, burgundy and golden flutes. Dim lights set the mood for a more intimate gathering.
The cocktail menu is an ode to Bandra and six of its famous villages, namely — Ranwar, Chimbai, Chuim, Pali, Sherly, and Kantwadi — and its earliest residents. Chimbai (Rs 750) celebrates the Koli fishermen with a savoury muddle of shrimp liqueur, which mixologist Denzil Franklin has spiked with vodka, watermelon and sea salt. It comes with a fruit leather, made from leftover waste of oyster and watermelon rinds.
The drink is palatable with a lingering taste of the sea. Next, we dive into Ranwar (Rs 690), namesake of the East Indian village with a 400-year-old history of paddy fields. A sweet and potent Indrayani rice liqueur with gin, lemon tincture is poured on a block of ice with the finishing mist of absinthe.
The rice garnish is limp, but the flavour of fragrant floral rice unfurls well on the palate. Pali Village oozes charact.