And when the day's sightseeing is done, Delhi knows how to pour a drink. The city's bar scene has grown up fast — from world-ranked cocktail rooms to hidden speakeasies to a jazz bar that's become an institution in its own right. Here's where to spend an evening once the monuments have closed.
Sidecar (Greater Kailash II) Delhi's most celebrated cocktail bar, and one of the few Indian rooms to land on the lists of Asia's best. The drinks are inventive and properly made — local ingredients, real technique, nothing gimmicky — in an intimate, low-lit space that takes its craft seriously without taking itself too seriously. Book ahead; it's small, and the city knows it's good.
PCO (Vasant Vihar) The speakeasy — a hidden bar you enter through an unmarked door with a password, the whole clandestine routine played with a wink. Once inside, it's a moody, well-judged cocktail den that helped kick off Delhi's serious-drinking scene years before the rest caught up. The theatre is half the fun; the drinks hold up the other half. (the password changes — check before you go)
PianoMan (Safdarjung Enclave) Not a cocktail bar but a live-music room — Delhi's home of jazz and live performance, where you come for the act on stage and the drink is the accompaniment. Intimate, warm, and genuinely about the music, with a calendar of local and visiting players. Check who's on, book a table, and settle in for the set. A different kind of night out, and a welcome one.
