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North

Escobar : 4276-0000

VN Sphere, Fourth Floor, opposite Shopper’s Stop, Linking Road,
Bandra (W)

Daily 7pm-3am.

Escobar has as much in common with the coke-head criminal as penguins do with pineapples. Despite its sizeable square footage, the terrace’s mood is tempered with flickering candles, comfy white sofas and wood-panelled flooring, all of which add considerable warmth to an otherwise frill-free area. The view isn’t great (it’s on the fourth floor) but there’s something oddly calming about seeing the generally traffic-heavy junction between Linking and SV Road all but empty. "It’s sort of like having a drink sitting on a hoarding," someone said. There’s no dearth of watering holes in the area but thanks to Poison shutting down a few months ago and Zenzi’s recent licensing-issues, the suburb’s punters haven’t had too many places to party at. Escobar’s wallet-friendly prices (cocktails cost as much as at Bonobo), China House-like house and hip-hop track list and swanky interiors have got Bandra’s finest queuing to get in. NS

South

Tote : 6157-7777

Mahalaxmi Race Course, before the Mini Club House, opposite Gate Nos 4 & 5, Keshavrao Khadye Marg,
Mahalaxmi

Daily 7pm-1.30am.

Even if some punters find the food at Tote affected and overpriced, they will find that the bar is hardly an also-ran. The bartenders mix drinks very capably. The cocktails are only Rs 385 each, even the signature horseracing-themed concoctions such as Tote’s Quinella (with vodka, blueberry and smoked rosemary). So for a starting gate, Tote is good enough to get blinkered at. An evening can go something like this: meet up with a friend at the stunning wood-panelled bar; get impressive service even on a busy night; have a couple of drinks; then deduct a couple of grand from your wallet. Our only complaint is that once crowded, the bar loses all of its romance and feels a bit like an Andheri local. Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi

Aer : 2481-8000

Aer Bar and Lounge, Four Seasons Hotel, near Nehru Science Centre, 114 E Moses Road
Worli

Daily 7pm-1am.

Aer, located on the 34th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, has got social and corporate climbers in a tizzy. The bar offers patrons a 360-degree view of the city. Buses shrink down to souvenir size, the Race Course looks like a miniature lawn in somebody’s penthouse and the roads snake out like a GPS map. It is the perfect set-up to ponder over life in big bad Mumbai except there’s corporate cacophony all around. Many mergers will be signed over champagne here, we suspect. We wish they’d put as much of an effort into the bar’s offerings as they did on its egg-shaped design. But like at most city bars that look this swanky, nobody really gives a fig about the drinks. Aer was made to be schmooze central, and schmooze central it is. Neha Sumitran