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The Dive Bars in Delhi to look out for.

What Music to Expect at a Dive Bar: Delhi

Payel Majumdar

When life throws you lemons, visit these dive bars in Delhi.

Ever heard anyone say, let’s go to that dive bar, they have an amazing gig taking place? OPEN magazine in one of their recent issues had done a nostalgic piece on Cloud 9 in Mumbai, a dive bar hidden away from everyone but it’s loyal clientele in Colaba (remember when drinking was a lonely, broody indulgence, and not oscillating between a whole generation’s party conversation starter and an ally for a hook-up?).

While multi-millionaire clubs and boutique pubs open all over metro cities often dive bars are the place to go to, if you want to stay far from the madding crowd of commercial music. They might not be the ‘It’ places, but dive bars are recognized by their loyal crowd (so more chance of running into someone you know) and such a place may even open up the possibility of having a night out on your own.

Every city has its own dive bars, familiar characters in the city’s nightscape. They’re on the local’s tips and an oft-travelled tourist’s to-do list. And if such a venue gets very famous, then its name even makes its way to travel guides. And it is not the affordable liquor prices that do so (though that doesn’t hurt.) We remember such places with nostalgia; generally it is to do with the memories built there with college mates, or first office friends, often the site of a reunion, bonding over empty pockets. Dive bars, hold a special place in memory-making, and they become more than their menu after a point. For instance, My Bar in Delhi that started out as a bar suited to the underground culture of Paharganj attracts crowds from all over town currently.While dives in Delhi are few and far between, there are some established ones where the junta flocks to when in dire need of a watering hole.  Here’s the broad categories in which the Delhi dive bars fall under.

The Classic Rock and Blues Pub – These pubs can be recognized by their choice of music that begins and ends with 60s rock-and-roll interspersed by commercial Bollywood music as a result of a lot of drunken dance floor requests. Food revolves around the pasta/ Delhi folks hate to love them.

While you might be familiar with their entire playlists (and their entire menu at the same time) these places will never let you down, they have been your friends since those sepia tinted college days (which is another reason you might keep visiting them years after you’re out of college). Blues, 4S and TC Adchini all fall in this category. Blues takes itself quite literally, it has got blue neon lights all around and often plays the blues, but we can safely tell you we’re rarely blue while in the club. As for 4S, making the Defence Colony market much brighter for many people, the guard with his grand mustache ruffling as he welcomes you in is where it is at. As for Adchini, it grows with the people who visit it regularly, a natural night time extension of college grounds.

When to go: When the pockets are light and the mood swings need a pick-me-up.

 Budget: Rs 700 – 1400 for two

Paharganj Dive: My Bar and other animals

Yes, this particular area and it’s deliciously (in) famous bars are in a category of their own. The only policy that works out for you if you’re planning a kitsch night out to this culture melting-point is that you keep an open mind. In the several bars that make the area, dive is but the only way to roll.

My Bar, an establishment that is probably the most popular of Paharganj dives, and owing to this popularity has opened branches in different parts of town, Connaught Place, Hauz Khas Village and Greater Kailash I (though loyalists will always claim how the newer outlets do not have the same charm as the original one). The place is divided into two floors, the top floor and the basement, and music adventures of all kinds await you once you enter that glitzy, dimly-lit red washed walls (yes very like a goth/80s Bollywood thriller.) The music can vary from yesteryears’ indie pop to the latest Bollywood riff-raff to about anything. (A visitor told us about how they walked in once only to discover a ghazal night was going on in full swing, teamed with appreciative requests.) While this is a dance-y place, dance at your own risk. The bouncers might decide to cut-off your alcohol supply/tell you to sit down if they feel you are too much of a temptation to their clientele.

If you decide to skip the My Bar shenanigans, there are plenty many bars to still while your night away in Paharganj. The Club India Bar in Paharganj is ideal for having arbitrary conversations over beer as trance music plays in the background.

When to go: When you’re sick of the city, or in love with it.

Budget: Rs. 500 for two

To read about the hold that jazz has on Delhi, read on here. To read about stag friendly places in the city, click here. If you’re female and broke, this useful article might help you go past poverty and party it up in the capital. 

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