Vijay's Speak Easy Bar permanently closed in January 2019
The colonial tea rooms of old Bombay are recreated in these first-floor premises above classy Indian restaurant Lokhandwala. Here, a rogue called Vijay Kapur supposedly once met his English high-society lover, Lady Charlotte. The stuff of a Bollywood scriptwriter? Those who manage to penetrate milady’s chambers (staff at Lokhandwala will tip you the wink) should decide for themselves. On a silk divan in Lady C’s low-lit Victorian parlour, one thing certainly becomes clear: Vijay’s drinks are the real deal, and there’s nothing iffy about Monkey Business (a bittersweet Manhattan made with Monkey Shoulder whisky). Also worth a punt are East India Company (a Hendrick’s gin, Fernet and dill butter Sour sweetened with rose and rosemary syrups), and an Espresso Martini manqué with Courvoisier Cognac and cashew liqueur). Service is engagingly eccentric and the tiffin – smoked chicken with coriander pesto, for instance, or masala fried cod and fries – is entirely credible.