Bar Reviews > Chandigarh > Mehfil

SCO 183-84-85
Sector 17-C, Chandigarh
Ph: 703539,704224

Mehfil in Sector 17 has the conventional fa‡ade of a typical family joint with white upholstered sofa, ghazals in the background, Mughlai kitsch cuisine et al. But beneath this conventional front (literally) lies a delightfully surprising place.

The pub, which is in the basement, is really hip and happening. The music is good, the ambience is just right, the d‚cor is bright and cheery and the crowd…….. whew. All I can say is that the average Chandigarh woman would be a traffic-stopper in any other city. There were a few elderly ex-colonels of the Sikh Light Infantry sipping their beers and casting a benevolent (??) eye on the proceedings, but by and large the crowd was in their early to mid twenties.

Now on to the liquor. It seems that pubs in Chd. can't serve spirits. So all you get is Draught Beer and Bock Tails (beer-based cocktails). The prices are Rs. 30/- for a mug of strong beer and Rs. 25/- for light (i.e. normal beer). We ordered strong beer, light beer and a bocktail called Red Indian (Rs. 35/-). The s.b. and the l.b. tasted like s.b. and l.b. anywhere else in the world. The Red Indian is actually a Bloody Mary with a beer base instead of a spirit base. The guy who was mixing these should not be wasting his talent on such ersatz stuff. He is really a gifted dude and the concoction was divine. The Peanut Masala (Rs. 30/-) was good too.

There is an overkill on the music front with a giant screen showing music videos and what looked like a juke-box in the corner.

My companions assured me that Mehfil was the best of its genre in the city. I can believe them and so will you when you get there.