Bar Reviews > Mumbai > Hawaiian Shack
Reviewed by Maya Ganesh

Plot No. 339, 16th Road,of Linking road, Bandra(W)
Ph.26058753
Timings: 6:00 pm - 1:30 am

If you grew up in the eighties, enjoy frottage, and are not particular about what you drink as long as it gets you high, then Hawaiian Shack on a Saturday night is the place for you. This weekend night we find that we couldn’t even see the bar because of the crush of loud drunken bodies. The small bar was packed with over 25s – mostly male - with a sprinkling of people who were clearly born after the first Levis store opened in India. I overhear a group of teens yell “cool..what is this?” as the opening bars of a headbanging Bon Jovi track comes on. The over 25s go wild and reach for their electric guitars.

Couples press themselves to a corner, the men ever watchful of stags using their drunkenness and flailing dancing as an opportunity to cop a feel. Or strange lonely grand-daddys who chat up single women. You don’t have a choice but to become very intimate with total strangers. If this is not your thing then keep your eyes peeled for a table. You might not get lucky and have to spend the night standing, or sitting on someone.

On a week night the clientele is more subdued, and the Shack has its regulars. In the day you see more of the bar and realize that the ‘Hawaiian’ part is the easiest décor and bartender uniform to get a hold of. Expect a range of music from the seventies and eighties, cheap beer, and a comfortable grungy aesthetic. French Fries or Kababs are probably the best thing on the snacks menu, more as an accompaniment to alcohol rather than as a haute cuisine experience. Cocktails are cheap and cheerful but don’t expect a stick of celery in your Bloody Mary. Clearly, this place is a favorite with hardworking stags on their way back from urban jungle jobs, and loathe to return to their Bandra matchbox homes.

On weekends the friendly and seasoned bar staff hand out free vodka shots so listen up for the DJ’s announcement. One woman I got talking to started a trend by throwing her head back and opening her mouth wide. The spirited bartender just poured the vodka in. More customers followed suit and pretty soon there was no need for shot glasses. The Hawaiian Shack is so comfortably reminiscent of college that coordinated dancing with complete strangers is entirely possible. A popular hit like Thriller will come on and from across the room two strangers will connect – somehow- and make space for themselves and synchronise their steps from the original video. The crowd joins in full-throatedly. The bartender boogies along. You lose yourself in the music, the drink, the moment and all that exists is a rhythm from long ago. It's yesterday once more.