India has been stepping up their game in the bar scene in the past decade with a roster of world-class bars opening up in cities across the country. The homegrown bar ranking platform ‘30BestBars India’ has taken up the task of representing the best of the best among these bars and in a ceremony held in Goa earlier this week, they revealed their top picks for 2023
Through a voting process involving over 200 industry experts, Sidecar in Delhi was named the best bar in the country for the second year in a row. It was followed by Cobbler & Crew in Pune, Lair in New Delhi, Copitas in Bangalore and Hideaway in Goa rounding off the top 5.
This time, 11 newly opened bars have entered the top 30 list along with some old favourites. The 30BestBars team has also introduced three new categories this year: Highest Climber (on the list of top 50 bars), Best Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Menu, and Highest New Entry (new bars with the highest number of nominations) awards.
Sidecar, co-owned and led by award-winning mixologist Yangdup Lama, has garnered a lot of attention over the last couple of years. Situated in Greater Kailash II, it has previously earned a position in many esteemed bar rankings. In the previous year, it claimed the 67th spot on the World's 50 Best Bars list and secured the 18th position on Asia's 50 Best Bars ranking.
Cobbler & Crew also made waves as they won accolades in multiple categories including Highest New Entry, Best Bar Team, Best Bartender (Aashie Bhatnagar), and Best Work in Sustainability (in collaboration with Pune's Soy Como Soy).
It seems like Bengaluru is the place to drink with the city sweeping the list with 10 bars on the 50 Best list, followed by Goa with 9, Mumbai with 8, and New Delhi with 7. Notably, Pandan Club was the first bar to win an award for its non-alcoholic bar menu and was the only Chennai bar to make the list
The list has a range of interesting entries from diverse bar backgrounds and offers an insight into the way India’s bar scene is growing. If you’re looking to make your drinking wishlist for 2024, check out the list below to see who made it to the top 30.
India's 30 Best Bars For 2023:
- Sidecar - New Delhi
- Cobbler & Crew - Pune
- Lair - New Delhi
- Copitas - Four Seasons Hotel, Bangalore
- Hideaway - Goa
- ZLB23 - The Leela Palace, Bangalore
- The Bombay Canteen - Mumbai
- HOME - New Delhi
- Masque - Mumbai
- Slink & Bardot - Mumbai
- Comorin - Gurgaon
- PCO - New Delhi
- Hoots' - New Delhi
- Americano - Mumbai
- Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy - Gurgaon
- PCO - Mumbai
- Slow Tide - Goa
- The Bar - The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata
- Whisky Samba - Gurgaon
- Bob's Bar - Bangalore
- Native Cocktail Room - Jaipur
- O Pedro - Mumbai
- Olterra - Kolkata
- Windmills - Bangalore
- Pablo's - Goa
- Joseph Bar - Goa
- Ekaa - Mumbai
- The Library Bar - The Leela Palace, New Delhi
- TOIT - Bangalore
- For The Record: Vinyl Bar - Goa