Verbena.
• The folks behind Smaaash, the gaming centre in Lower Parel, will launch Verbena, a rooftop brewpub and restaurant in Lower Parel on Wednesday, January 25. The bar and kitchen will employ the herbs, flowers and vegetables grown in the garden housed in the 10,000 square feet venue. Bar menu highlights include botanical cocktails such as Botanical Breakfast (cinnamon, orange juice, sea salt and red wine) and Vino Julep (red wine, bourbon and clove). The brewpub will start serving house beers in March. The food menu will offer citrus salad; charmoula-spiced chicken tikka; nachos with tawa kheema; quinoa bowl with poached egg; and blueberry pecan pie. Open daily, from 4pm to midnight. Verbena, Fourth Floor, Trade View Building, Gate No.4, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel. Tel: 022 3997 1886.
• Amanzi, a bar serving Continental fare, is slated to open by the poolside at C’est La Vie, the member’s club in Bandra on Wednesday, February 1. The rooftop bar will offer molecular tipples such as Snapchat (vodka, watermelon juice, ginger juice, mint and sour mix frozen with liquid nitrogen); Campfire (whisky with coffee bitters smoked with star anise); and Edible Bubble (watermelon martini with cranberry vodka and kaffir lime). The food menu will feature dishes like asparagus and mushroom tart; fish and chips; and char-grilled prawns with bacon jam. Open daily, from noon to 1.30am. Amanzi, Third Floor, C’est La Vie, next to Mamagoto, Hill Road, Bandra (West). Tel: 022 3395 6058.
• Kamala Mills Compound in Lower Parel is now home to a vegetarian rooftop bar and restaurant called 1Above, which opened on Saturday, January 14. The multi-cuisine menu includes feta and melon salad; asparagus tempura; chipotle burritos; tandoori tofu; mushroom dumplings; baked zucchini; pesto spaghetti; khao suey; paneer Chettinad; avocado panna cotta; and baklava. Their extensive cocktails menu includes American Prohibition drinks such as the Negroni, Mary Pickford and Sazerac and whisky concoctions like the Scottish Cream (whisky, Baileys, strawberry puree, whipped cream, cinnamon and coffee bitters) and The Malty Mule (whisky, cranberry juice, soda and ginger and honey gomme). Open daily, from 6pm to 1.30am. 1Above, Second Floor, Kamala Trade House, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel. Tel: 77000 62111.
• Tamasha, the all-day bar and restaurant from Delhi, opened in Lower Parel on Wednesday, January 18. Among the cocktails on offer are smoked sangria; Negroni; whisky sour; Moscow mule; and Manhattan. The fusion food menu has spiced guava chicken salad; chicken gyoza; dahi kebab; achari mushroom wonton; bhatti murgh souvlaki; tawa bheja with bun maska; Madras curry chicken risotto; and Mumbai mawa cake cream toast. Open daily, from noon to 1am. Tamasha, Ground Floor, Victoria House, near Bombay Dyeing Mills, E.B. Marg, Lower Parel. Tel: 82919 00141.
• Malwani joint Saibeni Gomantak has opened in Mahim. The coastal restaurant serves tisrya (clam) pakoda; mori (shark) dry; bangda tikhal; crab masala; surmai masala; chicken liver masala; and kheema biryani. Open daily, from 11am to 4pm and from 7pm to 12am. Saibeni Gomantak, Lilian House, Bhandar Lane, L. J. Road, Mahim. Tel: 022 2432 5181.
Shizusan.
• Shizusan, a branch of the South-East Asian restaurant in Pune fashioned after a shophouse, is slated to open in Lower Parel, in place of the Anita Dongre store inside Phoenix Mills on Saturday, February 4. The ground floor of the two-storey restaurant is part-dining room and sushi bar and the first floor has a bar specialising in sake, shochu, umeshu, Japanese whisky and Asian-inspired cocktails such as Cocky Rooster (vodka, bird’s eye chilli, beer, celery and salt); Chairman Mao’s Negroni (Campari, Bhavnagri chilli and black pepper gin, vermouth and grapefruit bitters); and Hattori Hanzo (Tequila, butterfly pea flower tea and lime juice). Highlights of the food menu include kimchi fried rice; Taiwanese miso milk broth with noodles; Hibachi-style Japanese fried rice; seafood quinoa maki; soft shell crab roll; Peking duck bao; kimchi spice mushrooms; pork belly adobo; and black pepper lobster. Open daily, from noon to midnight. Shizusan, next to Lifestyle, High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel. Tel: 70450 04138.
• The second outpost of The English Department, a British pub-inspired bar from Malad, has opened in Bandra. The multi-cuisine menu lists balti chicken; lamb shepherd’s pie; bangers and mash; lamb mince steak; fish n chips; Goa sausages; chicken roast; lamb bao; peri peri chicken; chicken tikka pizza; fish burger; and prawn tempura sushi. The cocktail selection includes Kyoto No.2 (gin, passion fruit syrup, lime juice and mint); Pimm’s cup (Pimm’s, ginger ale, lemon and cucumber); and Kentucky sour (bourbon with orange and guava juice). Open daily, from noon to 12.30am. The English Department, Level 2, Kenilworth Mall, off Linking Road, above KFC, Bandra (West). Tel: 022 6562 9933.