Cocktails That Won Over a Cold, Critical Heart

I’M ALWAYS SCARED WHEN I’M informed that there’s a little butter or some bitter gourd in my cocktails because I personally tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to new wave, nouvelle cuisine restaurants and bars. They are usually hit and miss and way too creative for their own good. My hometown, Kolkata, has recently seen a burst of chic bars, beautifully designed, very Manhattan-esque, with comfortable seating and a focus on innovative drinks using regional ingredients and food which uses commonplace ingredients of Bengali cuisine with a definite twist—most of which work.

There’s A Little Bit Sober with its small plates and interesting cocktails, the compact Nutcase with a central bar and delicious whitebait fry (called kanchki maach in Bengal and one of Yokocho shakes up Kolkata’s drink scene and actually gets it right the cheapest fish to buy). The cocktails though, at none of these places, other than Sienna Café which did have a very interesting Tepari Margharita (gooseberry margharita), made much of a dent on me.

The latest entrant into Kolkata’s chic eating out scene seems to have undone the curse of the creative cocktail menu. Yokocho, named after Japan’s neon-lit tiny alleys which are dotted with little dives, does make you walk through slightly dingy smelly corridors in one of Park Street’s glitziest buildings. The doors opened onto a cosy, dimly but lit enough to read the menu, polished wood and grey-walled slim and long restaurant which was already buzzing at 7pm!

The long winding omakase-style bar and the tables hugging the bar, are quite inviting. We sat at a table right at the bar where the bartender—a very affable Aniket—could mix the drinks, talk to us, teach me how to peel an orange and answer our multiple questions. Since there were 3 of us, we did manage to work our way through nine different cocktails. And these warmed the cockles of my very cold, critical heart. A little dash of bitter gourd (karela), Gondhoraj lime, coconut water, Darjeeling tea. It all makes an appearance without being jarring.

The cocktails are divided into three categories—highballs, sweet and sour/ fruity and shaken and spirit-forward. We began with three highballs. The Beer First, Whisky Later was a mix of whisky, topped with beer hops and a Darjeeling tea–infused soda. The Spring Water Highball Whisky blended whisky with water that had been softened for 48 hours by storing it in sirahis (clay urns). The Koh Koh Fizz combined white rum with kaffir lime, palm sugar (gur), coconut water and a pinch of salt. The highballs, if you’re a fan, hit the spot. The two aspects which stood out for me was the water which had been stored in the mitti urns, a very traditional way of storing water in Bengal to keep it cool and pure and shows an understanding of how the water in any area affects the flavour of food cooked. And the kaffir lime leaf which was beyond aromatic.

We then moved on to the fruity and shaken cocktails, which were more up my alley. These are smaller glasses, but simply delightful and very nuanced. The Bond Walked into a Yokocho combined gin with olive oil, gondhoraj lime, sake and dry vermouth. My personal favourite was the Blood & Smoke which combined mezcal, the house dark cherry liqueur, sweet vermouth and orange juice. Just the right amount of sweet mixed with the slightbitterness of vermouth. The Old Fashioned,New Leaf was my other favourite given that an Old Fashioned is my drink of choice. This version had paired bourbon with pandan and Bengal’s famous khejur gur instead of sugar, and angostura bitters. My other recommendation for a must-try is the Bitter Sweet Symphony Tequila which has bitter gourd in it, thanks to the bitter melon and lemon liqueur, grapes, lime juice and sugar. Contrary to what I expected, the bitter melon is actually a wonderful foil to the sweetness of the drink, which is their take on a White Enzoni which usually has Bergamatto instead of Campari.

The Doyers Street Manhattan Whisky was a smooth blend of whisky, brown butter, sweet vermouth, hojicha, soy sauce, white chocolate and Angostura bitters. When I break up the ingredient list, it might seem too clever for its own good—but the white chocolate was negligible, while the brown butter added a very luscious texture to the cocktail.

Of course, the cocktails are enhanced by the choice of glassware and the ice used, with round balls of ice perched on square ice cubes for the highballs. Therefore, making sure your lips always touch some ice while drinking the cocktail. The pours are generous, which always pleases me.

This is the first time I have liked a majority of the cocktails on offer, because usually they are quite hit-and-miss and you tend to excuse a poor or strangely concocted cocktail as part and parcel of a nouvelle cuisine menu. The drinks aren’t pretentious or more show than substance.

There is also a charm to sitting on comfortable seats at a table, adjoining the bar. We didn’t need to perch ourselves on impractical high chairs, which are not made for the alcohol-friendly, or be facing the bar and therefore not speaking to each other.

Yokocho has been created by Abhimanyu Maheshwari, chef Auroni Mookerjee and Ramesh Kumar Agarwal, and the bar head is Abhishek Das—all of whom have been part of the changing Kolkata food scene. I have to say it does deliver on its promise. Being a former restaurateur, I do hope they stay full and bursting at the seams and keep the creativity and prices the same. Park Street and especially the building they are located in, is an expensive and demanding mistress.

PLATES THAT STOLE THE EVENING

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the food, which was delightful.

1. BBQ Begun

A massive half of begun pora or roasted brinjal, flavoured with Gochujang and Garlic Glaze, was delicious.

2. Smoky Market Greens

Smoked and fried vegetable peels on whipped silken tofu with chilli crunch and pickles. A true hat tip to Bengali cuisine’s tradition of turning every part of a vegetable into a delicacy.

3. Sashimi

Could find a place in the finest of Japanese restaurants.

4. Vietnamese Coffee Tiramisu

Set in a terracotta bhaar or urn, resulted in the mascarpone taking on a cheesecake-like texture. Most ingenuous.

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