Late Checkout's New Bandra Outpost Wants You To Remember How To Have Fun

Step inside a restaurant and it'll tell you everything about itself in the first five minutes. Most places spend those minutes making you wait, with a host stand, a clipboard and a vague promise that your table is almost ready in the next 5 minutes. The good ones, like Late Checkout's new outpost in Bandra know the fun begins the moment you step foot inside.

You come in past a travel concierge desk and instead of being parked by the door, you're directed to a self-check-in bar, where a miniature cocktail and a bowl of popcorn are waiting while your table is readied. Beside it, a merchandise wall stocks matchsticks and game books to give you a vibe check and literally get you started on fun.

The new outpost occupies the space that once housed Monkey Bar, and before that, Noodle Bar. Where the Lower Parel original has an industrial, high-ceilinged set-up, the Bandra address feels warmer and more bohemian. Spread across 6,000 square feet, with seating for around 175 diners, it revolves around an island bar dressed in suede and wood. A glasshouse on one side floods with sunlight during the day, making it well suited to a lazy brunch, while a private dining room for 12, done up in red, offers a more secluded setting without entirely shutting out the restaurant’s energy.

The tiramisu, already a draw at the Lower Parel address, is reason enough for some to make the trip. But Bandra’s appeal extends beyond familiar favourites. The menu moves between pizzettes, elaborate cocktails and dishes that borrow from a range of culinary traditions.

So, what does the Late Checkout In Bandra have that the big brother in Lower Parel doesn't?

The cocktail list is built entirely around nostalgia, eight signatures that turn the founders' own childhood and city memories into drinks, some built on Indian ingredients, techniques and flavours. The Peanut Butter & Jelly pairs peanut butter-infused whisky with berries and fino sherry, which sounds like a dare and drinks like a good idea. The Mixtape is whisky with spiced coffee, gondhoraj lime, soda and mousse, the one you order when you've stopped pretending you're going anywhere. Even the menu is designed to be taken home, which tells you what the place thinks of your evening.

For the people who still have somewhere to be, there's a slow-brew coffee bar pouring beans from Karnataka's coffee belt, from Mudigere and Chikmagalur to Coorg, alongside an imported Colombian light roast. The flavours run from dark chocolate and fig to cacao and almond. This is not a token cup of filter coffee that serves you from lunch to dinner.

The Loaded Fries-- a dedicated section with six topping pairings, from caviar to lobster to steak, the Duck Agnolotti, sitting in a 48-hour jus with crispy sage and a cherry gastrique and the pizettes including the Pepperoni and Three Cheese pizzettes, made with 48-hour fermented sourdough, will pair with your drinks and good vibes perfectly. One combination that stands out is the pesto-and-miso dip served with the pizzettes. The chef spent months experimenting with the ingredients before arriving at the pairing. I’d have bet against it. I’d have lost. The combination is a little unexpected, but it works, and the process behind it suggests a kitchen willing to experiment rather than settle for the obvious. Elsewhere, the menu moves through carpaccios and ceviches, black cod and prawn dumplings, and kabocha chilli prawns tucked into house-made buns.

Interestingly, the playful staging that's at the entrance continues into the women’s bathroom, where the vanity bar also makes an appearance. It’s an amusing extension of the restaurant’s commitment to theatre, but it also feels like a gimmick that doesn’t quite know when to stop. A welcome drink at the entrance can ease the awkwardness of waiting but carrying the same idea into the bathroom risks making the experience feel over-designed. The gesture is memorable, certainly, but not necessarily persuasive.

Late Checkout Bandra is now open, from 12 pm onwards. Rs 6,000 for two, plus taxes.