ad singhs venture in partnership with sarkar is the hottest new opening in the space this month pegged as the only indian cocktail bar ek bar is quirky both in the way it looks and in its food and drink an installation of moonghpali cones kitschy memorabilia artisanal cocktails including those dispensed out of tea cups the punch which has both indian and tea plantation origins comes as such and food created with modern techniques but known indian flavours come together here theres charred besani roti instead of lavash prawn sausage is done inhouse as are murraba dips and one of the most interesting bar snacks is the rajera scotch eggs with a chorizo coating it is a contemporary language the food speaks despite its indianness for years when we ran olive i thought i didnt really know indian food well enough so i would not open an indian restaurant but then things began to change a few years ago and now we are increasingly seeing a market where you cant go wrong with indian food in india says ad singh singh had started soul fry in mumbai almost two decades ago perhaps ahead of its time though the restaurant still exists it offers coastal food in a global caf setting a formula that seems to have clicked with such success only more recently with monkey bar in partnership with chef manu chandra and chetan rampal and sodabottleopenerwalla olive bar and restaurants the parent company for years perceived as offering international dining to metro diners is now firmly on the indian route to restaurateuring success when people are in a bar environ they tend to experiment more with their food choices as well says singh it is an interesting insight and one of the reasons perhaps that the company seems focussed on the bar experience even while offering quality food that most of this creativity should be in indian formats is telling of the market dynamics indian abroad nri at home at monkey bar in the mumbai suburb of bandra which was launched earlier this year almost half of the menu is now desi inspired by regional dishes indias first gastro pub was always meant for the selfconfident indian diner at ease with hisher unique sensibilities over time equally because of market receptivity and manu chandras own journey as chef with a veering towards creating brilliant bold flavours from the local the slow and the regional the brand is now synonymous with a solid regional indian repertoire presented in an easy casual format it is thus natural that a separate vertical focussing solely on indian food be now in the making the idea is to take both monkey bar as well as ek bar forward not only will the brands exist side by side in india partner ad singh does not see them as cannabalising each other the market for indian is diverse and huge he feels but they are to also go international to cities like london and dubai