Mumbai food: A Khar lane's transformation into a happening nightlife hub

A Saturday night in action at 3 Wise Monkeys

A Saturday night in action at 3 Wise Monkeys. Pic/Atul Kamble

There was a time when, with WTF! at the peak of its popularity, the junction of Road No 3 and Road No 4 in Khar West would be the bright spot in the station area. But, when WTF! shut down in 2012, the music died. Hungry Birds, which followed, didn't last long and, though Loca Loca brought back some stirrings of life at the junction, now, that too, has downed its shutters.

The demise of Loca Loca, fortunately, hasn't signified the end of the lane's nightlife. In fact, often walking through it post 10 pm, especially post Wednesdays, means dodging cars and weaving through a party-ready crowd, the average age of which will be no older than 30. In fact - in an aside - the resident DJ of one of the nightspots here even used the term ‘elderly' while referring to those above 30.

Balraj Ghai owns Hotel Uni-Continental where 3WM operates out of. The four-year-old space was set up by Meghmesh Narayn Salian (centre) who wanted to start off on his own. Sunil Thakur (right) joined in later, bringing with him Manchester United fans and official fan club membership. PIC/Pradeep Dhivar

Road No 3, one can safely say, has stepped out of its rooms-per-hour past. And, while there were many forces that worked together to make this happen, one part of the story started with four days spent at a quarter bar.

A place of my own
It's been just a day since Meghnesh Narayan Salian turned 29. And he's breathing a sigh of relief. A gamble he'd taken in 2012 has paid off. "After spending a couple of years in the hotel industry, I wasn't happy with what I was doing and quit everything. I started working instead, at my father's quarter bar at Sun Mill compound, Lower Parel," he says, pulling up a chair at the newly-opened interior section of 3 Wise Monkeys, housed on the ground floor of The UniContinental Hotel. After spending four days behind the gulla, his kitchen experience and Rizvi degree started itching. "I told my father that we should experiment in the kitchen, to which he responded by saying, ‘this is a quarter bar. People who come here like their boiled egg, chakli and moong dal. If you want to experiment, do it in your own kitchen.'" It was probably the push the 24-year-old needed. Meghesh and brother Varun started scouring the suburbs, from Bandra to Borivli, for a space to set up a sundowner-space with a strong kitchen.

Nikhil Arora, along with Anvay Khonwalkar and Karan Dherod, owns Light House Café, which opened on Khar Rd No 3 in June 2015. Nikhil, also a DJ, curates an open mic night here on a weekly basis where new, young bands are given a stage to perform

When he spotted the space where 3WM now stands, he liked it enough to bring his mom to see it, he smiles. The location, just close enough to Bandra to bask in its reflected glory, helped. It's also less than 100 metres from the Khar West railway station, making accessibility easy. The space was divided into two areas. The front area served as the Manglorean eating space called Twisted Fish. "But, 3WM was more popular. People sitting in Twisted Fish would wonder where's the noise from," says Sunil Thakur, the third partner in 3WM. Eventually, Twisted Fish shut and 3WM expanded, occupying both areas to become a 52-seater outlet.

In the last few years, Khar Road No 3 has transformed into a party hub with four nightlife venues having opened up. That the spaces are mere walking distance from the railway station helps. Pic/Atul Kamble

Programming is king
While alcohol and proximity to the station (to ensure that you don't have to drive after a couple of pegs) are good reasons to haunt a place, that's what quarter bars are for. A nightlife spot needs more.

Sunil Thakur

Meghmesh's first set of attractions at 3WM were the installation of two beer barrels - one of 2.5 litres and another of 5 litres - to serve as an attraction. "It became popular with the crowds. I'd be told that people had put them on their BBM DPs," he adds. Monk-ey nights were organised to pay tribute to the favourite sasta rum brand Old Monk. Rum-based cocktails would come at a discount.

But, 3WM's biggest coup came, perhaps, when Sunil who knew Meghnesh only as the owner of the bar he'd "pre-drink" at before heading to Irish Pub on SV Road for a football match, entered the scene.

Sunil, who we meet as he's polishing off a lunch of pepper chicken in black mushroom sauce, says he joined six months after 3WM launched. "I remember having come to this lane as a kid, when 3WM was Pind-da-Dhaba. It was the only fine-dining restaurant in that lane. Later, I'd come to the nearby Jugheads to pre-drink for our screenings, I came to know that the lane adjacent to Khar station was infamous for prostitution and cheap motels. I'd never have thought that I'd invest here," says the 35-year-old. What changed was that, over the number of pre-party sessions he realised how the place was populated with young women who were partying without a care. "I figured that if women felt safe here, it must be a good space," he says. Sunil, a Mulund resident, with experience in the travel industry, is also the head of Mumbai's Manchester United Fan Club and organises match screenings. Having made 3WM the official MU fan club venue in the city immediately brought in more crowds, especially during the weekends when matches are held. "Once, we held a small screening for Arsenal fans in the banquet space upstairs," says 27-year-old Balraj Ghai, whose family owns and runs Hotel UniContinental. This, he adds with an evil smile, just after MU had bought Robin van Persie, then an Arsenal star. "When the match (not with MU) ended, both fan clubs were downstairs and almost came to blows," he laughs.

Balraj recently partnered with audio engineer Sohail Gandhi, to open Tuning Fork on the hotel's first floor. A recording studio/eating space, it's where the discerning crowd can go to listen to new bands and watch off-beat theatre performances. Young bands are invited to perform with two temptations - a new audience and a live recording that has studio quality.

"That's Priscilla D'Souza singing My Kinda Joe," Balraj points out. "The recording is of professional quality and will help performers reach out to more people for work."

Risotto at Khar station
When Light House Café (LHC) opened next to 3WM in June 2015, also within the UniContinental space, it brought to the area an all-day eating space, which at night turned into a party zone. Between the two of them, 3WM and LHC, offer party-goers a range of events to look forward to through the week. Comedy nights, open mic nights and karaoke. Nikhil Arora, 41, one of the three partners at LHC, which also opened an outlet at Worli (where Venoteca by Sula used to stand) this year, says when he first saw the Khar space it was walled up and dark. An architect, he used his expertise to bring something the area didn't have before: a sunlit space with large windows and white couches and blue tables with a wooden finish. It invites you in on a rainy day to sit and lounge around. Various food festivals - burgers, pizzas, cocktails - ensure that there's something new to look forward to on the palate.

But, Light House isn't the only one shining new gastronomic light on the lane. Last month, Tuning Fork's chef Abhay Sabharwal invited a Croatian friend to specially curate a menu for two days at the space. "She brought in the ingredients with her and explained to the diners what dish they were eating," says Abhay. Missed it? Yes, we regret it too.

Who's coming, who's going
While there's a small nook for the indie crowd, and then there's Quarterpillar, which also offers an upper class cheap-drinking space, somewhat on the lines of Pali Hill's Janta - in fact the owners of 3WM and Quarterpillar have now expaned to Palm Beach Road - the music on this lane is mostly commercial.

Rishu Singh of ennui.BOMB who partnered with 3WM first for hip-hop and then for open mic nights says the crowd here wants commercial music; niche genres like hip-hop don't work. Siddharth Sharma, who ran the fine-dining restaurant Five at Red Palm Residency, across the road, says, "It's a college crowd that comes here with a limited budget. However, that the lane has moved on from its shady past is a positive sign," he adds.

150 metres of success
Not music, not food, not even cheap alcohol would have probably helped had the hotel where all the new places reside not changed its own outlook. Hotel UniContinental, with two wings, was built in the early '80s. It underwent a renovation around nine years ago connecting both wings and room sizes extended. While the management has actively invested in sprucing up the lane, that it underwent some image renovation itself also helped.

"We told our management to not just allow anybody," Balraj says vaguely at first. When we prod him, he adds, "We no longer wanted people who'd rent rooms for 2-3 hours."

On his travels abroad, Balraj who studied at Dadar's Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, noticed the dorm room culture and wanted to bring that here. So, now the hotel also has two dorm rooms that attract foreign backpackers.

It's a far cry from the quiet that hangs over the hotels that stand next to UniContinental. Wouldn't it help business if they too jumped on the bandwagon? "I am not worried," says Balraj. "Where I am concerned, the 150 metres from the station are successful and that's what's important."