Olive Bar & Kitchen Bandra
Ask head bartender Vincent to make you the Italian Beauty, Campari, with sparkling wine which starts off as bitter but ends with a tinge of sweetness. Mixing sparkling wine with Campari, known to evoke as strange a facial expression as that during the consumption of a chunk of wasabi, was pretty unusual and frankly innovative. On the downside, the Melon Spark (melon liqueur) is a tad too sweet and there is something wrong about the Passionate Spark (vodka and passion fruit).
Rating Good
Call 2605 8228

Dome Hotel Intercontinental, Marine Drive
A GREAT ambience injects enough fizz into sparkling cocktails. It certainly does not get much better than the fabulous view of sunset one gets at Dome. Or better, the cozy couches by the poolside at night. Although their menu has only one sparkling cocktail —Kir Royale (and an excellent one at that)—F&B head Karan Khiani encourages customers to ask for any cocktail off the menu, even if it means resorting to the ever-reliable Google. A winner that he recommends is the perfectly balanced Paan Bellini, made using a Paan Elaichi liqueur with cloves as garnish. The Limoncello Fizz (limoncello liqueur, lime juice, whole red grape) is inspiring, and certainly what any young lemonade should aspire to be.

Rating Excellent
Call 5639 9699

Indigo Golaba
INDIGO is a place where guests sparkle as much as the superlative sparkling cocktails. They have the best list in town. It isn't particularly innovative, but it has enough diversity and consistency to make up for that. My favourite is the Melon Cooler (melon liqueur), which has the perfect balance of flavour, sweetness and crispness. The Arise My Love (crème de menthe) is theoretically fantastic but some may find the mint a bit overwhelming. They have the best Bellini in town. A traditional long drink from Italy, it’s an elegant blend of Prosecco and peach purée. Chic.

Rating Excellent
Call 6636 8999

Shiro Lower Parel
SHIRO, with its gorgeous décor and awesome high ceilings, does good cocktails in general. All their sparkling cocktails are fortified with around 10 ml of vodka, an appropriate amount to make these cocktails have just the right sting. The blackcurrant and litchi cocktail are lovely, although not as light as desired. Their Mango and Ginger sparkling cocktail sounded nice but my liver begged for mercy by then. I also happen to know for a fact that if you ask nicely, head bartender Ashish or Sanjeev would be willing to make something off the menu like their fantastic passion fruit sparkling cocktail. However, I guess vodka-based cocktails are better here.

Rating Average
Call 2438 3008

WinkTaj President, Cuffe Parade
I AM glad that Wink quite recently revamped their menu. Courtesy this change, bartenders Raj, Ravi, and others muddled for cocktail devotees a drink called Metro. Prepared using Belvedere vodka, passion fruit syrup, fresh strawberry and Moët, this drink makes the world seem such a better place. Interestingly enough, Wink does all its sparkling cocktails using Moët et Chandon and therefore is one of the few bars that can justify calling them Champagne Cocktails. However, at Rs 750 a drink, these drinks make the wallet sting. I’ve always thought there was something not quite right about their Bellini, but with the addition of Metro and Ponderosa (melon and cranberry), I have no reason to complain.