The art of hiding a bar: Inside Delhi's coolest speakeasies

In Delhi, speakeasies are hiding behind working businesses, down dark lanes and through entrances designed to make you look twice.

The original speakeasy was born out of necessity during the 1920-33 Prohibition era in the US, when hidden and dimly lit drinking rooms became a way to keep the party going.

The dimly lit drinking rooms of Prohibition-era America live on in Delhi’s hidden bars; (L-R) The Bar Behind The Sandwich Shop in Vasant Vihar, Somewhere Nowhere in Greater Kailash 2

Pass Code Only (better known as PCO), which opened in 2012 in a Vasant Vihar market, was among the city’s early speakeasy-style bars. It hid behind an unmarked entrance and a telephone booth, with a passcode that changes constantly. Hoots, which opened in 2016 in another market in Vasant Vihar, tucked itself behind a nondescript white door, while The Backyard in Punjabi Bagh played on the idea of a neighbourhood grocery store concealing a bar. Each gave Delhi a reason to seek out what was behind the door.

More than a decade later, that idea of the hidden bar has evolved. Here are five of the city’s coolest and most inventive hidden drinking spaces.

A tailor who leads you to the bar: Noctis

In the bylanes of Panchsheel Park, the route to Noctis begins like an ordinary appointment. By day, the entrance functions as a traditional tailor shop, with Jagdish at work inside. After 7 pm, however, guests who have made a reservation and received their digital “tailor’s appointment slip” show it to him and are ushered through a secret cupboard door into the bar. The 30-cover lounge leans into its Prohibition-era premise without overplaying it. Dark wood panelling, vintage chandeliers, dramatic shadows and tiny table lamps create a low-lit room, while jazz plays quietly in the background. Even the drinks follow the house’s preference for making things in-house, with vermouths, syrups and fermented ingredients adding depth to the cocktail menu.

The room above the salon: The Dressing Room

At first glance, this Vasant Vihar address looks like a regular salon. The surprise comes upstairs, where an intimate drinking room is concealed behind the salon space, accessible only with a passcode and a reservation. The Dressing Room plays with the contrast between its everyday salon setting and the intimate bar upstairs. Rather than the louder, high-energy atmosphere associated with much of Delhi’s nightlife, the space keeps things subdued - dim lighting, salon-style chairs and seating and a slower pace make it feel deliberately tucked away. The focus shifts to artisanal cocktails and a selective food menu, making the salon entrance less of a gimmick and more of a gateway to a quieter night out.

Find the sandwich, find the bar: The Bar Behind the Sandwich Shop

There is no sign announcing The Bar Behind the Sandwich Shop. There’s no Instagram page, no pin on Google Maps, or even a public phone number - a speakeasy in its truest sense. To get there, first find Shokupan, the Japanese Hokkaido-style sandwich shop in Basant Lok Market, Vasant Vihar, then walk past the counter and through a discreet Japanese-style curtain.

One of the founders, unwilling to be named to maintain the mystery, says, “We never set out to make a speakeasy, that’s a name people have given us. The fact that we’re not sitting on Google Maps or popping up on Instagram means people usually hear about us from someone who’s already been, which we quite like. Something nice about finding a place through a recommendation rather than an algorithm.” Candlelights, dark walls and wooden tables set the mood, while a handwritten menu keeps things equally low-key. The cocktails are playful without being flashy. And if you want a Shokupan sandwich with your drink, it can make its way into the bar through a small window near the entrance.

A bar hidden behind a cigar store: Somewhere Nowhere

In Greater Kailash 2’s bustling M-Block market, Somewhere Nowhere begins inside an unassuming vinyl record and cigar shop before leading guests to a roughly 30-seater drinking room. The setting takes cues from Japanese minimalism, combining warm wood, a Zen garden and cave-like intimacy, with sand-art-inspired ceilings adding another layer to the space.

The concept extends to the drinks. Japanese-inspired cocktails sit alongside a serious zero-proof menu, with the bar also offering an Omakase-style cocktail experience. Small plates keep the food similarly easy-going. The space also draws from the Japanese jazz kissa tradition. “We didn’t have an Instagram page for a very long time. The entrance is quite nondescript and dark, and we wanted people to come across the space, discover it and find something they weren’t necessarily looking for. We wanted to build that community and culture for people to find us,” says founder Vansh Pahuja.

Four seats, six cocktails: The Hidden Club

Tucked inside Olive Mehrauli, The Hidden Club takes the idea of a speakeasy almost literally. The four-seater space was once a trial and development room for the mixology team. You make a reservation and end up in a space that feel less like a conventional bar and more like a room you have stumbled upon. Even the door carries a playful sticker, helping the entrance blend into its surroundings. Guests sit close to the bartenders, watching the drinks being made right in front of them, and getting that feeling of being somewhere they perhaps shouldn’t be. The menu is numbered rather than named, with six cocktails represented as squares in a Minesweeper-inspired format. Guests can mark drinks with a flag if they enjoyed them, a bomb if they think they need work, or a shovel if they are undecided - turning the tasting into a live feedback exercise.