Oral Fixation is made with Dewar’s 12, almond, amaro, tobacco, paan distillate, coffee, demerara sugar and genetian root. Tobacco is being heavily regulated with many countries wanting to raise smoke-free generations
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Guilty pleasure dances attendance to the tunes of (forbidden) concoctions at Delhi’s covert bar PCO (Pass Code Only). Snuggled next to a beauty salon in the city’s unassuming, but delightfully verdant neighbourhood, Vasant Vihar — and with no marquee assigned to its address — a glass panel door is your sole cue to the speakeasy’s three-by-three-foot antechamber. Inside it is a kiosk, reminiscent of the PCO (Public Call Office), with a dial pad. When you punch in the secret code, a white door on your right opens to the bar’s vintage yet vibrant interiors. The faint, but distinctive scents of fresh furniture and paint announce the advent of change at India’s first speakeasy bar that ranked 12th among India’s 30 Best Bars 2023 and 54th in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2022.
Bad Reputation has MSG; Though the FDA regards it as safe, the popular misconception that MSG causes headaches and discomfort is the reason MSG is often cast aside, despite its savoury umami flavours
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New innings
A tiny library, Bartender’s Bibliotheca, which houses over a dozen books on cocktails and bartending, greets you at the entrance. A few steps ahead, there is an ice-carving station. A winding staircase, leading to the bar’s top floor and its basement, stands against the tomato red, sage green and bricked walls adorned with quirky posters collected by PCO’s co-owner Radhika Dhariwal.
“We have been running this place for over 12 years now and it was time to upgrade it, so we have renovated and changed its interiors and menu, which is inspired by, and features, forbidden ingredients,” she says. The seating areas are allocated to the other two floors of the bar that spans 3,000 square feet and accommodates nearly 45 people.
One of the two non-alcoholic cocktails on PCO’s menu, School Rules is made with ketchup, which was banned by the French government in schools in 2011
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On the top floor, Radhika acquaints me with the bar’s new addition: the omakase counter. Stationed in a room lined with tufted-back banquettes and interspersed with cane seats, this counter serves as the bartender’s laboratory where he curates customised drinks, drawing references from the choice of flavours or the mood of the guest.
At the basement, Radhika and PCO’s other half, Rakshay Dhariwal, who is also the founder and managing director of Pass Code Hospitality, credits the bar’s aesthetics to interior designer Anica Kochhar. “Downstairs, the bar counter has been extended, nearly doubling its previous size. Here, we have added draft machines and expanded the workspace, allowing our mixologists to serve drinks more efficiently. The wine cellar downstairs has been converted into a smoking room. We also made softer changes to the décor, furniture, and wallpaper, incorporating elements from our newest menu, The Forbidden,” he says.
Forager’s Feat, one of the only two non-alcoholic cocktails at PCO, contains porcini hydrosol; To protect bio-diversity, many EU countries have restricted the picking of porcini mushroom, mainly due to their massive demand from the restaurant industry
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Breaking taboos
An artsy representation of the very core of speakeasy bars, which gained prominence in the United States during the Prohibition era, the menu comes rolled in a leather scroll case. Inspired by the visual narrative of Indian miniature paintings, and printed on a 21.5 x 16-inch canvas sheet, the menu puts the spotlight on artist Rushil Bhatnagar’s artwork that interprets the forbidden ingredient in each of the dozen cocktails at PCO. The ingredients are: coconut, MSG, poppy seed, tobacco, Chawanprash, raw milk, bubble gum, Kinder Egg chocolate, agar washed apple juice, ketchup, and porcini mushroom hydrosol.
Inspired by the visual narrative of Indian miniature paintings, and printed on a 21.5 x 16-inch canvas sheet, the menu puts the spotlight on artist Rushil Bhatnagar’s artwork
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Special arrangement
“To work with forbidden ingredients is a task,” says Vikas Kumar, the head mixologist at PCO. He lists Ignorance is Bliss as one of the most challenging concoctions he has created so far. “This is a take on Manhattan. Angostura bitter has notes of Chawanprash. So, I thought it would go with whisky. We sous vide (an infusion technique) a bottle of bourbon with 100 gms of Chawanprash (which is banned in many countries). Also, the drink has coffee beans infused with sweet vermouth,” he says.
Topping his must-try list is Sticky Mess. “We make bubble gum distillate in the rotary evaporator (distillation through evaporator). First, Boomer is infused with vodka, then we sous vide it to extract the flavour and then redistill vodka to make it clear. The same process is used to make Mizo distillate. We also make in-house banana liqueur that goes into the cocktail. Also, watermelon juice added to the drink undergoes gravity filtration,” he shares.
Ignorance Is Bliss contains bourbon, Chawanprash, sweet vermouth, coffee and aromatic bitters; Chawanprash has been banned in certain countries for the metal in it.
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Our recommendation: zingy and nutty gin-based Not for Check-in; intense and spicy Oral Fixation, with tobacco and paan distillate; and a deceptively potent ode to Kinder Egg chocolates, Crack the Egg, which almost tastes like expresso.
Though the focus of PCO is not on food — given its 27-dish food menu split in sections bar bites, small plates, pizza, pasta, burgers and desserts — its tostadas (avocado and burrata or spiced lamb), Chimichuri prawns and pepperoni pizza deserve a worthy mention. They go with almost any cocktail on the menu.
Pass The Dutchie comprises white wine, Grey Goose, jasmine liqueur, orange marmalade, malic acid and #a$# oil. Though it is becoming legal across the world, these plant extracts are still heavily regulated and in much of the world
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If not for Mark Twain’s sharp critique of Prohibition, let his quote ‘There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable’ be your reason to visit PCO.
To get your secret code, request to be added to PCOs list of patrons who are connected via broadcast groups and receive a new pass code every week. A table for two costs roughly ₹3,750.
