In Bengaluru, a cocktail bar seals the return of maximalism

As the tired joke goes in Bengaluru, travelling to Whitefield is like crossing city limits. The area is home to a string of classic Garden City breweries playing ear-splitting music from the 2010s, so you’ll find many reasons to cancel a plan last minute. Top of the chart is the traffic; my drive from home to this neighbourhood was 42 minutes long (another Bengaluru speciality). And my reason not to cancel was Hamilton, which opened on April 14.

We’ve had a decade of extra-large craft beer haunts with mini ponds and rooftops in the name of decor, but with Hamilton this tyranny of sameness is about to end. Hamilton is located on the campus of BLR Brewing Co, its sister brand. A hostess guides us to a clandestine corridor flanked by vintage portraits on both sides. And at the end of the hallway, a wooden door unlocks a whole new world, miles away from hop aromas and blasting music. Trust me when I say the view justifies the theatrical reveal: the cocktail bar opens into a soaring triple-height space with ornate metal railings, a sweeping 35-feet-high curved ceiling, and rich, red velvet drapes all around. 

As I’m transported to another, more extravagant era, a striking Technistone staircase screams for my attention. The wide steps dramatically swirl up to the first floor—an unabashed reference to the stairway in The Great Gatsby—where a private cigar room awaits. Is this the 1920s? The bar walls are just as decadent. Massive oil paintings of surreal night skies, Frida Kahlo and colonial-era soldiers dressed in redcoats dominate the expansive space. Every now and then, faux Gothic-era windows with decorative tracery and pointed arches punctuate the palatial portraits. 

I take a seat at the plush high tables facing Final Vinyl, the local band performing on Hamilton’s opulent dark-wood stage (the venue plans to host gigs every Friday and Saturday), and all I think of is ‘boom boom’. The phrase comes from trend whisperer Sean Monahan, who also coined ‘normcore’ and ‘vibe shift’. Back in December, he declared that 2025 will witness the return of maximalism, of corporate excess where more is unreservedly more. His words foretold the arrival of Dali & Gala, a surrealist bar in the heart of Bengaluru, and the newly opened Paradox bar in Mumbai, which subscribe to this excessive glamour, encrusting the experience with lush bumps of caviar and eccentric paintings galore. 

And now, seeing the grandeur of the 7,500 sq ft colonial-era cocktail bar around me, it’s safe to say this over-the-top, old-money visual aesthetic is so back. For André Acácio Câmara, the founder of Studio Camarada and designer of Hamilton, this return to indulgence was an absolute no-brainer for the Whitefield outpost. “Look at the volume of this space. We needed to include large-scale, maximalist elements like the paintings, the windows, the curtains and the pops of red to catch your eye and to make sure the details don’t get lost,” he says of the space that can accommodate 250 tipplers and was mood-boarded as a Moulin Rouge-meets-classic-jazz bar. 

Even the cocktail menu embodies this exuberance. Conceptualised by Pankaj Balachandran, the co-founder of Countertop India, the brand behind the drinks programme at Mumbai’s Izumi and The Bombay Canteen, Goa’s Boilermaker and more, Hamilton boasts a ‘Moving Era’ cocktail lineup. What this means is that each drink is an ode to a different time in history. I start the night with The Pea Coat, a tequila-based cocktail that borrows from the British naval tradition of having pea soup for comfort. Except, here it’s served with a dash of spicy wasabi. Despite being a Picante purist, I have to admit the drink was delicious and quickly pulled me back for seconds. 

My plus-one today is my brother—an Old Fashioned connoisseur of sorts—who kicks off with the Smoked Monarchy, a twist on the classic whiskey-based drink. Only this time, the Angostura is replaced with bittersweet Amaro, and somewhat questionably topped with little gummy bears. Now I know what you’re thinking but there are few people whose opinion I trust more than his when it comes to whiskey, and his verdict is not short of a superlative: “One of the best cocktails I’ve had in Bangalore.”

Revealing the inspiration behind the drink, Balachandran says, “It’s a call-back to the 1920s Prohibition era where indulgence was looked down upon. Hence the gummy bear. We’ve also used vetiver seeds as a playful ode to poppy.” The beverage consultant picks the Golden Rhapsody, which channels the Jazz Age and tastes like peanut butter, as a personal favourite, while my eyes stop at Letters from Lady H, a cheeky Victorian cocktail that marries absinthe highball with botanical rose ice. How romantic. 

Although the food menu is currently limited in the opening week, with far less veggie-friendly options than I hoped for, the bar promises this is about to change in the coming month. However, the stuff on the menu is swiftly snapped up from the platter. One bite of the potato pave with cheese queso immediately transports me to the snowcapped mountains in Chamonix where I first tried the French appetiser. The chorizo-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon is just as heavenly as it sounds, while the crispy edamame croquette makes for the ideal bougie chakna. 

Somewhere in the midst of sipping savoury cocktails and listening to the band effortlessly recreate Frank Sinatra and Abba one moment, and Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran the next, three hours slip by. The experience of Hamilton then lives up to its historic design—it transports you to a delicious era of fun and frivolity, one that’s far, far away from blaring traffic and copycat breweries. And who knows, Hamilton may be the long-awaited bar that even breaks the curse of Whitefield? 

Meal for two: ₹3,000 (with cocktails)

Timings: 5 pm to 12:30 am; Tuesday to Sunday

Address: 2, behind HDFC Bank, Hoodi-Whitefield, Bengaluru

Reservations: 080-45682488