You have to be “very cool” to score an invite to Delhi’s first Aztec bar

Be it the impossible-to-get reservations at Papa’s in Mumbai or the fact that some of the country’s best cocktails are served at a hidden converted storeroom at The Leela in Bengaluru, exclusivity seems to be the bar game du jour. Delhi—with its power corridors and intense cabals of the rich, famous, entrepreneurial, and artistic—is unarguably the city of exclusivity-seekers and IYKYK spaces. And the capital just got its latest insider hangout with restaurateur Zorawar Kalra’s Mamma Killa, a members-only rooftop Aztec bar in Mehrauli.

This private sanctum of a bar is up the flight of stairs (blocked by a red velvet rope and manned by a guard) from Swan, also owned by Kalra. The stairs lead to the rooftop bar that’s named in tribute to the Moon Goddess from Inca mythology, in keeping with the Aztec theme.

I’m led to my table and immediately settle into a plush cane sofa. For a rooftop bar, Mamma Killa isn’t exactly screaming for attention. It has that easy-going and earthy vibe of a beach shack, with its mosaic murals, terracotta walls, lush green planters, earthen urns spewing water, and cane pendant lights hanging from the branches of the arching trees.

I’m soon joined by Kalra and promptly distracted from the spectacular star-lit view of the Qutb Minar, as the restaurateur’s phone constantly lights up our table with a series of calls and messages. “They’re all asking me about Mamma Killa,” he chuckles and points to the endless list of notifications on his phone. There was no grand launch (just a handful of influencers posted their invites on social media); the bar made a seemingly quiet, unassuming entry last week. But given its members-only exclusive status and the messages blowing up on Kalra’s phone, it seems to be all anyone in the capital can talk about right now.

Kalra, almost anticipating my next question, tells me why it was time for a membership-based bar concept in India. “There are none,” he states. “There are either clubs or hotels. It’s also a very big financial risk, and that’s why people don’t do it because it means opening a space and limiting it to very few people,” he says. The success of his downstairs restaurant, Swan (I snuck a peek around 10 pm and not one table was empty), gives Kalra the leeway to explore this one-of-a-kind concept.

Members-only clubs thrive in the city; there are the old bastions of Gymkhana and Delhi Golf Club, and also the newly minted, such as D’Mond at The Ashok Hotel or The Quorum in Gurugram. These, however, are full-fledged clubs with various amenities and come with a substantial membership fee. Mamma Killa stands apart in this aspect—it’s a bar and there’s no annual fee. Once you’re an exclusive member, you only pay for the food and drinks you order.

So how do you become a member? Kalra assures me that age is not the marker for gaining entry to the elusive list. Their list boasts members that range from a “very cool 40-year-old architect” to a “very cool 25-year-old entrepreneur”. How do they define ‘very cool’? “Someone who is adding some genuine value to the culture and artistic scene of the city,” he says. Members can send referrals or one can self-refer through a form on their website—and then you just have to wait and see if you make the cut. The first list of 80 to 100 members has been curated by Kalra and his wife, Dildeep. While I don’t get a sneak peek into the list (privacy is key here), I do get a look at the invitation kit and the black-and-gold membership card, without which you cannot get past that red velvet rope. Either way, the invites are going to be capped at a couple of hundred members—it needs to remain exclusive, after all. Heck, even their Instagram account is private. And did we mention that, à la The White Lotus, they have a no-phone policy, so as ‘grammable as this rooftop bar is, you’re encouraged to disconnect.

Once you’ve made it to the list and past the door, the experience of Mamma Killa rests in its Aztec inspiration. Here, most of the cocktails and food have been inspired from Latin American and Mexican cuisines. Their pride and joy is the cocktail menu, completely on-trend with a food- and dessert-based twist, carefully put together by their beverage manager, Suvrat Mahindroo. The Pizza-illa is like a pizza in a glass with a pesto-washed tequila, while the Milky Way combines the umami of a shiitake and tiramisu cordial with the smoothness of hazelnut-butter-washed whiskey. My personal favourite is likely to be a summer hit; it’s their Ceviche, a complex and layered tequila- and mezcal-based mango-flavoured drink.

Mamma Killa certainly boasts one of the better cocktail programmes in the country. But what’s a member’s club without some dinner theatre? You can leave that to the live Guéridon cocktail trolley, where you can choose your own elixir—between Orange-Vetiver, Lotus Biscoff-Caramel, Palo Santo-Bee Pollen, and Banana-Fig—and pair it with spirits and garnishes of your choice.

The food menu is led by head chef Krishna Sharma and plays the apt sidekick to the hero drinks. It’s a small menu, but packs a punch with the rustic Black Mango Maki made with black rice, the butter-emulsified Tropical Prawn Robata, and the addictive Comfort Wings sous-vied in Coca Cola (make what you will of that, but one serving is just not enough).

To say that Kalra’s got a winner on his hands would be an understatement, but his grand plans for the capital don’t end here. He wants Delhi to earn back the crown of India’s gourmet capital, with the new Masala Library expected to open in Janpath near Connaught Place in about three months. And there may (or may not) be an intimate 20-seater omakase-style restaurant—in homage to his father, the late Jiggs Kalra. For now, his plans are as hush-hush as his members-only list.

Meal for two: ₹3,500 (including drinks)

Address: Above Swan, Ward No.1, Kharsra No. 1501, Kalka Das Marg, Mehrauli, New Delhi 

Timings: 6 pm to 1 am

Contact: +91 85870 40451