India’s first permanent bar made of ice, “21 Fahrenheit” has opened up in Oshiwara. The bar is kept at minus 6 degrees Celsius all year round. 21 Fahrenheit is created by three Indian partners, Vaibhav Tandel, Aalok Purohit, and Harshan Dharmadas.
Guests are given a navy blue furry Parka coat, insulated moon boots and gloves to wear before entering. A bartender in a similar coat serves guests, while house and hip-hop music plays.
Ice bars already exist in other countries, but apart from serving drinks, this bar is unique because it also serves hot food and some of the food is served flambeed. The bar is lit up with red and blue lights giving it a jazzy vibe. And far from being just an ice bar, there is also a general bar outside, and above it, there’s a swish modern pan Asian restaurant, which seats 46 people. The restaurant has a live kitchen serving Japanese, Sichuan Chinese and Lucknowi cuisine.
The 820 square foot bar holds 45 people. Vaibhav Tandel said, “We only expect people to stay inside for 30 minutes. The bartenders also rotate. Ice bars have to be small so people feel cozy inside them. Huge ice bars have failed so far. Often ice bars open for three or four months and then they close down because it’s just a gimmick. It’s very important to make sure that doesn’t happen. But we will change the interiors every three to six months. The whole beauty of ice is that you can do that. And our service will be second to none”.
“The idea is to give people somewhere to spend the whole evening so they don’t just spend 30 minutes in the ice bar and leave,” Tandal adds, who expects the ice bar to be an instant hit with the college crowd and tourists. “We chose this area because it is central to the western suburbs of Bandra, Kandivali, Juhu, Malad and Goregaon, where you get the corporate and college crowds. In any case it will be a destination bar,” he adds.