best speakeasy bars in delhi (2026) - hidden doors, passcodes and how to get in

tldr: pco in vasant vihar is delhi’s original speakeasy. you need a code at the door, and the easy way to get it is to call a day ahead. inside it there is a second, smaller bar called the director’s room, a 12-seat omakase with its own code and no menu. somewhere nowhere in gk2 is the hardest to find: no sign, a lift, and a record-and-cigar shop before the bar. hoots sits above perch in the basant lok cluster, with margaret’s eye one floor above that, so you can do two hidden bars without changing buildings. if you only go to one bar that isn’t hidden, make it sidecar in gk2, which the creators call the place to start any delhi bar crawl.

“speakeasy” gets used loosely in delhi. some of these bars genuinely hide: no signboard, a code at the door, a bar behind another business. others are just dark rooms with good cocktails. this guide separates the two, because the practical question is different. for a real speakeasy you need to know how to get in. for the rest you only need to know where they are.

the good news is that the hidden bars cluster in two places. gk2’s m block market has sidecar and somewhere nowhere a corner apart. vasant vihar has pco, plus a cluster in basant lok market where lair, hoots, margaret’s eye, aabbcc and several others are, in one creator’s words, “no more than 2 minutes walking distance from one another.” pick one area per night.

on sources: every bar here was filmed by a drinks or food creator between 2019 and 2026. the main sources are a delhi bar tour filmed in october 2025, a “where to drink in delhi” episode on home and pco (april 2026), a speakeasy episode shot in gk (march 2026) and an older pco episode from 2019. several of these were clearly hosted visits: the bar’s head of programme is on camera, or the team keeps pouring samples. that is normal for drinks content, and we have kept the creators’ descriptions of what was served rather than their excitement. nobody from this site has drunk at these bars yet, so there are no scores. prices are not given in the videos, and the cost-for-two figures below come from listing sites, so treat them as rough.

for dinner before or after, see best restaurants in south delhi and best restaurants in hauz khas village.

the awards

• the original: pco, vasant vihar - “india’s first speakeasy”, running its cocktail menu for 13 years under the same head mixologist
• the secret inside the secret: the director’s room at pco - 12 seats, a separate code, no menu
• hardest to find: somewhere nowhere, gk2 - unmarked building, lift, then a vinyl and cigar shop
• best themed crawl: hoots then margaret’s eye, basant lok - an owl family across two floors, the second one entirely run by women
• most ambitious drinks: aabbcc, vasant vihar - vinegared ants, tikka masala infusions, and the only delhi bar on asia’s 50 best bars 2026 (no. 85)
• best indian flavours (not hidden): lair, basant lok - each cocktail built on produce from a different indian region
• where to start any crawl (not hidden): sidecar, gk2 - the bar that started delhi’s cocktail scene
• best for live music and a sit-down: home, ambience mall, vasant kunj

the full list

the top three, in detail

1. pco - d block market, vasant vihar

pco stands for pass code only, and it means it: there is a phone booth at the entrance and you need the code to get past it. it opened as delhi’s first speakeasy and is still the one every creator calls the original. one host’s advice on getting the code: either “you hang with the right crowd”, or you “call them a day in advance and they will probably give it to you.” another creator found it “easy to get”. the code changes, so don’t rely on one from a review.

the cocktail menu is built on forbidden ingredients: 12 drinks, each using something banned somewhere. eve’s choice is tequila with jalapeño, hazelnut and three kinds of clarified apple. oral fixation is whiskey with tobacco, demerara, coffee and amaro. sticky mess is a negroni twist with miso, house banana liqueur and bubble-gum vodka, because bubble gum is banned in singapore. the bar bites (chimichurri prawns, lamb tostadas, chicken strips) were “serving the purpose”, and there is unlimited popcorn.

the director’s room is upstairs: a 12-seat bar inside the bar, behind a second code. there is no menu. you smell a set of house-made aromas (lemongrass, turkish rose, chai spices) and pick the one that suits you, and the bartender builds drinks around it, partly with a rotary evaporator, the machine used to make perfume. both creators called it the highlight.

the catch: it is selective. one guest on camera said they “came to PCO 12 years ago and could not get in”. dress up a little; the host’s advice was that these bars are “slightly more upmarket so dress well”. how to get the code: call a day ahead, or message the bar on instagram. listings give the number as +91 97111 08482 and hours as 5 pm to 1 am, but confirm both.

2. somewhere nowhere (sono) - m block, gk2

the name is the address. one creator describes it as around the corner from sidecar, up a random high-rise with a deli on the ground floor and “no markings or signage, no indication that there is a bar anywhere.” theprint’s account of the same bar has an unmarked entrance, stairs beside a japanese restaurant, a lift, and a dim vinyl record and cigar shop that the bar hides behind. the two accounts disagree on whether it is the third or fourth floor, so go looking for the record shop, not the floor number.

inside it looks, in one creator’s words, “like a speak easy on tatooine”: flowing curved ceilings and rock-like furniture. the drinks list is japanese, and another episode paired it with japanese bites. the verdict on camera was that bars like this “show where the future of indian bartending is headed.”

the catch: finding it. give yourself ten minutes, and don’t confuse it with a café of a similar name in defence colony. pair it with sidecar, a corner away, and since late 2025 barbet & pals and no vacancy in the same market.

3. hoots and margaret’s eye - basant lok, vasant vihar

two hidden bars stacked in one building. hoots is “an owl themed speak easy hidden above perch”, a wine and coffee bar on the ground floor. the menu tells the story of three generations of an owl family: william the grandfather for pre-prohibition drinks, albert the father for post-prohibition and robert the son for the present, plus a second menu of drinks by number.

one floor up is margaret’s eye, named after the sister owl. it is run entirely by women, which the bar-tour creator called “unfortunately quite rare in india”, and its drinks are “a lot more advanced in technique than the men downstairs.” the menu follows margaret’s travels as a diary of cocktails.

the catch: they are themed, and if you don’t want the story, hoots can feel like a lot of explaining. start at margaret’s eye if you just want the drinks.

the rest of the list

• aabbcc, basant lok cluster, vasant vihar - you enter through “a labyrinth-like museum of ingredients”, past the house lab, before you reach the bar. the menu runs yesterday, today and tomorrow, from reworked classics to drinks with vinegared ants and umami distillates. it debuted at no. 85 on asia’s 50 best bars 2026, the only delhi bar in the top 100, and time put it on its 2026 world’s greatest places list.
• the pod, gk2 - a members-only speakeasy inside savorworks café and chocolate atelier, filmed in a gk speakeasy episode alongside somewhere nowhere. if you aren’t a member, this is the one on the list you can’t simply turn up to.
• the bar behind the sandwich shop - one creator’s favourite find, with no google listing and no social media, behind a sandwich shop he struggled to find. the menu is a bartender’s notebook and the chicken katsu sandwich was “one of the best sandwiches that I have ever had.” we are not printing directions to a bar that chooses not to have any; ask a bartender at lair or hoots.
• sidecar, m block, gk2 (not hidden) - the bar credited with starting delhi’s cocktail scene, ranked india’s best bar at no. 18 on asia’s 50 best bars in 2023. the “going places” menu does yellow-curry tequila for thailand and corn-and-cheese vodka for the usa. listings put it around rs 3,000 for two.
• lair, basant lok (not hidden) - the creators call it the new star. each cocktail represents a region and its produce: plums from punjab, a lemon grown only in west bengal, kashmiri cherries, goan guava. expect house sorbets, wax-aged drinks and a lot of bottle throwing. listings say rs 2,000-3,000 for two.
• home, 3rd floor, ambience mall, vasant kunj (not hidden) - pvr’s lounge and social club, members-only when it opened and open to everyone now. the harmony menu covers 12 musical eras, there are zero-proof drinks inspired by the chakras, and there are live bands every week. the rocket-leaf vodka drink, “not a rocket science”, was the favourite. the creators found it “a little bit too sophisticated” and sit-down.
• also in the basant lok cluster: red, where everything from the bar to the drinks is themed on shades of red; kiki, bright and colourful, doing indian twists on classics; and call me ten, a japanese bar-restaurant whose sushi was called “exceptional quality”.

tips

• call pco a day ahead. that is how you get the code. ask about the director’s room on the same call, because it has its own code and only 12 seats.
• do one area per night. gk2 (sidecar, somewhere nowhere, the pod) and vasant vihar (pco, basant lok) are a cab ride apart. basant lok alone has six or more bars within two minutes’ walk.
• look for the business in front. somewhere nowhere is behind a record shop, hoots above perch, the pod inside a chocolate café. the bar’s name is rarely on the door.
• dress up a little. the creators’ advice for pco and home was “dress well”.
• carry id. delhi’s legal drinking age is 25, and the selective bars do check.
• order the piccante if you want what delhi is drinking. one bar tour noticed a spicy-margarita variation on “every single menu” and on half the tables.
• check before you go. speakeasies change codes, menus and sometimes locations. every detail here is from a video at least six months old.

• best restaurants in south delhi - dinner near gk2 and vasant vihar before the bars
• best restaurants in hauz khas village - the other south delhi night out
• best restaurants in delhi - the citywide list
• best restaurants in connaught place - if you are staying central
• best hotels in south delhi - to stay close to the bars
• all delhi hotel guides