Papi Opens in Bandra as Mumbai's New Cocktail-Led Dining Destination

MUMBAI, May 27, 2026 — Papi, a new cocktail bar and dining destination from co-founders Ansh Kapoor and Aditya Wanwari, has opened on the ground floor of Bajaj Niwas off Linking Road in Khar West, Bandra, positioning itself within Mumbai's competitive late-night dining market through a cocktail-first programme, globally influenced small plates, and a space that is designed to evolve in atmosphere from early evening through to midnight.

The venue seats 60 guests and operates for dinner from 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily, entering Bandra's well-established food and beverage scene as the debut project of a founding team that describes Papi as the first expression of a wider hospitality vision spanning restaurants, bars, and hotels.

The opening arrives as Mumbai's Bandra corridor continues to attract high-concept bar and dining formats, with the neighbourhood's experienced consumer base placing consistent demand on quality, craft, and originality rather than novelty alone.

Papi's Cocktail Programme Leads the Experience in Bandra

The bar programme anchors the Papi experience. All brines, foams, and distillates used in the cocktail menu are developed in-house, building a flavour vocabulary the founders describe as specific to the venue. A deliberate crossover between the bar and the kitchen, drawing on shared herbs, citrus, and ferments, blurs the boundary between the drinking and dining experience intentionally.

The cocktail list dispenses with conventional names. Drinks run from Cocktail No. 1 through Cocktail No. 10, referencing classic formats without confirming them, turning each order into a point of curiosity and conversation. The range moves from a chamomile whiskey highball with salted peach foam to a savoury martini built on cucumber and dill brine to a spirit-forward old fashioned, covering a deliberate spectrum of taste profiles within a single menu.

Three cocktails are served on tap, Aperol, Espresso Martini, and Paloma, poured fresh each day and ready without ceremony as guests arrive. A rotating selection of freshly brewed craft beers rounds out the bar offering. Cocktails on tap remain a relatively rare format in Mumbai's bar scene, giving Papi a point of distinction that operates at both the service and quality level.

The Food Programme at Papi Bandra

The kitchen runs a small plates programme built around coastal, Latin, Mediterranean, and pan-Asian references, anchored by three consistent priorities: acidity, freshness, and umami. The format is designed for sharing and grazing across a long evening rather than structured course-by-course dining.

The Sichuan Paella is the menu's most distinctive offering, a dish that combines the Spanish rice format with Sichuan seasoning in a way the founders describe as an extension of the kitchen's instinct to deconstruct familiar dishes and reassemble them on Papi's own terms. The Buff Carpaccio with Truffle brings precision and indulgence to the shareable plates section, while the Ricotta Reachado introduces a coastal sharpness that works against the richer elements of the menu.

The pasta programme is made entirely in-house, with varieties selected for each specific dish rather than drawn from a fixed rotation. Al Tartufo pizza and Radiatori alla Vodka anchor the more comfort-forward end of the menu. The Dark Chocolate Mousse closes the food experience at the dessert stage.

"Bandra is a very aware market. People go out often, they know what they like, and they can tell when something is trying too hard," said Aditya Wanwari, co-founder of Papi. "The bar leads the experience at Papi, but the food has to keep pace with it, plates that can be shared and ordered over time, with deliberate contrast between light and rich, familiar and unexpected."

The Space and Design at Papi Khar West

The interiors at Papi were conceived by Loop Design Studio, who incorporated African textiles into the walls, across the roof of the private dining room, and along the main bar, used as texture and tone rather than surface decoration. Warm amber light plays across layers of wood, stone, and brushed metal throughout the space.

The layout is open and fluid, designed for movement between table and bar across an evening. A glass roof runs above part of the interior, drawing natural light into the space through skylights during daytime hours. An outdoor seating area extends the venue further, providing a relaxed alternative to the main room.

On entry, guests are met by the cocktails on tap alongside a coffee bar, a combination that signals Papi's ambition to operate as a destination across multiple dayparts, from brunch through to late-night service.

"Papi was designed to build slowly, to shift as the night progresses, so the experience at 8 p.m. feels completely different from what it becomes by midnight," said Ansh Kapoor, co-founder of Papi. "Every detail, the way the light shifts, how the cocktails are structured, the pacing of the menu, has been considered to contribute to a certain feeling."

The Name and the Vision Behind Papi Mumbai

The name Papi carries dual resonance, in Spanish, it leans toward affection, while in Hindi, it edges toward the transgressive. The founders have left the interpretation open, framing the ambiguity as central to the venue's personality rather than incidental to it.

Kapoor brings international kitchen experience to the venture, while Wanwari contributes a background in hospitality operations. Together they have described Papi as the opening expression of a larger brand that will extend into other restaurant, bar, and hotel formats in the coming years.

Papi Bandra is located at Ground Floor, 712, Bajaj Niwas, Off Linking Road, next to the AND showroom, Khar West, Mumbai 400052. Reservations and enquiries are handled through the venue's Instagram. The cost for two is approximately INR 4,000.