Mumbai turns up the spook factor

As October comes to a close, the world is preparing for the spookiest festival of the year. Mumbai too, caught Halloween fever with a party planned at every other bar, pub and restaurant. From special pumpkin desserts to spooky parties with games and costumes, there is quite an impressive line-up of events throughout the weekend leading up to Halloween.

Drinkery 51 is one of the many places that’s hosting a traditional Haloween party with enough to give guests thrills and chills. “We are having face painting and a temporary tattoo artists and are also providing spooky accessories for the guests,” says Deepak Beri, who handles marketing for the bar. Another bar, which is hosting a Halloween party, is Hitchki, which not only boasts themed drinks and dishes, but also spooky décor and other activities. “We’ll have a best costume competition for both men and women as well as well as music by popular DJs playing,” says Sonali Mullick, regional manager of Hitchki.

Pumpkin treats are a part and parcel of any Halloween and Henpecked in Fort is offering treats that are both sweet and spooky. “We’re offering complimentary Pumpkin Ghost Dessert cakes with dinner. The cake has a layer of pumpkin cake and the innermost layer is filled with berries. The whole thing is topped with a sugar cake, which makes up the ghost. When you cut into it, the vivid berries make it look like blood oozing out,” gushes chef Sandeep Rane, about his creation.

Aside from food and décor, one of the most common ways to make a party a bit spookier is with themed drinks and several bars have picked up on this idea. “At Drinkery 51, we have a special Halloween inspired bar menu with eight different drinks for the weekend, namely, Monster Mash, which is a mix of dark rum and pineapple; Ghost rider, a set of four shots, Vampire Kisses a set of five shots, Witches brew a mix of vodka and lime juice, Black Beard made with dark rum, lime juice, Absinthe and peppermint, Blood Clot, Injection Shot, and more. We also have a mocktail called Frankenstein Bride, which is a mix of strawberry, lime, mango juice and Coke,” says Deepak.

Pumpkin treats are a part and parcel of any Halloween and Henpecked is offering treats that are both sweet and spooky.

Hitchki is also banking on spooky drinks. “We’re chiefly a bar, so we’re not really going into a plethora of Halloween food items. We’re just sticking to creating a number of spooky drinks instead. It just made more sense to do so than to have a plethora of drinks instead,” says Sonali.

Overall, it is the spirit of Halloween that each of these pubs hopes to capture. “Halloween is all about the spooky and creepy. Everyone enjoys a bit of horror and we’ve tried in our way, to make it a bit spookier, whether it’s with food or décor,” concludes Sandeep.

With inputs from Nirtika Pandita