Bar Stormy: Easy Vibes, Serious Cocktails

When a new bar flashes Tension Naku in their communication even before opening its doors to the public in a new city, it signals intent. You know they are aiming for an easy welcoming entry. Bar Stormy in Hyderabad arrives with that clarity. It doesn’t try too hard, and that’s precisely its strength. Led by celebrated bartender-owner duo, Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, the duo behind cult favourites Sidecar, Cocktails and Dreams Speakeasy, The Old House, and The Brook, the bar brings together all the makings of the perfect neighbourhood bar—a great bar program with signature and classic cocktails for a moody evening, comfort plates, a familiar playlist, and the warm hospitality of the Singh-Lama team that is instinctive.

Set in Hyderabad’s Financial District, this marks the award-winning team’s bold South India debut with a 75-seater concept with indoor and outdoor seating. “We are driven more by instinct, followed by a discipline-led approach that reflects in all our bars,” says bartender-owner Lama. For the launch of Bar Stormy, they have partnered with tech-entrepreneur Kishore Pallamreddy of Red Rhino Brewing Co., adding heft to the local business.

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Bar Stormy interiors feature local art and warm lighting

What drove them to Hyderabad instead of opening in Mumbai? Singh shares candidly, “We have been coming to Hyderabad for a couple of years and have seen the city evolve. We found it exciting and challenging and with a lot of potential to expand our modern cocktail culture here. We find the same energy, diversity, and potential in Hyderabad’s Financial District today as we saw in Gurgaon back in 2012 when we opened Cocktails and Dreams.”

The bar at the centre

Inside Bar Stormy, conversations, good food and great drinks flow with equal ease. Vintage cassette tapes line the back bar, warm red lamps cast a soft glow, and the walls double up as living canvases through a collaboration with St+Art India and Guerrilla Art & Design. It’s the Telugu one-liners—“Vibe undi” and “Plan ledu!”—that ground the space in its city and add a local touch. Drinks are surely the highlight, but the compact bar station, christened as Yang’s Bar, tops them. Designed by none other than Lama himself, the 19-foot bar is where his expertise and skill as a bartender take new shape. “A bar counter is where conversations and great drinks begin. After working behind bars for three decades, I designed this keeping a bartender’s movements in mind. We also intend to patent this,” says Lama. The perfect mise en place there could be!

Southern Storm

Mood over menu

Ten signature “Stormys” sit alongside eight bestsellers from their other bars, but instead of listing ingredients, the menu leans on a mood meter. Homesick, Nostalgia, Euphoria—pick your state, and the drink follows. “We focus on flavour profiles. This is a warm-up for us in Hyderabad,” says Lama. The flavours are familiar, but cleverly reworked. Curry leaf, toasted rice, Osmania biscuit, even salan find their way into the glass with a twist. The Dark ’n’ Stormy welcomes guests.

Start with the rum-based Dark ’n’ Stormy that serves as the muse for the bar and shift to Southern Storm with vodka, toasted rice, mustard, curry leaves and sea salt. Their version of curd rice in a glass, but not too tangy. I tried the Stormy State, a take on a Manhattan, and was instantly a convert. If you want to shift to something spicy, Stormy Hot Mess with tequila infused with peanut butter, guava, green chillies, and roasted sesame is just the right kick you need. No matter what you try, don’t leave without Yang’s Old Fashioned that never disappoints.

Chef Abhishek Halder’s food menu complements rather than competes. Designed for sharing, it is flavour-forward and finger-licking. The Wai Wai noodles channel the punch of jhal muri and are easily the most addictive plate here. Honey cheese toast, Kondapur prawns pil pil, and bone marrow nihari with a saffron bun are some of the dishes that are worth coming back for. Built on instinct, experience, and an understanding of what makes people return, Bar Stormy feels less like a debut and more like a bar Hyderabad has been waiting for.

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