As I entered The Elephant Room, I got seated at the bar I was served a Welcome Drink on the house. It was a clean & refreshing one of gin, green mango & sour plum. It gently woke my taste buds up.. I was ready to explore.

The Elephant Room’s cocktails & nibbles are “inspired by Indian heritage” – cool concept, but I only truly understood this when I flipped through their menu. Reading through each drink’s descriptions & details, I learnt that each one has a story behind it. The stories are centered around Indian culture & childhood experiences, & iconic landmarks/experiences around Little India.

While these stories don’t necessarily resonate with me, I was captivated listening to the bartender tell them. Whether you’re a local or a tourist, this will be quite the novel & special experience for you.

My drink of choice was Mogul’s Sweets ($22++), which alludes to the nostalgic memory of the local childhood sweet shop. I picked this because of the unique use of savoury, nutty ingredients: Salted cashews & roasted chickpeas. They sounded like they would go well with the characteristic spicyness of the Amrut, an Indian single malt whiskey.

& by golly, they did. This was delicious in a buttery-smooth & creamy way. It felt like I was drinking a nutty alcoholic milkshake. Despite the slightly oily notes it had (which I generally am not a fan of), I enjoyed it through & through til the very end.

If that doesn’t sound like your kind of thing, don’t worry. The Elephant Room has other cocktails like Tekka (Old Monk rum, spiced palm & banana skin), Jothi’s Flower Shop (Jasmine gin, davanam tinture, lime & honey) & Beeda Man (sour mango rum, caraway & jeera goli).

Whilst sipping on my drink, I was introduced to the other Amrut whiskey variants on the shelf. Being very new to Indian whiskey, I listened intently while being schooled about them. Service here was attentive & warm, & the bartenders are friendly & chatty. I did feel a bit bad having to work on my phone from time to time, but I was glad to be left alone when that had to be done. Appreciated 😉

I ended off my night by sipping some of their Ghee liqueur neat. Honestly, it smells ordinary, but tastes AMAZING. It’s like liquid butterscotch on steroids!!! I don’t like ghee in my food, but I’d happily drink this all day. Totally blew my mind.

The Elephant Room has sold me on these crazy funky infusions. I am sure it’s not easy to get the perfect balance, but I do hope they continue to reinvent their infusions & cocktails in fresh ways to keep things exciting. They already have these cool ones – ghee liqueur, briyani whiskey, chickpea whiskey!? Daaaamn son. Keep them coming.

💳 Accepts credit cards
🌬 Air-conditioned seats only
📱 Accepts reservations via Chope