Another Opening

"I, NYX, the Greek goddess of the night, invite you to my club, on Residency Road. Let me make your night a magical rendezvous. Experience the carnal pleasures of my reign, and become one with me in wild abandon."

That's what the invite to "NYX elite club" said. A case of over-promising and under-delivering?

This latest addition to the Bangalore night scene is located on the terrace of what used to be Black Cadillac. The building is kinda past its prime, so it was a wise decision to erect an external elevator that would take guests directly to the terrace.

When we arrived, we were told that this wasn't working and were guided to an old lift further inside the building. About eight people were ahead of us, so we decided to let them take that car. Wise choice. Doors shut. Two seconds later, this guy was manually prying them open again. Amrita and I didn't need any further encouragement to hike up the four floors.

The access by the stairs? OK but not great, especially since there was a set of metal access stairs partially obstructing the main entrance. But once you enter, you're fine. You do forget that you are actually on the roof terrace of a rather old building on a very busy street.

Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera again. The place has been quite nicely done up. The L-shaped restaurant at one side looked promising. Not sure if the Greek theme is really there. We ran into Sean and Mom and Sanjeev and Tina. Quite a feww well-known DJs were also there. But your usual page 3 crowd appeared to have stayed away.

It was only when we were leaving that we ran into an ex-Olive hostess who knew Amrita and she told us about what existed on the other side of the island bar. The disco was extremely well sound-proofed, so I never even guessed it was there. Room next to it was called the 'Exclusiv Opulent Lounge' that included a couple of massage chairs. Another room upstairs that was all white with windows overlooking the dance floor. The stark look and the crowd in there at the time made it look somewhat sleazy rather than the exclusivity it promised. Everyone there looked at us like we had stumbled onto some illicit transaction.

Conclusion: Liked the open air Island Bar and the Med & Sufi Restaurant (tried a little of the beef, good.) Sasha reminded us, "Don't judge a place by the opening night. Allow two weeks for it to settle down and then go back." That's probably what I'll do. Then pictures!