Genre

It’s hard to stand out in the Defence Colony market, but stepping into Genre feels less like entering a bar and more like being invited into someone’s impeccably curated listening room. As the first record bar of Delhi, these folks did the vinyl-bar aesthetic much before many of its contemporaries, so they get to claim dibs to a trend that inspired several more listening bars to mushroom across the capital. 

The space is spread across three floors with a coolly intimate setting. It's an effortlessly modern vibe – not overly warm and inviting, and 'edgy' enough to sport some jagged edges in the form of bare steel surfaces and a sort of almost Brutalist vibe. 

On the vinyl bit: they usually curate each vinyl evening to a kind of tune or genre, so you get to figure what sort of a night you'll be in for. You'll find 50 Cent on one night and maybe Billie Holiday the next. They've got guest curators too, and playlists can range anywhere from Brazilian funk jazz and Arabic synth pop to Korean psych and Peruvian cumbia. 

The bar menu's a fun little creation. Every drink comes with its own backstory and musical inspiration, and most drinks are named after songs and moods. Hot Thing, inspired by Mos Def’s track of the same name, blends jalapeño-infused tequila with coriander and malic acid, creating a drink that walks between heat and aromatic brightness. It’s punchy yet refined, a cocktail that wakes up your palate rather than overwhelming it.

Rare Pleasure, arguably the showstopper for me, is visually striking with red wine suspended delicately over a base of mezcal, melon, and malic acid, and the drink arrives looking almost like… a liquid sculpture. On the palate, it’s fresh and only lightly sweet, finishing clean.

The food menu's fairly diverse, with a large selection of breakfast items, plus pizzas and other Continental stuff. Their Eggs Benedict is fairly divine, but I'd give their flatbread pizzas a miss. They're a touch too dry. Other standout dishes include the miso barbecued mushrooms – an assortment of mushrooms tossed in sesame and peanut dressing, finished with scallions and toasted sesame seeds – is nicely spicy, perfectly umami, and a decent palate opener. 

The parmesan-crusted roast chicken breast, served with buttery mashed potatoes, truffle sauce, and seasonal greens, was satisfyingly juicy on the inside and perfectly crusted on the outside. A good, creamy, indulgent mash. The truffle oil, surprisingly, isn't overpowering. The grilled prawn toban – fresh prawns cooked in fermented chilli and ponzu dressing arrived bold and confident, topped with chilli and scallions and accompanied by crispy lotus chips and fresh cucumber – is another solid starter option.

Across courses, Genre’s menu seems obsessed, in a good way, with contrast: crisp meeting creamy, smoky balancing fresh. It’s food designed for the opposite of rushed dining, much like flipping records without noticing the passage of time.