Created by industry veterans Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, Bar Stormy aims to be Hyderabad’s go-to friendly neighbourhood bar. The space centres on a meticulously planned bar counter, offers inventive cocktails mapped to moods, and serves hearty small plates and mains. It reflects the city’s food culture while fostering inclusive, safe spaces for long, unhurried evenings.
The first thing you notice when you enter Bar Stormy, the new 75-seater bar in Hyderabad from Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh in partnership with Kishore Pallamreddy, is the bar counter Lama designed himself. “My philosophy is simple,” he says. “If the bartender is happy while making the drink, the drink reflects that. Every detail of Yang’s Bar has been designed with that in mind. The placement of the bar was one of the first things we considered. It’s positioned at the centre of the space so that it is visible and accessible to everyone in the room, making the bar the hero of the space while ensuring that every guest feels connected to it.”
Yang’s Bar is a 19-foot counter divided into three identical stations, so on a busy night, a bartender can work from any part of the bar without running back to a central station, Lama says. It’s the culmination of his years of experience behind the bar. “Everything from the ice, chilling units and water supply to the speed rails and workstations is positioned around how a bartender actually moves,” he adds. “The other important consideration was the distance between the bartender and the guest. We wanted the guest to be clearly heard even over the music, so the bartender and guest can have a conversation.”
Earlier this month, I visited Hyderabad to see it for myself. Lama wasn’t there, as he was tied up in New Delhi, but Minakshi showed a group of journalists, F&B industry insiders, and me what their newest brainchild offers. Located in Hyderabad’s Financial District, Stormy is the latest addition to the city’s resurgent food and beverage scene, building on the old city’s Irani Café and pub-led food and drinks culture.
“Stormy wasn’t something we arrived at overnight. We had both spent a lot of time in Hyderabad over the years, and the idea stayed with us for quite a while before we decided to do it. During that time, we got to know the city the way you naturally do through its restaurants and food, the people we met, and how people spend their evenings,” Minakshi told me. “What became clear to us was that Hyderabad has such a strong food identity, and people here are very open to trying something new if there is something familiar in it. That became an important consideration as we developed the menu.”
“Stormy fits very naturally into that culture because it is a neighbourhood bar. Irani cafés and old neighbourhood bars have always been places where people could walk in, sit down, and spend time. You don’t necessarily need a special occasion to go there,” Lama added when we corresponded after the trip. “That’s something we really like about Hyderabad. There is a very strong culture of people coming together over food and drinks and taking their time. We wanted Stormy to have that same ease. Of course, we’re a cocktail bar, but we don’t want cocktails to make the experience feel formal or intimidating. You should be able to come in, sit at the bar, have a drink, order some food, and stay as long as you want.”
“We were more interested in the flavours people already know: curry leaf, tamarind, Osmania biscuit, green chilli, the kinds of things that are part of everyday food, and asking how they could work in a bar environment.”Minakshi Singh, co-founder, Bar Stormy
The result is a standout cocktail programme divided into three sections. Ten Stormy Signatures take their cues from Hyderabad and the surrounding region, including drinks built around ingredients such as curry leaf and the iconic Osmania biscuit, a soft, flaky, buttery staple from the Old City’s Irani Cafés. They are organised according to a playful “mood meter”: Southern Storm, for example, takes inspiration from curd rice for those feeling “homesick”, while Stormy Splash reworks the classic gin and tonic and elevates it with a dash of elderflower cordial for those feeling “over it”. Eight Timeless ’Tails bring back fan-favourite cocktails — including Cilantro, Foghorn, and Yang’s Old Fashioned — from the duo’s other bars across the country like Sidecar and The Brook. The final section comprises four variations of the Dark & Stormy, the classic sailor’s drink of dark rum, ginger beer and lime — a cocktail whose easy-going character mirrors the Lama and Singh’s idea of what a neighbourhood bar should be and nods to the city’s historical links to India’s maritime trade.
A selection of small plates, bar bites, mains, and desserts designed by Kolkata-born Head Chef Abhishek Haldar complements the cocktails. The menu moves from small plates meant for sharing, such as Mushroom Galouti Sliders, Lemongrass Chicken, and Lamb It Up (slow-cooked lamb on tawa, bun parotta, fried onion & chilli), to heavier mains such as Bone Marrow Nihari Feast (a feast for the taste buds worthy of its name) and Bartender’s Rice Bowl (spicy short grain fried rice with house pickles) and desserts such as Chocolate & Coffee Tart and Ragi Sticky Toffee Pudding.
As the night changed and I went through the menu, nibbling on chicken skewers, pulled lamb, and fall-off-the-bone nihari between rounds of stormy cocktails, Minakshi and I also talked about her journey up the F&B industry ladder.
In the early 2000s, she began her career as one of the only women bartenders in the country at a time when it was illegal for women to tend bars in India. “When I first started in this industry in 2003, there were a few challenges and roadblocks for me as a bartender that eventually led me to pivot and work with agencies and liquor companies instead. But that experience kept me closely connected to the bar and beverage industry, and over the years, I’ve seen the space evolve considerably,” she said.
“There were always a lot of assumptions about what a bartender should look like and how they should behave. In the early years, it was about proving you could do the job, understand the craft, and hold your own in the room. That has changed considerably. Today, many more women are behind bars, in leadership positions, running beverage programs, and operating their own spaces. That’s a very positive change. But I don’t think the conversation should stop at having more women in the room. Real change happens when women get the same opportunities to learn, make mistakes, lead teams, and build careers.”
“I think the industry has come a long way in the last twenty years, but there is still work to do. What gives me hope is seeing young women enter the industry with much more confidence. They no longer see bartending as something unusual; it’s a career they can choose for themselves,” she said. “In our own projects, we try to look beyond someone’s previous experience and pay attention to their attitude, their curiosity, and whether they want to be there. We also try to create spaces where people can learn from each other rather than feeling that they must already know everything before they walk through the door.”
As I looked back on my time at Bar Stormy and my conversation with Minakshi on the flight back, I thought about how the hospitality industry shapes our lives. We don’t think of them often, but we should. Think about the first date that led to you finding the person you love; the graduation celebration with your friends at your favourite bar; the first drink after a long day at work; or a long, winding conversation over several rounds of food and drinks. It’s people like Minakshi, Yangdup, and the waitstaff and behind-the-scenes workers who keep the hospitality industry running and make those moments possible. This is how spaces like Stormy and Sidecar become part of the social milieu, the “scene”, the life of a city — why we celebrate the opening and mourn the closing of bars and restaurants that become part of our lives somewhere along the way.
This is what stood out to me when I sat at the counter and looked around me: the lively crowd of men and women who had come to the bar that night. Especially the women. This is something Minakshi noticed too. And something she said stayed with me: when women feel safe enough to go out and drink in a city, it shows how safe they feel — especially in a country like India, with a long history of gendered violence. Part of it is the city’s culture. But part of it is because contemporary bars and restaurants like Stormy now provide a safe space for urban Indian women, young and old alike, to come together and spend time outside home and work. I have seen this at some of my favourite bars in Kolkata, like Nutcase and The Conversation Room, and I saw this in Stormy too. It’s like Yangdup says: “Come in, sit at the bar, have a drink, order some food, and stay as long as you want.” Isn’t that what a neighbourhood bar should be?
Follow @barstormyindia on Instagram.
If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:
Permit & Co. Takes A Trip With A Month-Long Menu Inspired By The Northeast
Drāvida’s Chef Aarthi Sampath On Making Food Shaped By Memory & Cultural Exchange
SALT: Goya Brings The Best Of Indian Food & Drinks Under One Roof This October