As the Kochi Muziris Biennale comes into full swing, here is quick guide to the city’s watering holes — from a vintage British styled pub to a high-energy EDM dance floor, and warm, cosy bars offering rich menus and a space for conversation.
Pork ribs at Francis
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Francis Fort Kochi
Squid rings, steak, soft lights and a storied past is a mix heady enough to put Francis on the to-do list. Housed in a 300-year-old Dutch house in Fort Kochi, Francis boasts a selection of spirits from cocktails to champagne that would pair well with a menu of slow-cooked chicken garlic steak and broasted pork. Appams with masala fried prawns, a crab lollipop or even pasta if you wish. But Francis is all about conversations and evenings filled with live music and laughter in a retro setting.
Order this: Pork ribs and Pepper Calamari
On Queiro Street, Fort Nagar, Fort Kochi.
₹1,500 for two
Mai House Heritage
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O Porto, Mai House Heritage
Set in an ancient Christian tharavaad, the tastefully designed O Porto bar offers a largely Keralan menu with the usual suspects such beef dry fry (BDF) and fish pollichthu on the top of the diners’ choices. Drinks include beers, wines and locally-inspired cocktails such as the curry leaf gin fizz, ginger-lemongrass vodka smash and Malabar negroni among others.
Order this: Fish moilee, prawn pepper fry and fish pollichathu. The fish moilee goes well with kallappam, while fish pollichathu works best with Kerala parotta.
At Kit Kat Junction, TM Muhammed Road, Fort Kochi.
₹1,600 for two
Seagull Restaurant, at Fort Kochi
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VIBHU H
Seagull
This 45-year-old waterfront restaurant is everyone’s favourite in Kochi. Watch huge ships roll by as you dig into porotta and spicy fish curry or just plain rice, pappadam and the catch of the day. The menu has biryani to Chinese and everything in between. You can select the catch of the day yourself and get it fried or curried. All of this with chilled beer, wine or soft drinks. Seagull, after a recent revamp, looks brighter with pastel paint colours.
Order this: The Seagull Special grilled fish, fish mango curry and crab roast.
Calvathy Road, Fort Kochi.
₹1,500 for two
Budspresso at Wild Boar
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Wild Boar
This gastropub is a recent entrant to Kochi’s bar scene — a quaint British-styled pub serving various iterations of beer and wine. Beside the backwaters, this bar, designed with a vintage touch, is for those who like a slow dinner with a glass of wine or two. It has a clutch of creative cocktails too. The budspresso, for instance, is an imaginative cocktail of beer, coffee, vanilla and a dash of apple juice. The classic sangria in red and white wine, too. Bring along an appetite, for there’s everything from pork sliders to calamari, tiger prawns and kebabs.
Order this: Pork kondattam and tiger prawns.
Kent Baywatch, Suites, Edakochi.
₹2,000 for two
Colony bar at Grand Hyatt Kochi
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Colony Bar, Hyatt
When in Kochi, go local. Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty’s Colony Bar has a new and inspired cocktail menu infusing the Keralan essence into its drinks. From herbs to kanthari chillies, kallu (toddy) and spices, there’s an entire basket of ingredients that would transport you straight to the heart of a Kerala kitchen. The Malabar Ottamooli is vodka, infused with raw turmeric and kaffir lime, sweetened with honey. Kappa Kandhari is an ode to the ever-green Malayali staple of tapioca and bird’s eye chilli chutney in tequila form. Foodwise, start with their signature prawn kunafa and move on to kebabs and quesadillas, but don’t miss out on the Malabar chilli beef fry.
At Mulavukad, Bolgatty.
₹2,500 for two
Merchant of Muziris drink at Hortus
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Hortus
A tribute to the botanical heritage of Kerala, this bar is inspired by Hortus Malabaricus, a 17th century botanical treatise documenting the varieties and medicinal properties of the flora of the Malabar coast. The carefully curated cocktail menu has a lot to offer. It uses local botanicals, indegenous aromatics and seasonal produce to craft drinks that feel both familiar and exciting at the same time. The signature drink Esmeralda, for instance, is a gin-based clarified cocktail blending green apple and chamomile tea. The Zamorin, another signature, is tequila based and blends jaggery, a twist of fresh lime juice and tamarind.
Order this: Pan-seared prawns, bacon-wrapped prawn
At Avenue Center, Panampilly Nagar.
₹2,500 for two
The Beerita at Lucid
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Lucid
The cocktails get creative at this new groove bar at Park Residency, Lucid, are creative. The Beerita is the story of a beer that fell in love with a margerita, in a glass. Bullfrog in a bag is a pretty blue drink that comes in a glass shaped as a bag. While it functions as a restobar on weekdays, it transforms into an EDM and techno party floor on weekends. That does not mean weekdays are dull. Chromatic Weekdays promotes a colour for each day, with a cocktail to match it. Say you drop in on a Wednesday, when the colour is purple. The cocktail of the day is Zolo Maise, a delicious vodka, infused with lavender syrup, blue pea and garnished with blue pea flower.
Order this: Grilled green mussels
Seaport – Airport Road, Kakkanad
₹2,000 for two
Published – January 21, 2026 01:24 pm IST
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