Bar Stormy Marks Yangdup Lama’s Rocking Entry Into Hyderabad

Bar Stormy, Hyderabad’s latest cocktail bar, immediately strikes you with its neighbourhood vibe. That’s hardly surprising considering it is created by bartender-owner duo Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, who specialise in neighbourhood bars, think New Delhi’s Sidecar, Gurgaon’s Cocktails and Dreams and The Brook and Kathmandu’s The Old House. Created in partnership with Red Rhino Brewing Co. founder Kishore Pallamreddy, it is warm, sociable and serious about cocktails.

The room sets the tone immediately. Warm wood softens the chrome accents, while indoor and outdoor seating keeps the space flexible. Artwork developed with St+Art India and Guerrilla Art & Design gives the walls a locally rooted character. Vintage shakers, books, and curios line the open back bar, but the arrangement avoids feeling like a themed set. Music remains at a level that permits conversation, a rare virtue in a new bar.

“We wanted Bar Stormy to reflect [Hyderabad’s] energy while staying true to what we have always believed a bar should be: welcoming, inclusive, and built around connection,” says Singh. She adds that every detail, from the warmth of the wood and lighting to the music playing at a volume where you can still finish a sentence, has been intentional. That intention is most visible in the bar counter itself.

Designed by Lama, “Yang’s Bar” is both a stage and a workstation. It is Lama’s first foray into bar design, and he is clearly excited about it. Its fingerprint-resistant steel, compact stations and carefully positioned refrigeration, ice, glassware and garnishes are functional details that guests may not consciously notice. But what they will notice is the result: bartenders who can work efficiently while still looking up, answering questions and sustaining a conversation. “A bar counter is where those conversations begin,” Lama says. “This one is visible from every corner of the room, inviting guests to engage, ask questions, and become part of the experience.”

The drinks menu is divided into three parts: ten “Stormy Signatures,” eight “Timeless Tails” imported from the founders’ other bars, and four variations on the Dark ’n Stormy, the rum, ginger beer and lime drink that inspired the bar’s name. This structure offers an easy entry point for both cocktail enthusiasts and guests who would rather start with something familiar.

The signatures are the most compelling part of the programme because they seek to interpret Hyderabad and southern Indian flavours without simply adding a local ingredient to a conventional drink. They are also grouped by mood. Southern Storm, described as a liquid evocation of curd rice, combines vodka with toasted rice, mustard, curry leaf and sea salt. It is an unlikely formulation, but one that captures the menu’s willingness to find savoury, nostalgic references beyond the usual fruit-forward cocktail vocabulary. The menu describes the flavour profile as savoury and the mood marker as ‘Homesick’.

Stormy Samba looks to another Hyderabad ritual: Osmania biscuits dipped in Irani chai. Butter-washed bourbon, cardamom, saline, reduced beer, and foam produce a buttery, sweet-salty profile that sounds indulgent yet is carefully balanced. The mood marker here is Euphoric. Stormy Shenanigans is brighter, pairing gin with raspberry, blueberry and chilli tincture. A chilli-dark-chocolate butterfly from Hyderabad chocolatier Manam reinforces the drink’s local connection while adding a gradual heat to its floral, fruity character. Little wonder, its mood marker is Romantic.

Lama acknowledges that the menu required some recalibration. “After three decades in Delhi, making a good drink there and having a Delhiite appreciate it is fairly easy, as I understand the palate perfectly,” he says. “But here it was challenging, as I needed to understand the taste preferences.” That uncertainty is productive. Rather than transplanting a Delhi menu wholesale, Bar Stormy combines new experiments with dependable favourites such as Cilantro, Foghorn and Yang’s Old Fashioned, popular cocktails at Sidecar, Cocktails and Dreams and The Brook.

Designed by head chef Abhishek Halder, who has been with Red Rhino for a while, the food follows a global tapas model, prioritising dishes that can move around the table and pair well with cocktails. Wai Wai Bhel is an appropriately playful bar snack, while Brie on Toast offers a richer, more familiar counterpoint. Imli & Tuna Crudo brings acidity to raw fish, and the Mushroom Galouti Slider translates the soft, spiced character of the kebab into a vegetarian small plate.

The larger dishes are more ambitious. Kundapur Prawn Pil Pil combines coastal flavours with the Spanish garlic-and-chilli format, while the Bone Marrow Nihari Feast leans into depth and richness. There are also pastas and pizzas, providing much-needed comfort food for Gen Z. Across the selection, the food appears designed not as an afterthought but as a set of salty, acidic, and spiced partners for the cocktails.