Bar Review: Hawaiian Shack

The first thing we noticed about the new Hawaiian Shack in Juhu was how brightly lit it is. The Bandra flagship, which we admit we visited about three years ago, always had dim lighting, if we remember correctly. At the Juhu branch, in addition to candles on each table—that provide most of the luminescence in Bandra—there are also spotlights covered in bamboo casings, strings of blue lights lining the bar, and neon signs for various alcohol brands. This is not the first time that the owners of Hawaiian Shack have attempted to branch out. Back in 2006, they opened an outlet in Colaba, in the same spot that was later occupied by the short-lived but popular Bootleggers and which now houses Volare. Hawaiian Shack Colaba was a failed exercise, primarily because apart from iffy service, the place had a decidedly dingy ambience, one that was not helped by the fact that it was located in a shady by-lane, on the site of a former dance bar.

Hawaiian Shack Juhu has replaced the relatively well-known restaurant and bar Tian, and we can’t help but think that the owners are vary of making the same mistake twice. Apart from brightening up the new space, they have played safe with almost all aspects of the new establishment. Just in case you didn’t know that Hawaiian Shack is a facsimile of a Polynesian bar that plays retro rock and pop music, one wall has niches for models of electric guitars that hang on either side of a painted palm tree. And in order to recreate the feel of the Bandra outpost, there’s everything from a boat-shaped bar to a chap who goes around asking everyone if they want Polaroids taken to sprinkled Gulmohar petals on the table (the last touch is particularly appropriate when you remember that the Juhu branch is located on Gulmohar Road).

But a night at Hawaiian Shack, as those guitars tell us, is always about the music (customers on almost every table around us were fueling up on Kingfisher pints and nothing else, while our well-seasoned but slightly-chewy, staff-recommended order of salt and pepper chicken was passable at best). The walls, therefore, bear framed posters of such iconic acts as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Michael Jackson, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Linkin Park. It’s another matter that we didn’t hear any of these artists during our visit there, until midnight struck gold and Jacko’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” came on. Perhaps this was because we visited in the middle of the week when the DJ (yes, there are DJs!) decided to spin a mix of reggae-pop hits. Initially, his playlist was a veritable Where-Are-They-Now quiz with tunes from Maxi Priest, Paul Young, Sasha and UB40 (if you don’t recognise at least one of those names, you have no business being in Hawaiian Shack). Those with more modern tastes in music should probably head to the Shack’s upper floor, which is dedicated to hip hop. The décor is slightly different, with fake plastic palm trees (but predictably no Radiohead), a ceiling dotted with up-turned umbrellas, and a surfboard mounted on the bar. Even here, the look and feel is less shady than the hip hop section of the Bandra counterpart.

But if we had any doubts about whether Shack Juhu would go the way of Colaba, they were cleared when we surveyed the crowd at around 11.30pm. The pub was nearly packed on a Wednesday night, and people on both floors chose to stand and dance around the tables as the shiny disco ball began spinning around and the strobe lights started flashing. The majority of those around seemed under the age of 35, and that’s when we remembered the appeal of Hawaiian Shack. From “Summer Wine” to “Red, Red Wine”, it’s a storehouse of guilty pleasures. It’s the place where you can sing along to Shakin’ Stevens’s “You Drive Me Crazy” and Fine Young Cannibals’s “She Drives Me Crazy” without any sense of shame. It’s the place where the music segues from Billy Ray Cyrus’s 1990s novelty hit “Achy Breaky Heart” to Eddy Grant’s 1980s anti-apartheid anthem “Gimme Hope Jo’anna” without any sense of irony. So when we heard all these songs, and sang along to them and more, we felt, despite the fact that we hadn’t visited a Hawaiian Shack in over three years, as though we had never left. And that we guess is a sign of the Juhu outpost’s future success.

This review was conducted anonymously.

Hawaiian Shack

Location48 Gulmohar Road,
Above Cafe Coffe Day
Next to Costa Coffee
Juhu-Vile Parle Development Scheme
Juhu

Phone3378 4444, 3378 4445

HoursDaily, from 7pm to 1.30am

Ticketing & Price InfoRs400 cover charge per couple or stag

Websitewww.hawaiian-shack.com