At the new art and cocktail bar Bloody Dangerous in Goa, the horror hits before your first drink.
A flight up the stairs, and you turn the corner only to enter into a tunnel engineered to trigger claustrophobia and trypophobia — walking through nearly 4,500 construction-site light bulbs glowing like thousands of watching, unblinking eyes. Inside, a dead man lamp hangs from the ceiling. A few steps further, a custom-built mechanical heart pumps with ominous precision.
Just a little ahead, the ‘deathbed’ awaits with its ceiling of blooming flowers intertwined with eerie baby doll heads staring down from above. It is a collision of birth, decay, horror, and art, all coming together in a haze of crimson hues.
The custom-built mechanical heart pumps with precision | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bloody Dangerous is artist Siddharth Kerkar’s newest, darkest, and totally unhinged cocktail bar in Goa, the third in the installment of Kerkar, Vipin Raman, and Bonita Mascarenhas’s bar trilogy (following the contemporary art-focussed Room One and the seasonal cocktail bar Drop Dead Sexy). At 44 covers, Bloody Dangerous is what they affectionately call the ‘C-section baby’ of the group — their biggest and boldest project, which was completed within 78 days, from concept to completion.
The concept plays directly on human phobias and social inhibitions. “It is about finding beauty in unsettling things,” says Kerkar. Unbeknownst to me, the psychological game had started at the entrance where a ‘magic mirror’ caught me adjusting my hair and then inside, a 30-second delay helped stream it on a small TV mounted near the bar. The broadcasts feature guests redoing their makeup after stumbling in after a night of bar-hopping or beach walks. In an age of flattering filters and curated social media appearances, it can be chilling to see our past selves broadcast live to the entire room.
“Embarrassment is a very underexplored emotion,” Kerkar says with a grin. “We wanted to take anything and everything that scares or that most people fear and try to make something beautiful out of it,” he adds.
Eventually, this source of anxiety turns into theatrical fun; guests quickly catch on, running back out to do full fashion-runway walks for the camera before dashing inside to catch their delayed performance on screen.
The Jigsaw cocktail | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The cocktail programme, curated by Arnold Hou alongside Raman, matches the room’s dark and chaotic energy. The philosophy here is “complex to make, easy to drink”, leaning on unexpected, flavour-pushing combinations.
I take a seat at the bar and a two-headed taxidermy pigeon stares right at me from the shelf — somehow making me think of the twins in The Shining. Horror works in strange ways. I start with the Jigsaw, a smokey, umami-rich concoction of tequila, mezcal, strawberry, and tomato, with a few drops of soy sauce that enhance the tomato’s natural depth without making it feel like a soup. I alternate between the agar-agar garnishes — green tomato and the other white chocolate and strawberry — and find the flavour profile change with each.
Next comes Bad Flowers, a surprisingly sophisticated highball pairing mezcal and tequila with an in-house spiced cola syrup and topped with a sea-salt rim infused with citrus notes. For a punchier, citrus-forward kick, Bloody 1986 delivers a spicy spin on the classic Picante, combining tequila, passion fruit, Makrut (kaffir) lime, and jalapeño with a savoury salt rim. And then there is the cheekily named No Sugar? F*ck Off. Built on a decadent base of smoked brown butter-infused tequila, Okinawa sugar, coconut cream, and a vegan coconut ‘egg’, it tastes like a rich, toasty, Vietnamese cold brew Feeling bold? Go for the Dirty Dick, but only if you like beer. Only, it contains no beer at all.
To match the drinks, Chef Priyanka of Larder & Folk and Chef Yong of Dali & Gala have created a menu focussed on ‘dangerous, greasy, unpretentious American comfort food with Burmese and Asian twists’ designed specifically for nibbling alongside multiple rounds of cocktails. I go for an Asian-style Dirty Chips with smoked duck, drenched with Parmesan cheese, scallions, and a sweet-tangy house chilli oil that cuts right through the rich duck meat. The Grilled Chicken has succulent, charcoal-grilled chicken skewers dressed in Chef Priyanka’s homemade sweet-and-spicy mango hot sauce, topped with a crunchy peanut crumble and mint oil.
Bloody Dangerous is creepy. It is also surprisingly fun bar to throw away your inhibitions and fall in love with the dark.
Cost for two ₹3,000. Bloody Dangerous is open on all days 3pm onwards. At Bouta Waddo, Assagao, Goa. For details, call 7498181481.