Try Dolo cocktails, tequila ‘injections’ and Thai flavours at Painkiller in Delhi

It is Friday night and I need a Dolo 650.  

Shashwat Prasad quickly assembles my prescription and slides it across the counter. It is a Dolo 651, he reminds me with a grin. “Stronger?” I ask. “No, trademarks!”  

Still, it quickly softens the stress of the week. Especially when teamed with a chilli basil dirty fried rice, even if the cutlery arrives in a stainless steel kidney tray that reminds you of your last anesthesia. 

Dolo 651
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

But then, that is the whole point of Painkiller: a blissful suspension of reality.  

An hour earlier, this was Savage, a sandwich shop popular for its dirty fries with hot sauce, and a ‘Hot mess express’ with fried chicken, hot honey glaze, pickles and ranch set tucked into fluffy milk bread.

A snapshot of Painkiller
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

At 7 pm every evening (barring Mondays), the sign outside is flipped from Savage to Painkiller, as the team resets the space. Pulling out the blackout curtains and dimming the lights. It is a quick and clever flip: even the coasters are double sided. I pick one up and read, “The last bar before you go home. Or don’t.” Combined with the kidney trays, it is hard to tell whether this is a whether a promise of adventure, or the opening scene of Delhi’s version of Hannibal. (Silence of the mutton nihari, anyone?)  

Bar bites at Painkiller
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

After knocking back my Pearacetamol, a heady, sweet blend of butterscotch vodka, pears, celery and green apple, to chase that Dolo 651, I decided that with Shashwat in charge I can take on anything. He shakes up cocktails with steady precision, till the past week is a blur, and the one ahead glowing with promise.   

In keeping with Painkiller’s belief that “the best medicine isn’t found in a pharmacy, it’s poured over ice,” he runs through Painkiller’s hits. There’s Bananadryl, a creamy comforting blend of whisky, Aperol, banana, Milo and oat milk, and The Sedative, dark and rich with whisky, peanut butter, lapsang tea, honey, grapefruit and blackberry.  

The LIIT
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Inspired by a loud gang of regulars from the neighbourhood, we follow their example and order the Bangkok rice cookie granola, studded with chili and peanuts, which is popular at the table, but a bit too brash for me. Thai food, like a good choir, should harmonise. 

The food is ambitious, which is a refreshing. Restaurants and bars in India tend to play it safe when they lean on Thai food, churning out red and green curries along with an array of chicken skewers. 

Crispy fish
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Over here there are morish charred corn ribs served with a roasted Thai chili glaze, and pulled jackfruit jungle curry doughnuts. We try the crunchy baked Thai prawn toast and crispy fish, bright with the flavours of tamarind chili caramel, raw mango and lemongrass. If you want something closer to home, there is one Indian-adjacent dish, a pepper mutton curry with paratha. 

The Sedative
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

For those of us who done with gin and now exploring more spirit forward, tequila based pours, try an Injection: Reposado tequila, carrot, cucumber, white miso, soy and sesame. Or the IV Drip Twist, which has Patron Silver tequila, melon, Campari, coconut, pandan, kaffir lime.  

Or like us, try them all. After all, this is the last bar before you go home. Or don’t.   

Published – April 02, 2026 07:00 am IST