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Traditionally, the Mumbai tourist experience demanded metallic determination: travellers battled the tidal wave of ear cleaners, postcard touts and uncombusted diesel for long enough to haggle for silks and stuff down a thali, before fleeing to the easy living of Goa and Kerala. And - with Mumbai's nightlife options largely limited to the anodyne hotel bars and dingy Indian drinking dens flanking Mumbai's main tourist thoroughfare, Colaba Causeway - why stick around?

Not so any more. Home to India's big money and beautiful people, not to mention the unfettered glitz of Bollywood, Mumbai is fast becoming the molten eipcentre of Asian hedonism. This glamorous coming-of-age is evident everywhere: from the blossoming of theatre productions and themed bars and clubs, to the launch of Time Out Mumbai and the opening, last autumn, or a flagship Louis Vuitton store at the grand old colonial Taj Mahal hotel. Prepare, as they say in Mumbai, to be bamboozled!

Insomnia @ The Taj Mahal Intercontinental Hotel
Apollo Bunder Mumbai, 400 001
Phone: 22 5665-3366
Vibe: An upmarket club decked out in industrial steel, with a marbled mezzanine bar and bizarre concept lighting reminiscent of withered genitalia. Crowd, what to wear: Wealthy college students, starlets and moneyed businessmen dressed up and writhing around on the dancefloor as if their underwear has just caught fire.
What to drink: Champagne, or mohitos
What to eat: Grazing snacks, such as mini bhaji or humous
Where to sit: On the white cube banquettes overlooking the dancefloor
Soundtrack: Dance classics, especially techno interwoven with Hindi vocals.
NB… entry, as with many Mumbai nightclubs, is charged per couple.

Inigo (restaurant)
4 Mandlik Road Colaba, Mumbai, 400001
Telephone: 22 285 6316
Vibe (including decor): Winner of a Condé Nast '60 best restaurants' plaudit in 2003, Inigo is still white-hot. High ceilinged and airy with stucco walls, low-slung leather armchairs and a subterraneous cigar lounge in cool ocean blues.
What to wear: Join a smattering of industry success stories and Bollywood actors (the pint-sized Riya Sen is a particular fan), dressed in smart-casual monochrome.
What to drink: A well-mixed classic Martini
What to eat: A Eurasian melee of pasta, Thai and Indian
Where to sit: Kick bar in the cigar lounge and watch Bollywood wannabes working the room
Soundtrack: Ambient sounds and occasional live jazz

Chowpatty Beach, to the West of Mumbai

Vibe: Mumbai nightlife as it used to be. A popular location for romantic moonlit strolls and spectacular sunsets. Just don't be tempted to dive into the fetid waters.
What to wear: Casual
What to drink: Tooth-rottingly sweet chai, from one of the chai-wallers plying their wares on the shore
What to eat: A doughy bhelpuri (a local snack)
Where to sit: Looking wistfully out to sea
Soundtrack: The isistent nasal call of the chai-wallers
NB… Catch the annual Ganesh Chaturthi Festival (August/September) when giant statues of the elephant god are plunged into the sea.

Olive Bar and Kitchen
14 Union Park Khar, Mumbai
Telephone: 22 600 8248
Vibe: The hippest hangout in the fashionable suburb of Bandra, north Mumbai. The creeping vines and white-washed walls of the exterior give in to a sunken bar thronged with green-uniformed waiters.
What to wear: Dress up for the glossy maned models and the cricketing superstars Sachin and Kapil, who hold the fort.
What to drink: Sangria
What to eat: As the name suggests, robust continental fare
Where to sit: Outside, in the pebbled garden.
Soundtrack: Hindi to trip-hop and light Goa trance

Razzberry Rhinoceros
Juhu Hotel, Juhu Beach, Mumbai
Telephone: 22 618 4014
Vibe: The 5km long Juhu Beach, about 20km north of the city centre, is one of Mumbai's favourite playgrounds; with street entertainment and many of Mumbai's best hotels, restaurants and clubs. Razzberry Rhinoceros is the most famous, especially for live rock on Thursdays.
What to wear: A sprinkling of Bollywood types, dress is determined by the playlist, sombre shades being universal for rock night.
What to drink: Bottled beer
Where to sit: Nowhere for long… get up and shake that Mumbai moneymaker!
Soundtrack: Everything from rock to earbleed techno and disco

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