Almost every bar in the city has drink deals. But do they really deliver – or do they come with sneaky fine print like cut-price insurance cover? We tried three of the boldest happy hour deals to find out.

TGIF Andheri
“Heck no, that sounds like bull,” we thought when we read about TGIF’s R88 plus taxes cocktails. But then we were exclaiming, “Heck yes”. TGIF Andheri’s classic cocktails are indeed R88 between 5 and 8.30pm each weekday. Of course, they aren’t much to write home about. Our Strawberry Sunrise mocktail was horribly sweet and we could barely taste the vodka in our Bloody Mary. But given that five Bloody Marys come for the price of one elsewhere, it won’t take you too long to feel tipsy. You can also opt for a mojito pitcher for R899. We know that will mess you up.

Bungalow 9
Bungalow 9 promises “a complimentary drink on every drink you order” between 6 and 9pm on Saturdays. That’s all the press release says. It doesn’t indicate if they mean cocktails, wine or what? Given that Bungalow 9 is a fancy place, we figured we’d take a punt. We pointed to the Scotch single malt whiskies and asked for two for one. “No sir,” replied Bungalow 9’s barman, handing us another, much smaller menu. “The complimentary drinks are from this list.” This new list was limited to classic cocktails using domestic liquor. And you couldn’t say they were mixed well. Our whisky sour (R500) and complimentary mojito were about as exciting as the staid conversations between all the old fogeys in the bar. Bah, we thought, we can get the same deal down at our local mall. It also makes us wonder about Bungalow 9’s Wednesday happy hour that reads: “The lady who walks [in] with the highest heels will be entitled to win a bottle of sparkling wine”. Entitled to win – is that another clever obfuscation?

Citrus
We had heard whisperings of Citrus. It was like an urban myth. But could it really be true? Could there be a bar serving two-for one drinks all day? Well, saddle up for a big night out because Citrus lounge, next door to Jugheads in Andheri, keeps the complimentary drinks rolling all the way to midnight. That leaves just two problems to confront. The first is how to get a table when they are nearly always occupied by lively Andheriites sucking back litres of decently mixed cocktails as they bop to the DJ’s commercial numbers. The second problem is figuring out how much to order at last call at midnight to last you until the bar closes at 12.45am. It’s a moment when drinking partners in Citrus look searchingly into each other’s eyes. “Can we really drink eight cocktails each (four ordered and four complimentary) in the final 45 minutes?” Yes, we can.