SOKA Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in Bengaluru

SOKA is the kind of bar that feels like a well-kept secret the moment you step inside — and then immediately becomes a place you can’t stop thinking about. Located in the heart of Indiranagar, this 38-seat gem has already earned widespread acclaim (ranked No. 28 in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025), and for good reason.

From the street you might miss it, but once inside, SOKA reveals itself like a work of art. The moment you enter, your eye is drawn up to the dramatic centerpiece: a 4-foot cocoon lamp that casts a warm, golden glow across the room. Copper scales flow down a 15-foot wall, their patina catching the light, and the bar’s front is crafted of beaten copper patterned with waves and scales — a tactile, maritime motif that threads through the entire space.

SOKA is also an Omakase bar in the truest sense. You don’t simply order cocktails off a menu; you give yourself over to a carefully curated, bartender-led journey. Avinash Kapoli and his team configure bespoke liquid narratives, riffing on classic techniques while introducing unexpected local touches. The bar’s ten-metre kitchen is astonishingly compact — touted as one of the smallest bar kitchens in the country — yet it’s engineered for precision and speed. The result is a seamless choreography between bartender and chef: drinks are paired with micro-plates, and each course dovetails with the next so the evening feels like a single, evolving performance rather than a series of discrete orders.

The food at SOKA is served in nano plates — tiny masterpieces that pack visionary flavour into small formats. Each plate reframes a familiar ingredient through inventive technique: think chhena at the center of a kulcha, jackfruit partnering with artichoke, or aged cheese folded into fruit-forward canapés. The micro-plates are designed to be shared, nibbled, and discussed, and they pair beautifully with the layered cocktails. The kitchen’s compactness belies its ambition: texture, temperature, and contrast are all meticulously considered.

A few highlights that lingered with us: Spicy Smoked Kulcha — a playful nano plate where a chhena core meets artichoke and jackfruit. The smoke and spice lift the creamy center, while the bread element keeps it grounded and comforting. Pi Pi Martini — made with Hapusa gin, jujube-pickled brine and dry vermouth. It’s saline, aromatic and deeply satisfying — a delicate balance of savory and botanical notes. Mofo Don — premium tequila with pickled pineapple, red cabbage, cilantro and jalapeño. This one is bold, bright and tropical with an edge of heat that hangs around in the best way. Mysore High — Bacardi Anejo Cuatro combined with Mysore banana oleo saccharum, coffee liqueur and aromatic bitters. A thoughtful nod to regional ingredients that finishes rich and complex. I Blame Jasmine — Hapusa gin with a carbonated jasmine cordial. Floral, lifted and utterly drinkable. Cheese Cherry Pineapple — Bacardi carta blanca with pineapple, aged cheddar, cream cheese and luxardo cherry; the contrast of savory cheese and bright fruit is unexpectedly brilliant. Soka Represent — Grey Goose vodka, Campari, grapefruit, saline and a feather-light vegan foam. Bitter, citrusy, and perfectly balanced.

SOKA’s intimate size is one of its charms; the room hums but doesn’t roar. Conversation is possible, the staff can focus on each guest, and the energy remains high without becoming overwhelming. The long communal table, banquette seating and the bar itself all offer slightly different moods — cozy, social, contemplative — yet each spot feels connected to the central performance.

What makes SOKA extraordinary is how it balances two impulses that don’t often sit together: refinement and mischief. Cocktails are elevated and elegant, yet full of humour and surprise; nano plates are small but full of technical finesse and heart. It’s rare to find a place that can be so precise — in presentation, in temperature, in pairing — and still...

After hearing a lot of about this place and not being lucky to get a table at this place twice , we finally managed to do so yesterday. My whole experience in points

1. Table booking hype : we looked up at their online reservation option on Thursday for the next day's 7-9pm slot ( yes they have 2 hour slots ) and it says they are fully reserved. I managed to get across to them over the phone and we thought were lucky to get a table for 3. We reached there at 7pm and found the place to be empty. Wondered where the 5-7 slot crowd were ? They gave us a table for 4. Was wondering if they were wasting a chair on us as it's supposedly fully booked and the place is small ( probably 30-35 seats only ) . Later on the crowd trickled in and the place was full by 7:30 but they were still 4 seats vacant. I don't understand as to why do they make people struggle to reserve seats. They may claim last minute cancellations but it didn't look that and also unlike the popular misconception , there were no people waiting outside for the RAC quota.

Vibe : The interiors were top class. Not too dull. Not too loud. Just perfect and you slowly get in ryhtm with the ambience. Very tastefully done .

Cocktails : Excellent! All the cocktails we tried were good. I personally liked the misunderstood BJ. Full marks !

Food : Sad . A flopped attempt to give a designer twist to regular Indian food . We tried about 7 different dishes . edamame tarts - they killed the mild flavour of edamame with some masala over powering it . Scallops - the flavour got lost in the spicy tomato based masala. The taste of Kerala sea food masala lingered in mouth and the scallops went unnoticed. We tried the fried chicken and Thai chicken satay. Okay but nothing to write home about. Some mutton on teplas . It tasted like a typical Kerala preparation on teplas. 3 nos of 2inch tepla with half a spoon of boneless mutton on it . We were charged about 360 including GST for that. They had soft shell crab. Which i would say was the only dish that tasted good. Presentation was nice . Most dishes served on plates while the edamame was served on what looked like a candle stand.

Service : Good. Hardly 7-8 tables and the service was prompt .

Price : The food was overpriced for the quantity and definitely the taste. There was nothing very different to this fare that excited you. Also it wasn't a fancy fine dine set up to command these kind of price points .

Now to their 2 hour slot theory. Before landing there , I was wondering as to will they throw me out after 2 hours if I still haven't finished. But i realised that even they knew that no one will last more than 2 in that place. We lasted 1.5 hours . Had 7 snacks between 3 of us and then headed out to another place to have some proper dinner. My recommendation - go there only for...

Basing my review on the recent Soka x Guerilla takeover I recently attended ;

I had been wanting to visit Soka for a while and this seemed like a great time to do it. So as soon as I got to know about it, I rang them up and got a table reserved according to the slot they offered me. However, 2 days later they called me back and asked me to pay ₹500 cover/ head if I wanted to keep my booking which they had confirmed earlier. I have never been a fan of this concept and more so, to do it 2 days after they took my booking, just felt like a money grab.

At the day of the event, we arrived and were made to wait 20 minutes outside anyway. The place is small and some might say cozy, although it does get filled up with the music and chatter. We ordered a couple of cocktails and now this was the big surprise — drinks priced at almost ₹1000 incl. were being served in ₹10 plastic disposable cups (?!). I'll put aside the taste of drinks anyway as that can be a subjective matter, but this was quite a bad experience. I requested them if they had some bar snacks to go with the drinks, even some nuts or crackers to no avail. Rather, we were actually rushed to place our food orders by the staff. The food itself was pretty good, although I believe that part can be credited to the outsourced kitchen of Guerilla. What really was disappointing was when we were clearing the bill, I gave them my honest feedback that it's not acceptable serving such pricey drinks in plastic, for dine-in customers. I think it probably was the owner or manager at the other end, but he got super defensive and expected me to bear with his logistical issues for this call. As a full-paying customer, who clearly was super intent driven, having made a reservation days ago, paid advance, to be served in a disappointing manner and instead, is expected to be okay with it, is just. not. done. I did not appreciated this attitude at all. Perhaps all the hype and buzz toots their ego for them to treat their customer in this fashion and get away with it. But I'm sorry, you have lost a customer and their circle too, that came in nothing but...