Ara restaurant cum bar — Restaurant in West Bengal

If you’re looking for a place that perfectly balances great food, drinks, and evening entertainment, ARA Restaurant Cum Bar is a standout in Darjeeling’s Mall Road scene. With live music from 6 PM to 10 PM, the atmosphere becomes electric—just right for winding down the day or kicking off a fun night.

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What Makes It Special • Ambience & Location: Nestled on The Mall, Nehru Road, just behind the fountain at Chowrasta and inside Bellevue Hotel, it has lovely views of the hustle outside and a calming, stylish interior inside. Sit upstairs to enjoy the live band, down below for quieter chats.  • Live Music (6-10 pm): The live band adds real charm—there’s energy without being overwhelming, good enough to feel lively but not so loud it drowns conversations. It really turns the place into one of the best evening hangout spots.  • Food & Drinks: They offer a mix of North Indian, Chinese, and Continental cuisine. Starters like Chicken Tikka Kebab and Paneer Chilli seem to be crowd favourites. Cocktails and mocktails are well crafted; drink prices are reasonable for the sort of place it is. Some reviews do mention that the food quality and portions occasionally vary.  • Service & Value: Overall, people find the staff friendly and attentive, especially in the early evening. The value for money is good given the location, ambience, music, and food. A few reviews mention slow service during peak times, or some menu items being unavailable. 

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What Could Be Better • Consistency in food (taste, portion, variety) could be improved. Some guests felt the main courses were underwhelming compared to the starters.  • Drink availability: sometimes certain popular drinks or brands aren’t in stock. That can be a letdown when expecting a specific cocktail or beer.  • Noise level upstairs during live music can get loud — if you prefer a quieter evening, better to request ground floor seating. 

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Overall Impression

I’d rate ARA Restaurant Cum Bar a solid 5 out of 5 (if everything goes well: good food, live music, and attentive service). It’s one of the go-to spots in Darjeeling for an evening out—especially between 6-10pm, when live music lifts the mood. If I were you, I’d book a table upstairs for that time so you can soak up the...

We popped in here looking for a snack and some drinks after we were tired and cold from walking around in the dark for a while. We feel like we wasted our money and we ended up buying alcohol and snacks, which we took back to our room for dinner.

We tried to order Old Monk (rum) and Coke. They didn’t have any rum. So we tried for the Carlsberg (beer) - all out. We were going to just leave but my son had ordered a plate of chicken wings, which is not something you want to order here or in India in general, but kids don’t understand that. So French fries and Budweiser was added in.

The fries were great! Better than the last place we ordered them, but the wings were awful. They were soggy and skinny. Felt like there was more skin than meat. We didn’t even eat them.

Plus we couldn’t even hear each other over the karaoke, even though we were way in the back. Just wasn’t a good night for us...

The place is good the ambiance is also good, but the staff is very cold. I was waiting outside but they give priority to there local people. They can easily come and call someone who is know to them from staff and they let them in without waiting. I waited for more than one hour but still at the end they asked me not to wait or manage to sit in there level 1 sitting as I was waiting for the live music venue. One person standing inside was very ride as he was the one to whome every one is following instructions. Seriously felt like this particular restaurant or Bar is for the Local people or you should have contact with the staff then only you get prioritised.

No Manager on the lower floor or checking the wating outside.

Not recommended for those who...