It begins, as good rooftops often do, with the feeling that you have escaped something. Powai stays busy even when the sun starts to loosen its grip. There is always a queue somewhere. A lift that takes too long. A traffic signal that turns into a small negotiation.
Then comes the walk up. I liked it. There was anticipation in the air, that small prelude you only notice when you are leaving the day behind. Somewhere inside, I could hear the notes of a guitar being tuned while the DJ was still building the stage. Upstairs, the city kept moving, but it softened into soundtrack. Underfoot, the floor gave a faint crunch. The blues in the background settled this rooftop into its own rhythm. Cabana silhouettes held pockets of conversation like small islands, and suddenly Powai felt a little less like a to-do list.
House of Pleo is built for this exact switch. Not the dramatic kind, not the kind that requires you to cross the city or dress up for a different version of yourself. Just a clean pivot from weekday to night, from routine to release.
“House of Pleo was created as a space where people can come together over great cocktails, good food, and music without having to leave the neighborhood. Powai felt like the perfect place to bring this rooftop experience to life,” shares Nirmal Patel, Founder of House of Pleo.
It is an honest brief, and it fits Powai. A rooftop experience that does not ask you to abandon your geography. It simply reimagines it.
There is, too, the quiet confidence of a place that has inherited a memory. The address used to be Fable, and anyone who has lived in Powai long enough will tell you how locations collect reputations the way glass collects fingerprints. I was with someone from Powai who had been here in its earlier avatar. That was the most telling review of the evening. It felt familiar, yet new and exciting. The same coordinates, a different pulse. House of Pleo does not fight that history. It leans into the idea that neighbourhood spots can evolve without losing their intimacy.
The cocktails: signatures with a pulse
A rooftop can survive on breeze alone, but to stay with you it needs taste that returns later, uninvited, in the middle of another day.
Pleo Reign arrives like a dare. Tequila meets vodka, with absinthe running a bright green thread through the middle. There is capsicum at the edge, not as gimmick, but as punctuation. It has that modern, slightly mischievous profile. Clean on the first sip, then increasingly expressive, like it is warming up to you.
Evening Ember is softer, but no less intentional. Malted barley, wheat and hops give it a grainy backbone, almost bread-like. Then Italian limes cut through, and a warm line of in-house cinnamon spices settles in. Agave keeps it held together. It tastes like the idea of dusk. Not the colour of it, but the pace.
The food: comfort with clarity
The menu plays to the kind of cravings that arrive after work. Not fussy. Not too earnest. Food that knows it is being shared.
The Classic Hummus with Fava Falafel & Warm Pita does what it should. Creamy, velvety hummus that does not try to be anything else. Falafel with a crisp exterior and a softer centre, and pita that makes the whole plate feel like something you can settle into.
Dakshin Prawns with Curry Leaf & Kaffir Lime Essence bring the coast to the table without the theatrics. Curry leaf aroma hits first, then the citrus lift of kaffir lime. It is bright and bold, the kind of dish that makes you sit up a little straighter.
Chicken Yakitori with Negi Shio, Shichimi Lemon & Wakame Salad takes a familiar idea and gives it a rooftop finish. Grilled skewers glazed just enough, savoury negi shio carrying the salt and depth, shichimi lemon adding a small spark. The wakame salad does its job. It resets the palate and keeps the plate from feeling heavy.
Why this experience stays
Some places are remembered because they are rare. Others are remembered because they arrive at the right time.
House of Pleo belongs to the second category. It offers a neighbourhood a new ritual. A rooftop that feels like an extension of your life, not a detour from it.
On the night I went, the energy skewed young. You could feel the girl power in groups of ladies owning their corners of the rooftop. Couples threaded between them, unhurried, as if the city had agreed to slow down for a few hours.
Come for a quick drink and the city will still be waiting when you leave. Stay longer and you will begin to notice the slower details. How the music pulls the room together. How the light shifts across the cabanas. How a cocktail can change the temperature of a conversation.
Powai is a place full of people who are always on their way somewhere. House of Pleo gives them a reason to pause. Not for long. Just long enough to remember that a night out can be simple, and still feel like something worth sharing.
By Prabhjot Bedi, Editor, Hospemag.
Part of Experiences That Stay With You — an editor-led exploration of places remembered for how they made us feel.