Taking a holy Depp at brummie Varanasi

Every buccaneer in town is talking about Johnny Depp of Depp v Heard fame clocking up a bill of about ₹48 lakh (£50,000) at an Indian restaurant in Birmingham earlier this week. If you thought what on earth did the man eat to shell out half a crore, you'd have to consider the following: (1) he went to wine and dine at Varanasi on 184 Broad Street with 20 people, (2) booked the whole place for some privacy, (3) apart from ordering loads of kasturi chicken tikka with caramelised pineapple chutney, lamb on the bone curry and king prawn bhuna (with potato), Depp also ordered one of Varanasi's premium cocktails, The Jewel of Varanasi, that has to be given 24-hour notice to be ordered and costs £500 a glass.

So, what is this Jewel of Varanasi that Depp and Co had, and Varanasi is getting great publicity for courtesy the actor - and us via this column? One part of Hennessy Paradis Imperial rare cognac, one part Grand Marnier liqueur, quail egg whites, seeds from a vanilla pod, lemongrass syrup, a 24-carat gold leaf thrown in, and edible flowers. Frankly, with a few rounds of that going around, the Jewel of Varanasi alone would well have been ransom fit for Pirates of the Caribbean - who, one would have reckoned, should have preferred Brummie rum in Birmingham. One mystery of the Depp trip to Varanasi remains: how much did the man tip?