Radio (Ashton Lane)

What: Bar
For: Drinks
With: Friends
Site: Here

Goodness me! I seem to spend a lot of time eating and drinking in the West End! You must forgive me, I do usually live there. Also I'm a student, I can't help but think that this is a good enough excuse.

Radio is probably one of my favourite bars. I haven't tried the food, but I was always impressed with their drinks selection, the chilled our atmosphere, and the student-friendly prices. Really, though, I was only truly sold when I discovered that on Wednesdays they have a real student night, and drinks are only £1.

Usually, when you see somewhere advertising "£1 Drinks" you assume that your options will be; house vodka and mix, shot of apple sourz or a pint of something cheap. Everything else will be the usual price, possibly even more expensive than usual. Your best bet is actually to avoid this. Cheap vodka is truly dreadful, as will be whatever larger they have to offer. Sourz is sourz, at least it's brand name, but you can't drink shots of it all night. Or maybe you can, but you shouldn't, and I'm not taking you home.

At Radio though, they meant all drinks. All of them. Whatever you order. Well, actually, doubles are £2, which is fair, and they exclude cocktails and champagne, which is also fair. It's fair because it means that a Koppaburg is £1, Corona is £1, importantly, 7-year-old Havana Club and lemonade is £1. That means it's a good idea to go. That means it's a good deal, and you won't spend all evening wishing you could justify buying nicer vodka. Because you can.

So, all through Winter and Spring, Radio was my bar of choice for a Wednesday night. Sure, it would be crowded, but the seats were comfy when you finally got one, and the music was usually good enough for me to forgive the volume.

Over Summer though, I only visited once. I asked if they still did £1 drinks, the girl behind the bar confirmed this, and the listed the £1 options. I balked. I ordered a bottle beer that was worth more than £1. I looked at the vastly depleted bar. Gone was the Havana, gone was the Absolut, and gone were the interesting liqueurs. I could not see any expensive ciders. I was alarmed.

We left after one drink. In spite of the now limited choice, the bar was still very busy, the music wasn't good enough to keep me, and so I saw no reason to stay.

I suspect, and hope, that this was simply because it wasn't term-time. Maybe because fewer students are around it isn't worth running the student night with full enthusiasm. After all, you have a great turnover on a Wednesday, maybe make a loss, but the rest of the week, everyone is talking about how cool your bar is, they go, and don't mind paying full price. Without students, that won't happen.

And it is a cool bar, I will go again and pay full price. But only if they get their selection sorted out again, otherwise it'll just be another student bar. Cuter than some, but there would be no reason to stay there all night, there's plenty of other places to try close by.

So, because I love it lots, and because I love you lots, here's what I'm going to do: When term starts again, I shall drag a few friends there on a Wednesday night. We'll take the hit for you, we'll scope it out. If all is back to normal I'll write a new review, letting you know. It'll be hard to go there not knowing if I can drink something interesting cheaply, but I'll risk it, for you.

Wish me luck.