Baa Bar

and Sugar Lounge.

What: A funky venue with a plentiful supply of mirror balls gracing the

ceiling, and a nice line in shooters. Try a Fruit Salad, a Slippery Nipple

or, more bizarrely, a Dave. Be warned, the bar service is fairly quick, but

only because they don't sell beer on draught. A second Baa Bar recently

opened on the outskirts of the gay village

Handbag or heavy metal?

The bar plays funky dance tunes, loud enough for atmosphere but not so loud

that you can't hear anyone speak. Blasts from the past, such as Back By Dope

Demand and 900 Number, add a nostalgic twist to the evening.

In Crowd?

There are plenty of people dressed up for the night as tends to be the case

on the Locks. Casual it most certainly isn't. The crowd are mainly made up of

people in their early or mid twenties, but there might be trouble with

underage punters as, amusingly enough, we got asked for ID. If you look even

vaguely young then taking some identification is recommended to avoid hassle.

What's The Damage?

The brightly coloured and rather addictive shooters are a pound each and the

bar staff also come around selling cocktails in test tubes for the same

price. There are drinks offers to be had between specified times, which can

be viewed on a huge screen overhanging the bar and even the normal drinks

prices are less expensive than some of the other bars on the Locks.

Verdict?

A pleasant enough bar with a good atmosphere, but one major drawback: The

'novelty' value of the unisex loos was a badly misjudged move, as they look

and smell like something you might find in Glastonbury. Not nice.