The Laundromatic Super pub

In the world of city centre drinking, there are the pubs. Old men, wallpaper, and draughts in all three senses of the word. Then there are the bars. Goatees, brushed steel and Breezers. Now, theres a hybrid : the nuboozer. The Grapes and The George have been spun: a pub your dad would recognise, an attitude Naomi Klein would endorse. Now on the comfortcool scene is The Laundromatic Super Pub – the Caledonian on Catherine Street, but with the twisted genius of the Grapes team. Oh, and it’s a laundrette too.

The curious are the people you’d expect – S&M-dipping local popsters, designers, dopeheads and dancemechanics; even a couple of the cuddlier local anarchists (Chumbawombles?). Launching a place that’s designed to be a open space is always tricky, but tonight works. Champagne flows, people chatter and nothing happens to excellent effect. Nobody attempts a Nick Kamen style baptism of the washing machines, and the lack of laundry baskets and centrifugal drier would cause Pauline Fowler to sniff in disgust, but with a menu that screams "eat me now" and a line-up of the smartest djs offering ambience and beats every night, you may want to change your local.