Horsing around 'til 4am in Hoxton

If the Nineties was the era of the super club, the Noughties, it's safe to say, will be known as the dawn of the pub/club hybrid - old-fashioned boozers that don't know the meaning of last orders at 11pm, which have swapped jukeboxes for DJ booths and swept aside the tables and chairs to create a dancefloor.

Not all of them manage to pull it off but, since coming under new ownership, The Horse & Groom in Shoreditch is the latest shining example of the "plub".

Down at the quieter end of Curtain Road near the Herne Street car park - home to numerous warehouse parties last summer - it's unlikely you'd wander here by accident.

But reports have been leaking out of a growing variety of nights taking up residence and making use of the two-storey pub's 4am weekend licence, hefty sound system and pubprice drinks. And with the rest of the East End slowly morphing into a copy of the West End, its secluded location provides a welcome haven from lager louts.

When we arrive around midnight, the party atmosphere is tangible and smokers outside are wearing party hats and face paint. Squeezing ourselves through the crowd we head for the packed dancefloor where the pumping sound of Simian Mobile Disco's Hustler prompts a singalong from the crowd, oblivious to whether this sort of thing is cool or not.

Tonight's party (free before 10pm, then only £5 after) is being run downstairs by festival promoters and bi - monthly resident s Bloom, who are also responsible for the face painting at £2 a pop.

Upstairs is hosted by Dim Sum, who after rocking various other venues around the country and playing Bloom in Cheltenham, return for their first birthday celebrations with special guest DJ James Harcourt.

After heading to the bar to buy a very reasonable round (£3.40 for a pint of Staropramen and £3.50 for a JD and Coke) we grab a quick chat with Charles Bakker, the pub's owner. He has spent 18 months refurbishing the venue, filling it with the quirky mismatched comfy sofas that line each wall, eye-catching features - like a pair of stuffed fighting birds behind the bar - and hidden projectors which display various visuals throughout the night inside huge, gold gilt picture frames. We hit the dancefloor upstairs and, beneath hanging birthday banners, we're soon sharing in another anniversary - Tiphane, from Peckham, out celebrating her 25th birthday, has come here for the first time with a group of friends. "It's quite raucous," she says as party poppers explode around her. "It's like a house party, but in a pub with a massive sound system."

The music is as loud and clear as in any club and big speaker stacks blast out Soulwax's remix of MGMT as we head down to catch one of London's hottest DJ duos, The Loose Cannons.

Dressed in silver masks, they're waving plastic light sabres in the air which f lash in time to the beat. Yet the brighter-than-usual lighting, plentiful places to lounge and general sense of good-natured chaos gives it a much friendlier atmosphere than most latenight dancing spots.